Iteration2 Adopts Microsoft Dynamics Snap for Rapid Innovation

Iteration2 Adopts Microsoft’s Vision for Sandboxing and Application Mashing with Dynamics Snap

Irvine, CA -- Iteration2 (www.iteration2.com), the fastest growing Microsoft Dynamics AX Gold Certified Partner and 2005 US MBS Partner of the Year, announced their broad support for Microsoft’s Dynamics Snap initiative. Microsoft Dynamics Snap, a new collection of software programs that snap in to Microsoft Office 2003. Initially there are 4 programs released, these four new programs help enable information workers to easily coordinate and manage data in certain Microsoft Dynamics business management solutions using the familiar interface of Microsoft Office 2003. These applications can enhance the productivity of information workers by allowing them to access and use business processes and data from business management solutions back-end applications like Microsoft Dynamics AX 3.0 (formerly Microsoft Business Solutions-Axapta) and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, directly from within certain Microsoft Office applications.

The new programs are available on GotDotNet.com and enable users to enter or retrieve data using Microsoft Dynamics AX 3.0 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, within the familiar Office client environment. Microsoft partners and other independent software vendors (ISVs) can benefit by using the shared source code in the Snap-ins that have been developed for Microsoft Office to enhance or customize the shipped solutions or to use them as examples to build new composite applications for their customers.

Very interesting to Microsoft’s strategy is that Microsoft has put 'Dynamics Snap' code into the public realm. Microsoft has made the source code for Snap software available to the public and has bound its Axapta and CRM applications to Office 2003. The new Microsoft Dynamics Snap components include a Time Sheet Snap-in, a Vacation Management Snap-in, Business Data Lookup Snap-in for Dynamics AX 3.0 (Axapta), as well as a business Data Lookup Snap-in for Dynamics CRM 3.0. All of the code is accessible from GotDotNet.com.

“The Snap strategy, once fully adopted will tremendously accelerate the rate of innovation available to Microsoft customers”, says Paul Osterhoudt, Vice President of Product Development at Iteration2. Further says Osterhoudt, “I look forward to being a contributing member of the upcoming Snap community, this will provide customers with the rapid innovation of the public domain with the security and confidence available only from Microsoft.

Snap is a shared-source initiative, enabling partners and customers to extend or customize application functionality. Part of its appeal will be that the technology will be able to be used to develop applications for vertical markets or to build composite applications. Snap is part of Microsoft's long range Dynamics strategy which ultimately aims to unite its business applications through a single code base. Snap aims to deliver a common interface based around Office and role-based applications with deep Office, SharePoint and SQL Server Reporting integration. The second wave will focus on providing common server technology and a common process and business rules model.