The Best Business Apps for the Office 2013 App Store

Though Microsoft’s bread and butter has traditionally been the Windows OS and its associated desktop software, the looming hype around cloud computing has persuaded the software giant to integrate its latest version of Office with some of the web’s most popular apps.

Below are 3 of the most innovative and useful apps now available in the App Store. They’re especially well-suited to the needs of business clients, but both Lucidchart and DocStoc Premium double as personal productivity tools. Since the App Store is still new, it will likely attract many more developers, and apps, as time goes on. The resources below represent forward-thinking brands who were the first to develop integrations for the new platform.

Lucidchart:

Lucidchart is one of the most popular apps in the Chrome Web Store and the Google Apps Marketplace, so it was only a matter of time before they integrated their diagramming tool with Microsoft Word.

Lucidchart is a HTML5-based visual collaboration tool that makes drawing diagrams fast and easy. Users have access to Lucidchart’s extensive shape libraries, real-time collaboration tools, and flexible design options.
Draw new Lucidchart diagrams, see your existing diagrams, and easily import them, all within Word. For team and enterprise users, Lucidchart offers one-of-a-kind features like Visio import/export, Visio stencil import, and much more.

This app is perfect for creating:

-Flowcharts
-Org charts
-Site maps
-Wireframes / mockups
-Technical diagrams like UML, ERD, BPMN, and more
-Educational diagrams like mind maps, graphic organizers, and Venn diagrams

Check out Lucidchart’s free app, with option to upgrade, here.

Innardly:

This is a nifty Excel task pane app that’s perfect for small businesses with even smaller budgets. Innardly helps its users to 1) identify successful local businesses and 2) compare their organization to these local competitors, using the powerful data analysis and visualization capabilities of Microsoft Excel 2013. Innardly also leverages Bing Maps and CityGrid, a tracking and management service for small businesses’ online presence.

This app is ideal for:

-Daily snapshot comparisons of your business’ performance vs. competitors
-Viewing online chatter about your business’ online ratings and reviews
-Creating eye-opening reports for your staffers and investors

Download Innardly--and its accompanying Excel template--here.

Docstoc Premium:

With Docstoc, you can find and download a vast quantity of high quality resources, like legal forms, professional templates, and more. Docstoc also offers videos, guides, and articles for business and personal needs.

This app provides access to resources like:

-Invoice templates
-Resume templates
-Legal documents like lease and non-disclosure agreements
-SEO tips
-Google hacks

All Docstoc documents are reviewed by industry professionals and given the Docstoc Certified stamp of approval. If you need a database of dependable documents, say goodbye to Google and hello to Docstoc Premium.

Note: While Docstoc Premium is free to download, their monthly packages are fee-based. See here for download and account information.

Remember, Office 2013 is still in beta mode, but users can preview the new Office to try out the app integrations. Full release of the App Store and the Office Suite is slated for early next year.

By improving ease of use, collaboration, and security, Microsoft is setting itself up to truly compete with Google. They’re pulling out all the stops with Windows 8, the new Surface tablet, and now the Office 2013 App Store. Will 2013 be the year for Microsoft’s resurgence in the tech world? Only time will tell.