
NdMail has always been integrated with Microsoft Office 365 via the COM/VSTO add-in model. What kind of Microsoft Office 365 integrations are available with ndMail?
#Office 365 versus office 2010 install
Doesn’t require a local install on any device.Cross-platform for all devices that Microsoft Office 365 supports: web, Windows, Mac, iPad, and mobile (iOS and Android).Can be deployed with just a few clicks to all your users.Brings flexibility and functionality to Outlook without bogging it down.It solves many of the challenges with COM/VSTO add-ins and are essentially a web page that displays within the MS Office application, within Outlook in the case of ndMail. The Office Add-in platform is Microsoft’s new approach to add-ins within MS Office applications. Microsoft currently offers broader vendor customization for COM/VSTO add-ins, though this will change over time as Microsoft matures the Office Add-in platform.Can consume a lot of an organization’s internal IT resources to deploy, update, and maintain since there’s no centralized deployment or distribution.Only available to Outlook desktop running on windows.Can be heavy and slow down Outlook because it relies on the same memory and CPU as Outlook.
#Office 365 versus office 2010 code
Requires local code running on each user’s device as well as a local install which is susceptible to environmental variables and potential conflicts with other add-ins.This legacy model is very mature and has been around for a long time.

Historically, the primary method of integrating with Outlook has been via the COM or VSTO add-ins. What’s the difference between the COM/VSTO add-ins vs the Office Add-ins? Both have advantages, and it is important to understand them so you can pick the right solution for your organization’s email management needs. However, integrations done via COM/VSTO add-ins vs the Office Add-in platform are very different. The naming convention Microsoft has chosen can make it a little confusing to easily understand what kind of integration a vendor you’re evaluating offers because both add-in models can be called “Microsoft Office 365 integrations”. There are two ways to have a Microsoft Office 365 integration: through the COM/VSTO add-in or an Office Add-in. What does it mean to have a Microsoft Office 365 integration? But you might want to think about it more if your current email management system is bogging down or crashing Outlook isn’t available on Outlook web, Mac, or mobile or requires a lot of IT help to set up and get running.

How often do you think about how your email management system integrates with Outlook? Probably not very often, if ever.
