[mikesaraf]

I'm a co-founder of a little startup project that got accepted in the BizSpark program and I can say it has definitely been a benefit to us and will be to our users when we launch in late January. We're building a web app for a vertical in the attorney space, it's a rails app built completely on an open source stack.

Why do we need BizSpark? While we would like for our customers to use our web app exclusively, the reality is the majority of practices run Windows and Office. So we built Exchange and Outlook integration using the tools provided by BizSpark. If we hadn't had access to those tools we still would have built the product, but we wouldn't have Exchange and Outlook support at launch. The benifit for us; We built a product better suited for our customers. The benefit for MS: They have another product on the list of thousands that has custom support and integration with their office suite, their bread and butter.

Clearly the biggest benefit for us has been access to thousands in software we otherwise couldn't afford. But we will be looking at the opportunities to network with partners and investors through BizSpark when we're ready.

I see it as a win for us and an ever so tiny win (because of our small user base) for Microsoft.

[mindcrime]

What kind of conditions do they impose on you as a part of the program? Is there any stuff like "an app built using Bizspark that supports Microsoft office cannot also support OpenOffice / LibreOffice," or "your app can't be open-source?" Etc?

Is it just software, or do they provide any sort of assistance with doing the integration with their stuff?

I'm curious since I could see a use for Sharepoint integration and even Outlook / Office integration for some of what I'm working on, but I'd still be leery of the whole "it's a trap" thing with Microsoft.

[mikesaraf]

It is basically an open invitation to use their tools where you see fit. Our web app is built on an open source stack. We are writing software to integrate with the Mac (few attorneys use Macs but its growing). There wasn't any weird limitation or requirements to write MS only applications, we couldn't find any catch.

There are a couple of ways to get support. First, you're basically getting premium MSDN account access, so you get a limited number of support requests, it gives you one-on-one access to their engineers to get technical help if you need it. Second, there is a general BizSpark contact. We haven't contacted them yet, I suspect its primarily for getting help with the parter & investor networking aspect of it.

As far as signing up, go for it! I'd encourage anyone that falls in their guidelines and wants to integrate with any piece of MS software to sign up. (Main guidelines: Your company or startup is less than 3 years old, privately owned, Less then $1M in revenue)

[jf]

HN readers interested in BizSpark can also contact me directly to get in.

[jf]

I work for Microsoft. Part of my job is talking about BizSpark.

BizSpark doesn't impose any conditions like you listed, to qualify for BizSpark, you just need to meet the requirements listed here: https://www.microsoft.com/BizSpark/Faqs.aspx#Startup-Questio...

We don't have a formal way to offer assistance to startups looking to integrate with our software. That said, I'd love to talk to anybody who is interested doing integrations with Microsoft software.

[mindcrime]

Hmmm... when I tried that URL in Chrome, I get:

"You attempted to reach www.microsoft.com, but the certificate that the server presented has been revoked by its issuer. This means that the security credentials the server presented absolutely should not be trusted. You may be communicating with an attacker. You should not proceed."

Just FYI...

[jf]

Odd. Are you getting the correct certificate? You should be getting a certificate with a fingerprint of: "ea 22 6c ac ce 3f 1c b3 47 d9 f7 8f 60 31 d3 ba 41 07 91 99"

You can use this command to double-check the certificate on your local (POSIX) machine or on a remote server:

  echo '' | openssl s_client -connect www.microsoft.com:443 | openssl x509 -noout -fingerprint

[kenjackson]

What is the Microsoft store?

[jf]

So, there's this: http://store.microsoft.com - it's a site where you can buy Microsoft products online. Then there are several retail locations where you can go in-person to purchase Microsoft software and related hardware: https://store.microsoft.com/Locations

[kenjackson]

Sorry... I misread what you wrote. I thought you said "integrations with the Microsoft store"... you said, "Microsoft software".

[allwein]

About the only condition is that your startup cannot simply be a hosting provider. Meaning, I'm selling IIS7 web hosting accounts with SQL Server available as a backend and free Exchange Email, and all that I'm using the Bizspark supplied software for is that generic hosting.

[rickdangerous1]

No conditions at all.

[kvs]

I second that. Very useful program; pretty much any Microsoft product is available for download and use within the startup.

[robconery]

This is interesting - I'm assuming that by "Exchange Integration" you're talking about Calendaring, appointments, and so on yes? I don't get the connection between your use of Exchange and your client's use of Exchange.

Put another way - I'm imagining you have a "Add to Outlook" bit of functionality which makes perfect sense. But the format is quite open and it, after all, a text file. How does this jibe with your web offering and your need for Exchange?

The main reason I ask is that Exchange is (generally) seen as not necessary in a startup (company < 20 or so). Typically they'll use Google apps or another hosted service which will accept their domain (Live.com does this as well).

Can you detail more why you needed Exchange with a Web app?

[mikesaraf]

We wrote a utility that will run on a customer's windows server that syncs data from our webapp to their local server. Some of that data is calendar events and it saves those directly to the customers exchange server. Granted not all of our customers will use this functionality, but enough will to make it worth writing.

Our software is for attorneys and many attorneys love outlook + exchange + blackberry server, even small offices.