Extending Office 365 functionality to third-party developers, Microsoft has exposed a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) so other companies can add features and capabilities to the online productivity service.

The company announced the new functionality at the TechEd Europe conference, held this week in Barcelona.

The APIs are a way for third-party programs to access the information and capabilities of the online office suite, including those for user mail, files, calendar and contacts.

Microsoft is “clearly trying to keep Office front and center in the new world of mobile devices,” wrote Al Hilwa, program director for software development research at IDC. “The approach of moving to APIs is the right strategy for providing extensibility to services like Office 365 in the era of cloud. I would expect that they will keep building on these APIs over time, but they are handling the most important areas in this wave, which relate to email integration.”

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