Introducing: Builder

When we launched the initial Egnyte app store, we wanted to reinforce our users’ natural workflows, sniffing out opportunities for seamless automation and building bridges via open APIs, diligently aligning with major ecosystems on our end, and offering deep co-marketing opportunities to emerging ISVs.Even though app stores these days are a requirement for Saas providers, we realized it would only become more difficult for users to avoid getting lost in the weeds as we kept piling on integrations. Egnyte Connect’s openness and versatility means it’s best used as a content management layer across customers’ workflow, and it’s important to us that our app store communicate that.That’s why I’m very excited to announce the launch of Builder.Builder is breaking down the walls of what a traditional app store is and can do, re-envisioning the future as less transactional and much more narrative-driven. Traditional app stores tend to assume the users know exactly what they’re looking for. In our experience, by the numbers, and from customer anecdotes, there’s a consistent conclusion: users arrive at the app store knowing what the problem is. They don’t arrive with the best solution already in mind.Granted this is not an issue for most IT admins, but we wanted to make our ecosystem more accessible to end users as we scaled. In Builder, instead of being thrown into the river headfirst, users can filter apps, add-ons, or integrations by use case.[caption id="attachment_8001" align="aligncenter" width="898"]

Builder's filters in action[/caption]Thanks to the filters on the left, users don’t need to dip more than a toe in the water until they’ve narrowed their options down to the ones that match their use case. To add to the convenience, they can hover to preview functionality and click to learn more to explore in depth and ultimately install the app, add-on, or integration.Traditional app stores made it harder for non-technical end users to winnow down the field, a problem that would only be exacerbated at the rate our ecosystem is growing. The best part of Builder, and our new approach, is that it grew organically through exposure to our customers. Now, our app store can adapt to any unique combination of apps that create a digital workplace within and outside a company, letting different teams work on the same content using with different tools.At Dreamforce this year, we shared a ‘use case guide’. It’s a nifty little tool that shows how sales and marketing can navigate their entire process, from a marketing manager’s raw idea about a sales document to a sales contract being signed, using Egnyte Connect as their one-stop content repository together with several dedicated applications to address specific needs.[caption id="attachment_7999" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]

A Day in the Life of Sales & Marketing: Content Collaboration[/caption]When I put this slide on screen, at our Customer Advisory Board a month ago, I was surprised to see everyone’s ears perk up. In the words of one of our customers, “everyone has an app store, but no one ever approaches this as a holistic solution provider.” Generally, when a customer tells you they love something, you roll with it. That’s exactly what we’ve done in our launch.Headlining the main stage of Builder’s launch, we have new integrations with industry-leading productivity tools, including a couple that our customers have been clamoring for. I’m delighted to say Egnyte Connect now integrates seamlessly with AdobeSign and Gmail. Customers already know about our deep integrations with Google Drive, OneLogin, Salesforce, and a broad range of Microsoft products, from Azure to Office.On the second stage, meanwhile, we have featured integrations with mxHero, Azuqua, Envoy, SignNow, Docurated, and Webmerge, among others. Builder is designed to get as granular as possible with industry- and job-specific integrations like FloQast, FotoIn, InMotion and others. Consult our partner marketplace for the full list!The idea behind Builder was to leverage Egnyte Connect as the foundational content management layer on top of which you can build a clear, personalized and automated workflow. In that case, it wasn’t really a ‘store’ anymore. In a traditional app store, the burden is on customers to peruse integrations, take a 10,000 foot view, and then install the right tools one at a time.Our app store has been reborn as a workflow generator. Or, if you like, as a solution Builder.