Project Siena Beta Refresh (November 2014): Bringing the power of productivity to business user created apps

In our latest release of Project Siena, we are putting the power of Office 365 directly into the hands of Siena authors, allowing them to create business & purpose-specific apps that fit their organization, all without having to write a single line of code.

Using a single-click users can add to their apps the capabilities of Email, Meetings (Calendar) and knowledge about the people in their organization all powered by Office 365.

Transforming productivity for your business

Imagine an app that allows an on-site elevator technician performing an inspection by keying of his calendar. Choosing an appointment will provide all the related context, without him ever leaving the app. Consider the following example used to generate a work order:

The technician sees his calendar and selects the #JOB1033 appointment, this takes him to the capture screen below with all the relevant information like customer details, elevator models and parts being populated based on his appointment.

Now he can capture pictures, add tags or notes and saves his work. This work order is then pushed up to the appropriate system based on the information pulled from his appointment.

Siena with power of Office 365 can enable countless such apps, enabling productivity in a whole new set of business scenarios.

Siena Beta Refresh

This release is another major step addition to Project Siena’s empowerment of business experts and analysts. Key new functionality includes:

  • One-click read/write connection to Office 365 (People, Mail, Meetings) and SharePoint online including Azure Active Directory based authentication
  • Create either landscape or portrait apps optimized for Surface Pro 3
  • Grouping and multi-selection editing of visuals
  • Across the board improvements, including more control over interactivity and design.

Summary

Project Siena Beta Refresh is another major milestone in our quest to empower business users to transform their business through purpose-specific apps now with the power of Office 365.

Please install the latest release of Project Siena from the Windows Store, check out https://microsoft.com/ProjectSiena, watch a tutorial video, download a sample app for inspiration, and then bring your own ideas to life in a Siena app.

Bill Staples, General Manger, Azure App Platform