An introduction to the Microsoft Business Store

The Business Store supports several tasks. One is the ability to add applications, purchasing one or multiple licences for the organisation’s users, or selecting free applications. Licence fees are paid to Microsoft, which is then responsible for paying the developer, just as with the Windows Store (see below for other ways to license applications). Next, administrators can assign applications to users. There are options to enable any user to install an application, or to assign them to specific recipients, all subject to those users being part of the same AAD organisation.

Once applications are assigned, those recipients can go to the Windows Store, select a private section dedicated to their organisation and install the applications. Note that, in this scenario, the administrator does not need to worry about setup files or other deployment issues, since everything is handled by the Store. Applications also go through Microsoft’s standard checks for malware or insecure behaviour. The portal lets administrators see which recipients have installed a specific application. This part of the portal allows licenses to be revoked, so they become available for assignment to other users. This is a benefit of using AAD rather than Microsoft Accounts as the identity mechanism.