Microsoft 365 . . . New Developments!

Microsoft announced the new general availability of Excel API. It’s a new way that developers can create and power applications of their own creation. As we all know Excel is pretty much a life line for most, if not all, companies as a storage tool for its surplus of data. We all rely on it heavily. Now Microsoft has created an innovated way to keep us even more dependent on this extremely indispensable tool.

The innovators at Microsoft tell us, “The Excel REST API release is a continuation of our journey to make Office an open platform for developers. The Office developer framework uses modern web development standards, so developers can build smarter apps that operate as part of Office on mobile, web and desktop platforms.”¹

Microsoft came out last year with developer tools, like Office 365 Connectors that take data from non-Microsoft apps and deliver it to Office 365 applications, to improve Office 365 platforms’ ability to build apps and be able to store them on the programs’ ribbon for easy access. Users can now access those apps while working within office productivity tools like Excel, Word and PowerPoint. The user created apps could also be placed in the Office 365 App Store. Users don’t want to constantly shift from one app to the next. This integration provides a way to gather or pull information from outside programs.

This expansion with apps is a way for developers to easily use Excel for doing a lot of the simple background, tedious work like calculations. The service that Excel API provides would allow them to store data, perform calculations based on that data and data outside of the Office 365 platform. The Excel interface uses the Microsoft Graph to access data from the Microsoft cloud for a better flow of information through devices. We are going to be seeing more developments like this as the demand for more integrated programs grows.

Microsoft has also paired up with two third-party services, Zapier and Sage, to enable people and businesses to be more productive. For example, users can create passageways of information from emails to be automatically imported to Excel. The integration allows for an easier flow of data from one app to the next, simply making the world a better place.  Thank you Microsoft; for always being there for us!

¹ Excel Team, (3 August 2016) “Announcing the general availability of the Microsoft Excel API to expand the power of Office 365”. https://blogs.office.com/2016/08/03/announcing-the-general-availability-of-the-microsoft-excel-api-to-expand-the-power-of-office-365/. Retrieved 21 October 2016.