Have you ever spent a lot of time looking for an SDK on the web? Interested in an advertisement network? How about controls for your Windows Store app? Want to find that analytics provider that lets you know how your user interacts with your app? There are many partners offering services to help you be successful. To help you find each other, we’re introducing your one-stop shop for all services related to Windows Store apps – the Windows Store Partner Directory.
Since the release of Windows 8 in October of last year, we’ve offered our own services such as Microsoft Advertising, Azure, and others. But Windows is an open platform and we’re creating a healthy ecosystem where publishers, agencies, middleware, and advertisers want to invest and see their business grow. We’ve created a unique place with simple navigation where anyone can see what partners and services are available for Windows Store apps. These partners – 1st or 3rd party – cover services from advertising to design. Services such as payment providers and push/notifications take advantage of Windows’ unique features like Live tiles and 3rd party transactions.
That’s why we’re proud to introduce you to the Windows Store Partner Directory at http://services.windowsstore.com
What is it?
This directory is where you’ll find the partners who offer services for Windows Store apps. These services help you to 1) build great app experiences, 2) achieve great economics, and 3) broaden your reach opportunity. To support these goals, we’re working with partners on the main verticals (advertising, analytics, notifications, payments, BaaS, SSO, and Controls & Frameworks) and many more will arrive in the coming months.
We made the site intuitive and easy to navigate; you’ll find your areas’ filters on the left. For example, the Has Offers filter provides special deals for you. Some of them offer something for free, even if it is for a short period of time. You’ll find our Partner Spotlight at the top, which changes regularly. The highlighted partner offers something unique (a compelling story, a great offer, a convincing case study, or just a very cool video).
When you click on a partner, you go a level deeper where you’ll see links to their Windows Store app’s SDKs and documentation as well as their case studies and how-to videos.
This partner directory is a way to save time and find everything (or most things) in one place. It helps you to be aware of, consider, and try out new and different services.
There is more to come
This is V.1. We wanted to show the partners and services that we have now, with anticipation of more to come. In future updates, we’ll have a way for our community to interact, comment, and help each other. We’ll also have new partners on a regular basis. We’re working hard to bring more partners and services and we appreciate your comments on what services you want to see supporting your Windows Store apps. If you have services for developers, we’d love to hear from you. Tweet us @windevs.
Visit the site at http://services.windowsstore.com and make sure to let us know what you think.
On a final note, BUILD is coming up next week and we’ll have a special area there, the “Platform Enabler” area where we’ll have some *fun challenges and prizes!* at our QuickStart Challenge. Look for us in the Windows area and come and say hi, stay and code, or stay and share your experiences and talk to some of our partners. We love to hear from you!
Gabriel Valdez M. – Product Marketing Manager Windows Apps