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Our business produces custom software for private businesses with .net technologies.

We have an application our business wrote that we are currently manually distributing onto Microsoft Surface Tablets that belong to our client. This is a private application developed for a single client. Traditionally we publish private software with click once, where the click once solution is hosted on our client’s private network. This latest solution is distributed to the Microsoft Surface Tablets and these tablets currently do not have access to any private network.

To solve distribution, we thought to use MSIX and a private Microsoft Business Store.

We already have an Azure Active Directory and we are also a Microsoft Silver partner. It seems neither one of those assets were helpful in setting up our Microsoft Business Store. We are being directed to create a new “developer” account. We were told we could not create this developer account with our existing office 365 email accounts. They told us to create a new email with Outlook.com, Hotmail and/or gmail. Why do we need to create an artificial personal account? The software we are distributing does not belong to a person, it belongs to a business. Next we are being directed to pay a $99 registration fee. The fee is not really the problem. This process seems to be a hassle. This is the problem. Because it seems we are trying to fit a square peg in a round hole it causes me concern. Are we using the right tool for distribution?

I need to know if I will be able to distribute software from our private business store to specific clients. Today we need to distribute one solution to one client. Next week I will need to distribute a different solution to a different client. Will one business store be able to accomplish that?

Are we headed down the right path using MSIX and a private business store? In the end, I just want to distribute software, and updates to that software with the least amount of hassle and the least amount of expense to a diverse set of clients. Thoughts, ideas?

Workman
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1 Answers1

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Why do we need to create an artificial personal account?

It seems that you need a developer account to publish the app through Dev center.

Next we are being directed to pay a $99 registration fee.

You may register your developer account as a Company account which needed paid $99.

I need to know if I will be able to distribute software from our private business store to specific clients.

Yes, it is. The developer published a LOB app to your company by the developer account,then the business admin could approve the LOB apps to the private Store

In the end, I just want to distribute software, and updates to that software with the least amount of hassle and the least amount of expense to a diverse set of clients.

According to what you said, it seems that you are preparing to add LOB apps to your private store. I will give you general steps for this:

1.Add an LOB publisher (Admin): you need to invite a developer(you could register a developer a ccount or invite developer) to be an LOB publisher

2.The developer receive the invite and accept it , then he can submit a new submission for the LOB app

3.The Store for Business Admin approve and add the published app to inventory

4.Your special client could access the app

DasiyTian_1203
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  • One of the frustrating issues is in your step #1. We tried this many times before I decided to ask for help here. When I invite a LOB publisher it does not complete the action. Instead we get a dialog the is titled "We couldn't send that invite". It gives two possible problems, Dev Center Account Status or email is used for sign in but not sign up. – Workman Sep 19 '19 at 13:33
  • Did you follow the steps in the blog [Invite a developer to publish LOB apps to your Enterprise](https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/sbucci/2016/04/13/windows-store-for-business-and-line-of-business-applications/) to send the email invitation? Is the account used to invite developer the admin account?Are the invited accounts the developer accounts of the Store? – DasiyTian_1203 Sep 20 '19 at 06:21