“SharePoint Apps” refers to add-ons or pieces of software which enhances the features of an application developed using SharePoint. These ‘apps’ can be written using a number of languages like PHP, HTML, Javascript etc. Another basic thing about apps is that they can be hosted in either the SharePoint environment or outside, in the cloud. Outside part can be at two different places – either Microsoft Azure or any other cloud service provider.
As done by mobile apps, SharePoint apps also increased the options of things that developers can do. That in turn has translated into providing a large number of smart options for a developer building an application using SharePoint. Suppose earlier a developer wanted to have a feature to enable viewing of SharePoint application using tablets or smartphones, he/she would have had to develop it on his own and that might have taken a really long time. But now all the developer has to do is use an app called Shareplus. This app is available for iOS and Andrioid based tablets and enables a user to browse, edit documents directly from SharePoint via the tablet directly.
Similarly there are many such apps or applications which provide the developer with the option to make applications smarter. Apps like OurCRM, DocAve, MyView etc are quite popular. For your reference OurCRM is a CRM that runs on MS SharePoint – it basically allows organizations to edit the customer relationship management software as per their need.
DocAve is a data and document management platform for SharePoint.
MyView the winner of Best SharePoint App 2013 award (at the European SharePoint Community Awards), enables users to focus on productivity and important ongoing projects by collating and synchronizing SharePoint and Microsoft Outlook tasks and calendar items, presented through online, mobile, or desktop based Microsoft Exchange applications.
Similarly there are many such ‘apps’, based on the need one can search for those and use the one best suited. A simple Google search can fetch you the app that you might be looking for, for example I was looking for “Top iPad apps for accessing SharePoint” and I found this Techrepublic link which lists out details of best apps for iPads – http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tablets-in-the-enterprise/top-ipad-apps-for-accessing-sharepoint/.
My interest primarily in SharePoint Apps has been in applications related to Marketing and Social aspects of a business. These days Social media constitutes a major part of marketing and this area has to be handled effectively to ensure active participation of people in your products, which in turn would lead to increased revenue. The top 5 social media SharePoint apps, as per me, are the following:
- Social Squared : Social Squared is an app which gives organizations the choice of providing a large forum environment to its members for them to discuss projects or other topics. This provides as a nice space for sharing and brainstorming of ideas.
- eLocker Solutions : eLocker Solutions is the perfect social SharePoint solution for teachers and students. It allows them to interact without worrying about security within the SharePoint environment. It can be customized for a specific school or district and allows teachers to assign projects, track progress and interact with students.
- SharePoint twitter web part : The Twitter Web Part allows users to tweet right from their SharePoint environment as well as display the latest Twitter posts and search based on hashtags. This is a great option for companies who want to control everything (including social media) from their SharePoint environment.
- Blog Rollup webpart : The Blog Rollup Web Part allows organizations to display a blog roll of the most recent blog posts created within the SharePoint environment. This is a very useful tool, which is perfect for seeing at a glance the most recently published posts.
- SP Community : SP Community utilizes SharePoint’s existing social features and transforms them into a complete user experience that organizations and businesses can take advantage of. It offers groups, user home pages and profile pages, discussion boards and much more.
You can hire developers from top sharepoint development companies in India who can help you in your project within allocated budgets and time schedules.
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