Conceptshare has released details about their API today. This is a big move for the Sudbury, Ontario based company and I think it opens a whole new set of opportunities for them.
For those who don’t know: An API is a defined way for one piece of software to interface with another. In the case of Conceptshare, their API would allow another tool (for example, Sharepoint, or Basecamp) to remotely use and launch Conceptshare and to send users directly in to the Conceptshare environment.
We have written about Conceptshare in the past and since then they have continued to iterate both their product and their marketing and partnering strategies.
“The release of the ConceptShare API signals a new era in our company history. We want to enable our clients large and small to leverage our platform to further improve their projects. The API will allow users to customize the ConceptShare experience for their organizations, teams and clients.” – Scott Brooks
I have heard Scott and Bernie, two of 3 co-founders of the company, both talk about why they have maintained a very tight focus on what they do best and why they have not been lured in to building broader tools. In a world without an API, that decision might seem shortsighted, but with the release of this API, Conceptshare has made their tool available and ready to plug in to any sort of existing workflow in any toolset. They become a reusable tool that other integrators can make use of.
This also shows that Conceptshare is going a little more upmarket, and my guess is that there will be similarly enterprise-focused features and tools on the way.