November 2nd, 2021

Microsoft 365 Developer Program launches new instant sandbox with Teams sample data pack

Michael Aldridge
Principal Program Manager

New capabilities offers Teams and Microsoft 365 developers a turnkey developer environment in seconds! To get your new instant sandbox, Join the Microsoft 365 Developer Program today!

The journey to friction free developer experiences

When we relaunched the developer program three years ago, we knew it would be a journey not a destination. Developers told us back then it was critical they could have:

  • Their own sandbox using our standard Microsoft 365 subscriptions
  • The power to become their own admins
  • Sample data packs with sample users, mail and calendar data so they didn’t have to waste time creating this themselves

All of this was designed to help reduce friction and get developers coding as soon as possible.

A year ago we partnered with the Microsoft Teams developer experiences team to interview developers around the world and understand their key friction points with Microsoft Teams and how we could help.

What we found out was humbling for us. We realized that even though you get a developer subscription quickly, there is a huge amount of work and waiting you have to go through before you can learn and build a Microsoft Teams app.

Developers explained the steps and the number of days it took just to get their developer environment ready, the effort and waiting to have their apps provisioned, to create sample data, and then setting sideloading in Teams to prototype apps. They said to us, “Stop making me figure all this stuff out”!

Taking this feedback, we partnered with Microsoft Teams in what we are now launching.

Today, we begin the rollout around the world of our “instant sandbox” cutting your configuration time from days to seconds with the expansion of the new Teams sample data pack.

What is the instant sandbox?

The instant sandbox is a new way to get a complete Microsoft 365 developer environment. Instead of making you provision all your Microsoft 365 apps and install your data packs one by one, we now have bundled them together in a pre-loaded Microsoft 365 E5 subscription with 25 users, and 16 sample users.

Each instant sandbox is pre-made ahead of time so you can dive in and start learning and building instantly. We pull it off the shelf and hand it to you ready to go. It allows you to be your own administrator and prototype apps and solutions with minimal configuration.

New Teams sample data packs

At the heart of the instant sandbox is an expanded selection of sample data packs pre-installed.

Image of sample data packs in the Microsoft 365 Developer Program

These data packs include:

  • Microsoft Graph user, mail, and calendar data – 16 sample users with user data and content to help you model your solutions. This data includes user mailboxes, calendar events, and integration into a Teams developer environment with simulated chats and team memberships.
  • The new Teams sample data pack with the following customized developer environment:
    • Teams App sideloading pre-configured
    • Five sample teams, channels, tabs, and chat sessions built around the 16 sample users.
    • Teams Developer Portal pre-installed and pinned to help you streamline the creation of your Teams app manifest and app package, plus the card editor and a React control library.

Image of Microsoft 365 Developer Program with new Teams Developer Portal preinstalled.

  • SharePoint Framework sample data – Choose from six site templates that you can install and evaluate as custom solutions for your organization (with one pre-installed in your instant sandbox).

Please try our new instant sandbox with the addition of the Teams sample data pack. Here’s how:

  • New customers can try this today by joining the Microsoft 365 Developer Program.
  • At the end of November, all existing customers will be able to access this new capability by enabling you to create your own second Microsoft 365 E5 Instant Sandbox subscription.

We look forward to hearing your feedback on this new capability. Please post it here.

Thanks for your support of the Microsoft 365 platform! And stay tuned for the next steps in our journey There is more exciting news coming soon.

Happy coding!

 

Author

Michael Aldridge
Principal Program Manager

Own and manage the UX, development and sprint management of the revamped Microsoft 365 Developer Program launched in March 2018. I’m also the Principal PM for Microsoft Access. I create the roadmap, specs and sprint prioritization partnering with a team of designers and engineers. A key part of my focus is also to talk with customers directly on a regular basis to glean data driven insights into how we prioritize and build our experiences.

2 comments

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  • J.R. Harless

    “At the end of November, all existing customers will be able to access this new capability by enabling you to create your own second Microsoft 365 E5 Instant Sandbox subscription” How is this done?

  • Yong Du

    Great Job. Thanks!