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While developers generally welcome the chance to shed the old
COM and VSTO add-ins, some say that VSTO allows a much quicker
turnaround. Also, Microsoft currently offers more customization
options for vendors using COM and VSTO, though this balance is sure to
tip as Office add-ins become more common.
DIY Office Add-ins
Developers who work in-house at firms are free to make their own Office
Add-ins. Microsoft provides the resources online. The apps can be
developed in Yeoman generator and managed in Visual Studio Code or
another editor. To deploy an add-in firm-wide, programmers can insert
their code into the central management platform of Office 365 or publish
it to a SharePoint app catalog. If you want the add-in to be available
publicly, you can publish it to AppSource.
The Future of Legal Add-ins
Those who are fed up with the travails of legal-specific application add-ins
may ask whether it's possible to get away from them entirely. Unless and
until Microsoft acquires legal applications and makes them a standard
part of Office, shortcomings will exist that need to be filled by third-party
vendors.
But the new web-based model of add-ins means there is no need to
give up on extended Office functionality for the legal industry just yet.
Office Add-ins seem poised to revitalize integrations and restore our
faith in them. ILTA
Brian Podolsky leads the Enterprise Content Management
(ECM) Practice Group at Kraft Kennedy. He has extensive
experience implementing and supporting Microsoft Office,
NetDocuments, iManage, OpenText eDOCS, and Worldox
document management systems, as well as third-party
integrated add-ons. He also drives research on the latest
ECM technologies including email management, enterprise
collaboration and search, and provides guidance and best
practice standards to clients implementing ECM solutions.
The late, great Shirley Chisholm said "If
they don't give you a seat at the table, bring
a folding chair." It is with this in mind that
ILTA Publications takes aim at boardroom
tables everywhere and asks: What seat
would you pull up to the table?
Today, we sit down with Nicola Shaver,
Managing Director of Innovation and
Knowledge at Paul Hastings. She speaks
with Beth Anne Stuebe, Director of
Publications and Press, and talks about
her chair, who else is at the table, why tech
is important, and so much more.
Getting a Seat
at the Table
L I S T E N T O P O D C A S T
