Today, there are many business platforms available to help you get started and to allow your business to grow with the advent of new technologies and client needs. Choosing the right platform can be important, though, so make sure you know what the right platform has to offer before jumping in with both feet. Here are some ways that an extensible business platform can benefit your company and keep it on its toes when it comes to changing needs and technology advancements. As technology expands and grows, businesses are becoming more reliant on platforms and systems to run their day-to-day operations. Platforms such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, or Outlook all provide critical functionality that businesses need to succeed. But, what if your business needs additional functionality? What if you’re implementing another system that can benefit from integration with your current system? Today, we’ll be discussing how extensibility can improve the quality of life for your business by providing extensibility in your platform of choice.
What Is Extensibility?
Extensibility is the ability to extend or expand a system’s capabilities. You can extend an existing system by adding new features, by creating new interfaces, or by implementing new technologies. Extensible systems are also more flexible and adaptable to change over time. For example, if you have a website that needs to be translated into several languages but don’t want to spend the time and money translating it yourself, then you would want your site to be highly extensible so that someone else could translate it for you. As your company grows over time and needs changes in order to stay competitive, an extensible system will help keep up with those changes without having them affect your company’s stability and longevity. In addition, an extensible system may offer other benefits such as being more responsive to emerging technological trends than non-extensible alternatives.
The benefits of an extensible platform
An extensible platform is one that can be modified by those who use it. This benefits businesses because employees don’t need to wait for their boss to approve requests for changes, they can just make them and have instant access to updates. The same goes for users: if a new feature is added and they like it, then they’ll have immediate access to it as soon as it’s rolled out. On top of this, many platforms offer APIs that allow developers to build on top of what’s already there. Building with an API provides companies with the ability to turn any changes or additions into products or features without having to start from scratch or repurpose old ones. In addition, when a company finds something useful in another company’s app, they can quickly implement it on their own platform instead of starting over. For example, say a company found that their competitor has built an awesome video chat program and they want to create video chat functionality on their own app. Instead of recreating the whole thing themselves and throwing away whatever work they’ve done so far, it would be faster for them to develop the video chat using the competitor’s code and integrating it into their system.
How businesses can take advantage of an extensible platform?
An extensible platform is one that provides developers with the ability to extend the functionality and features of the software. An extension is an additional or supplemental part that adds to what is already there. One such way in which businesses can take advantage of an extensible platform is by using third-party extensions that add new features. Extensions are created by external developers and sold separately from the original product, but they may also come bundled with it. Some extensions are free while others may be paid, but they all have their own set of pros and cons. Third-party extensions provide convenience because you don’t have to develop your own; you just install them. And, if something goes wrong with an extension or if the company developing it stops supporting it, you don’t have any baggage because they’re not your property. You could lose out on having unique features that only you can offer your customers because every time you create a feature for your core application, a competitor could copy it and release their own version without having to pay for any research and development costs. It’s important to note that third party extensions do not always provide the same level of support as those made by the company itself: For example, Microsoft does not offer technical support for products developed by other companies on its Azure Marketplace.
The difference between an extensible platform and a traditional platform
The biggest difference between an extensible platform and a traditional one is in the amount of time it takes to get started. With an extensible platform, you only need to build out your core features and then let users add more features with their own plugins. Traditional platforms require all features to be built from scratch, which means more development time upfront.
The other major difference is that with an extensible platform, you don’t have to worry about compatibility because all plugins are managed by the user. With traditional platforms, you need to make sure that your software works on all operating systems and browsers. This can be tricky when new ones are released or old ones stop being supported by different companies.
The final difference is in cost as both platforms offer very different pricing options.
The future of extensible platforms
In order for any company to be successful, it needs to grow. And as it grows, it needs to be able to scale with its customers and employees. For most companies this has meant that they need to invest in new servers, software and equipment when their business starts to expand. But what if there was another option? What if you could just buy more space on a shared server rather than building new ones? That’s where extensible platforms come into play. With an extensible, virtualized environment, a company is free to purchase only the resources it needs at any given time. It saves them money by avoiding unnecessary overhead costs associated with maintaining large data centers or purchasing physical assets that may not even be used. Instead, they rent everything they need from one place which means they don’t have to worry about how much storage or power their system will use-it scales automatically. With an extensible environment, businesses are able to experience exponential growth without ever worrying about having enough room for expansion-they can always take up more space as needed without breaking the bank!
Conclusion
A platform that is highly extendible will have more opportunity for growth. By creating a highly scalable product, businesses are able to grow with their customer base and create new opportunities. Furthermore, by using lean techniques in developing the product, it may be easier to create new features while spending less money upfront. A dependable development team that is experienced in agile development practices can help you build an extensible product that will make your company more profitable and successful. Businesses need to maintain agility and flexibility as they scale. Platforms with rich extension frameworks provide this capability because they’re modular by design and have a host of plugins that allow different organizations to plug in where they feel they’re needed most. In fact, as part of this extension process, products can even go through what’s called product fractals, meaning customers only pay for what functionality they need or want – like when paying for HBO versus basic cable TV service. It’s all about putting power into the hands of people who need it most: developers themselves!
