APIs Expand Utility of AppSource Solutions with Microsoft Dynamics

Microsoft AppSource has opened up the Dynamics ERP and CRM product line, allowing independent software vendors (ISVs) a new way to create, market, and deploy complementary products for Dynamics solutions.

But according to two principals at the Dynamics App Alliance, Andrew Good and Mark Brummel, validation protocols can considerably slow a vendor's development and launch process with AppSource, adding as much as six to eight weeks to each cycle. Any changes to the source code restart the validation clock.

Good and Brummel believe they have found a better way, one that will speed development, aide ISVs, and give end users more control over their intellectual property (IP). The answer lies in APIs.

Dynamics App Alliance CTO Brummel remarks that development in Dynamics NAV is more flexible than Dynamics 365 for Financials, even though they are based on the same platform. Moving NAV to the cloud in the form of Dynamics 365 for Financials discouraged the ability of partners to change code. Brummel says the product is "still more than competitive but not as flexible as it used to be." And then there is the lengthy AppSource validation process that adds to development time.

"We have a strong belief that APIs are going to change the way to look at ERP," he says. "APIs make it easy to connect the data when it's not in the same database. The user doesn't need to know what application they're working in."

The idea is to use a static web ...