Business users building for Windows 8.1 with Project Siena Beta 2

Somasegar’s blog - Project Siena Beta 2: Enabling business users to create apps connected to enterprise services, web and social

Three months ago, we opened up Project Siena to the public.  The response from enterprise business users, partners and general app imagineers has been great to see.

The initial release of Project Siena delivered a tool for non-developers to create mobile apps.  Any business user with PowerPoint and Excel formula skills was empowered to build highly interactive experiences that are rich in data and media and full of custom logic and intelligence.

Today, we are taking the next big stride for Project Siena with the release of Beta 2.

This major update changes the kind of impact that apps built with Siena can have within a business.  Project Siena now enables business users to connect apps to powerful web services – from popular consumer services to enterprise SaaS to services created by IT.

Services                                                    

Our mission is to make consuming services as easy as an Excel function. ...

 

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The Potential of Project Siena Apps

In the first public release of Project Siena, we made it possible for business users and experts to build apps as easily, and as expressively, as editing a document. We have seen people build apps for consuming data and media content, apps for on-the-spot decision making, and task apps that involve capturing photos and voice and hand notes. We have seen small, transient-use apps built in a few minutes as well as high value apps with purpose-specific looks and rich business logic.

Now, we are setting out to enable the same business users and experts to build apps that intermingle their data, content and knowledge with functionality seen today in only high-end custom applications, e.g.

• Social connections and instant communications
• Text to speech, translation, voice recognition
• Integration to SaaS and other back-end workflows

To get started with Siena, install the app from the Windows Store, check out http://microsoft.com/ProjectSiena , watch a tutorial video, download a sample app for inspiration, and then build your own.

With Project Siena, I believe every business user, every person with ideas and imagination, can be empowered to build these truly modern apps using SaaS and IT services.

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Without an enterprise store, I just don't see this taking off. I mean an inside the firewall, easy for IT to setup, admin and for users to upload/submit their apps and finally to browse and download, I just don't see Big-Medium businesses jumping in on this for their LOB app's. And do you really want your general power user creating app's for your business that are publically available? Not that they couldn't but I'm talking branding, image, legal, etc concerns about an employee without oversight creating externally available app's.

Grumpy guy aside, I DO this it would be AWESOME if there was an internal business store, where my users could create internal app's with this and publish them. Now that would be cool...