Microsoft recently launched the preview version of Office 2013, which includes, among other things, a way to purchase and/or download third party apps via the Office Store. Microsoft went into more detail about how these new Office and SharePoint apps work in a previous post on the Office next blog.
In a new post on the blog, Microsoft talks about how IT administrators working with company employees can deploy and manage the new Office and SharePoint apps that will be available for Office 2013 users.
Microsoft says that IT workers can easily manage which Office and SharePoint apps are available for a company"s employees to download and use. The blog states:
In the simplest sense, it’s a SharePoint library that contains all of the apps you have for your org. The Office clients all point to this library, so if you want to give your users access to a new app for Office, just add the manifest file it to the library, and the app will automatically show up for everyone right from Office. The same is true for apps for SharePoint, just add the app package to library and it will start showing up for everyone.
In terms of security, Office apps will allow users to decide whether or not to download and use one when prompted by a Office 2013 document. IT workers can also monitor how Office and SharePoint apps are used via a new feature called Office Telemetry. It can give them information such as which apps are most popular, what documents are used by the most employees at the office, and more.
Source: Office Next blog | Image via Microsoft