3 ms·

The squicky thing about the Microsoft online ecosystem of tools is their first party vs everything else approach. Where first party is easy and everything else

by ethbr0 4y ago

The squicky thing about the Microsoft online ecosystem of tools is their first party vs everything else approach. Where first party is easy and everything else is a second class citizen. I'd feel a lot more comfortable if they categorically committed to only using APIs for their products that were also open to everyone. Have they done this? Graph also seems unstable in regards to refactoring and deprecating over the past years. Look at something simple like "set up a trigger when a user receives an email." It's been through 2+ architecture changes (nothing, webhooks, delta, subscriptions?). Or Teams API coverage (beta or not?). But most of my feelings are probably classic HN "Has MS really turned a page, or are they extending 90s behavior via cloud lock-in, with a veneer of nice tools?" paranoia. And only the future knows the answer. Disclaimer: Work for a company that competes with Microsoft in some areas. We see a lot of customer Azure AD admins floundering in supporting non-MS integration.

cookie_monsta 4y ago
There are a lot of connectors[1], both MS and non-MS but I think "open to everyone" is a different thing. Of course it's a lock-in. They're not doing this to be nice. What makes it an easy decision for us is that upper management already decided to lock us in (requests for getting non-approved software installed on a company laptop can take 3+ months to process...). I don't think Graph has triggers, but powerautomate does and admittedly I find them a little flaky across the board - I wouldn't be relying on them, we just poll for changes every 60 seconds or so if it's critical. Teams for the most part is just a wrapper around sharepoint/outlook groups. The API there seems stable enough [1]https://make.powerautomate.com/connectors https://make.powerautomate.com/connectors
- ethbr0 4y ago
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/webhooks https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/webhooks

by ethbr0 4y ago

cookie_monsta 4y ago

There are a lot of connectors[1], both MS and non-MS but I think "open to everyone" is a different thing. Of course it's a lock-in. They're not doing this to be nice. What makes it an easy decision for us is that upper management already decided to lock us in (requests for getting non-approved software installed on a company laptop can take 3+ months to process...). I don't think Graph has triggers, but powerautomate does and admittedly I find them a little flaky across the board - I wouldn't be relying on them, we just poll for changes every 60 seconds or so if it's critical. Teams for the most part is just a wrapper around sharepoint/outlook groups. The API there seems stable enough [1]https://make.powerautomate.com/connectors https://make.powerautomate.com/connectors

ethbr0 4y ago
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/webhooks https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/webhooks