SharePoint Workshop

SharePoint add-in vendors use a variety of approaches for common elements like licensing, product bundling, trial periods, and so on. This section is intended to provide a comparison of those approaches, rather than a comparative ranking of the vendors or their products. Table 1 summarizes some of those differences.

Most of these companies offer custom development or other services upon request. The "Sales Focus" column is meant to indicate their primary approach. For example, CorasWorks bundles most of its products, while Bamboo Solutions provides a more a la carte approach. A la carte works well when you have specific needs that aren't met out-of-the-box; bundles provide some savings if you are focusing on one vendor.

 

Similarly, trials vary widely. Hosted trials are quick and easy to use; downloadable trials allow you to set up more real-world scenarios. The key advantage of downloadable trials is that they give you an idea of how hard or easy a product is to install. That is especially important for add-ins that include web services or security-related features like user management.