Luring Developers: Can Microsoft Dynamics Benefit from a Windows 8 App Push?

The post-Windows 8 world is a whole different ballgame for Microsoft. With secrecy surrounding the new OS finally broken and its unified interface making consumer and IT tech rounds, it's time for the desktop giant to think about what comes next.

First on that list is their BUILD conference on October 30^th, but after the Windows 8 launch, Surface RT and a new Windows phone release, what's left? As Loyd Case at PCWorld points out, this is a developer's conference and while the Redmond team might be exhausted from pushing all their new shiny technology out the door, now isn't the time for resting on laurels.

A Developing Relationship

Microsoft hasn't been terribly forthcoming about BUILD's agenda. That's fine for suspense, but the reveal had better include some hard data, showing at least some idea of where the company wants to take its new ecosystem. Gone are the days of software giants telling consumers what they need - those that want to remain giants, at any rate - and this certainly includes Microsoft. Developers want access not just to desktop environments but smartphones, tablets and the Xbox 360; despite the new, unified OS front huge gaps still exist in how apps integrate (or don't) across environments.

Interest is already high in the Microsoft Dynamics ecosystem - take, for example, some of the initiatives already underway. Sonoma Partners, a Chicago-area consulting firm, recently released their EZ Opp application for Windows 8, while developers Suresh Kulla and Michael Heydasch created a demo version of a Windows Store dashboard that communicates with NAV 2013.