Feb 2016 – The Mobile Future comes into focus!

Recently, we sent out the following newsletter that explains some exciting recent developments in cross platform mobile development. You can use the signup form to the right to add yourself to the newsletter list, we would love to stay in touch! Here it is:
Yesterday, there was some very exciting news: Microsoft has agreed to acquire Xamarin!
Here is what the two parties have to say about it:

Let me explain why this is exciting, and how it will benefit you. To see the big picture, let’s go travel back in time in the history of both companies (a little condensed and simplified).
Xamarin emerged through the work of Miguel de Icaza on Mono, a port of the .NET framework, runtime and its C# compiler to Linux and other platforms. Out of that grew Mono Droid and Mono Touch, tools that would allow you to use Mono to develop native Android and iOS apps. Four years ago, with the help of Nat Friedman, this evolved into the company Xamarin, which productified these tools, built their own development environment Xamarin Studio, and created a cross platform component market.
Within Microsoft, a growing movement towards open source, services and mobile grew under the leadership of Scott Guthrie, and really took off when the leadership changed from Steve Ballmer to Satya Nadella. Windows and Office stopped being the only holy cash cows, as Microsoft realized it had to evolve with the times and embrace the transition from desktops and internal data centers to mobile devices (phones and tablets), HTML5 and the Cloud, where software is now sold as a service with a recurring revenue, like Office 365. In this transition, Microsoft also started to do very exciting things, like releasing Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook) on the iPhone.
There was an obvious alignment between Xamarin and Microsoft. Xamarin had created a way to use C# and .NET for iOS and Android development. Microsoft had embraced iOS and Android, but Visual Studio only developed apps for the Windows Phone with its dwindling market share, and for desktop Windows 8/10 and of course the web, but mostly if run on Microsoft middleware such as IIS, on Windows. As the two companies collaborated, things started happening. The parties released Visual Studio support for Xamarin, and Microsoft opened up the licensing agreements of all kinds of libraries so they were allowed to be used on other platforms than Windows. Then, the bombshell hit: Microsoft started open sourcing its .NET framework and compiler! Not only that: Microsoft also started creating a new version of the .NET framework and runtime that would run on Linux (and Macs). See Scott Hanselman’s blog here.
That’s right – now you could develop an Android app using Visual Studio, C# and .NET, and it could talk to a Web API developed in Visual C# and .NET, running on a Linux machine or in a Docker container!
Microsoft also made some other key investments:

  • Visual Studio Team Services (or VSTS) brought Team Foundation Server (TFS) to the Cloud as a service. At Trailhead we use this to plan and collaborate around our agile projects, tracking sprints, work items and bugs, as well as Test Plans.
  • VSTS embraced Git as a repository, very popular in the open source community and for mobile development and tools
  • Team Foundation Build was added to VSTS, allowing you to build your software in the cloud using prepackaged components, or your own, whether it was a .NET app or an android native app
  • Release Management was added to VSTS, through the acquisition of InRelease, so that DevOps could be run in the cloud, deploying built software to development, QA or production environment in a controlled manner
  • Azure was integrated with VSTS, allowing builds to deploy to Azure Web Apps and Cloud Services
  • HockeyApp joined Microsoft. Now there was a way to deploy Android and iOS builds to phones and tablets

A lot of other things happened too, but these are to me the main components: suddenly there was an end to end story from designing, developing, testing, managing, building, releasing and deploying code to cloud services and mobile devices, all using .NET, C# and Visual Studio, but ALSO with your own choice of operating systems, tools, programming languages, build processes and target devices!
In the meantime, Xamarin created some very interesting technologies, my favorite of which is Xamarin Test Cloud (XTC), which allows you to deploy mobile apps to an automated testing environment in the cloud, where it can be run simultaneously on hundreds of different real devices, like iPhones, iPads and a myriad of Android devices. What QA department can afford to buy all these and test on them, and keep up with the constant deluge of new hardware? With XTC, you can finally keep up with your users! XTC will actually test any Android or iOS app, not just those developed with Xamarin.
With this background, today’s announcement is just one more puzzle piece in the overall big picture. It is a perfect fit. Now the Mono framework that Xamarin rests upon will have full access to both the source code and the knowhow from Microsoft. The IDE teams can work together. The HockeyApp and InRelease people Microsoft will have access to XTC, fully integrating the Xamarin story into their processes, and Microsoft will have a fully owned toolset for Visual Studio AND Mac integrated mobile development.
And how does it benefit you?
As a developer, you can now work in a .NET, C#, Visual Studio, VSTS shop and run everything using the same toolset, knowhow and processes. This will lead to a shallower learning curve, faster time to market, lower development cost and improved processes (less misunderstandings, better communication). And of course that benefits the managers, the customers and the product development companies. Now they don’t have to hire one iOS developer, one Android developer, one middle tier developer, one Web developer, each with their own tools, processes, languages and each not being able to read each other’s code. Of course there will still be specialists, and even full stack developers will likely be best at say Xamarin iOS, but you will see a lot more synergies and cross team, cross functional development.
As an authorized Xamarin partner, with MVPs and Azure Insiders on board, we are here to help. Contact us to see how you can start leveraging the C#, .NET, Visual Studio and Xamarin to build cross platform mobile iOS and Android native apps that tie into a cross platform .NET Web API, with a modern HTML front end, and integrating with your legacy .NET middle tier and SQL Server database! We have done several projects recently where we use ALL of the technology mentioned above, to augment existing systems with powerful new capabilities! It’s an exciting new world out there, and it just came sharply into focus!
John and J.

John Waters

John Waters

As a highly respected and recommended technology leader, entrepreneur, and software architect extraordinaire, John Waters provides guidance for Trailhead teams and projects. His remarkable project requirements gathering and project estimation skills allow him to oversee teams that deliver client projects on time and on budget. John’s background includes over two decades of systems architecting, implementations for a range of high-performance business solutions, and speaking at conferences worldwide.

Related Blog Posts

We hope you’ve found this to be helpful and are walking away with some new, useful insights. If you want to learn more, here are a couple of related articles that others also usually find to be interesting:

Manage Your Windows Applications With Winget

Winget, Microsoft’s native package manager for Windows 10 (version 1709 and later) and Windows 11, offers a streamlined CLI for efficient application management. This blog post introduces Winget’s installation and basic commands for installing, updating, and removing software. It highlights the tool’s ability to manage non-Winget-installed apps and explores curated package lists for batch installations. The post also recommends top Winget packages, noting some may require a paid subscription.

Read More

Our Gear Is Packed and We're Excited to Explore With You

Ready to come with us? 

Together, we can map your company’s software journey and start down the right trails. If you’re set to take the first step, simply fill out our contact form. We’ll be in touch quickly – and you’ll have a partner who is ready to help your company take the next step on its software journey. 

We can’t wait to hear from you! 

Main Contact

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Together, we can map your company’s tech journey and start down the trails. If you’re set to take the first step, simply fill out the form below. We’ll be in touch – and you’ll have a partner who cares about you and your company. 

We can’t wait to hear from you! 

Montage Portal

Montage Furniture Services provides furniture protection plans and claims processing services to a wide selection of furniture retailers and consumers.

Project Background

Montage was looking to build a new web portal for both Retailers and Consumers, which would integrate with Dynamics CRM and other legacy systems. The portal needed to be multi tenant and support branding and configuration for different Retailers. Trailhead architected the new Montage Platform, including the Portal and all of it’s back end integrations, did the UI/UX and then delivered the new system, along with enhancements to DevOps and processes.

Logistics

We’ve logged countless miles exploring the tech world. In doing so, we gained the experience that enables us to deliver your unique software and systems architecture needs. Our team of seasoned tech vets can provide you with:

Custom App and Software Development

We collaborate with you throughout the entire process because your customized tech should fit your needs, not just those of other clients.

Cloud and Mobile Applications

The modern world demands versatile technology, and this is exactly what your mobile and cloud-based apps will give you.

User Experience and Interface (UX/UI) Design

We want your end users to have optimal experiences with tech that is highly intuitive and responsive.

DevOps

This combination of Agile software development and IT operations provides you with high-quality software at reduced cost, time, and risk.

Trailhead stepped into a challenging project – building our new web architecture and redeveloping our portals at the same time the business was migrating from a legacy system to our new CRM solution. They were able to not only significantly improve our web development architecture but our development and deployment processes as well as the functionality and performance of our portals. The feedback from customers has been overwhelmingly positive. Trailhead has proven themselves to be a valuable partner.

– BOB DOERKSEN, Vice President of Technology Services
at Montage Furniture Services

Technologies Used

When you hit the trails, it is essential to bring appropriate gear. The same holds true for your digital technology needs. That’s why Trailhead builds custom solutions on trusted platforms like .NET, Angular, React, and Xamarin.

Expertise

We partner with businesses who need intuitive custom software, responsive mobile applications, and advanced cloud technologies. And our extensive experience in the tech field allows us to help you map out the right path for all your digital technology needs.

  • Project Management
  • Architecture
  • Web App Development
  • Cloud Development
  • DevOps
  • Process Improvements
  • Legacy System Integration
  • UI Design
  • Manual QA
  • Back end/API/Database development

We partner with businesses who need intuitive custom software, responsive mobile applications, and advanced cloud technologies. And our extensive experience in the tech field allows us to help you map out the right path for all your digital technology needs.

Our Gear Is Packed and We're Excited to Explore with You

Ready to come with us? 

Together, we can map your company’s tech journey and start down the trails. If you’re set to take the first step, simply fill out the contact form. We’ll be in touch – and you’ll have a partner who cares about you and your company. 

We can’t wait to hear from you! 

Thank you for reaching out.

You’ll be getting an email from our team shortly. If you need immediate assistance, please call (616) 371-1037.