Microsoft launched PowerApps, which it describes as a “unique solution” to enable the creation and sharing of business apps on any device in minutes.

“PowerApps will dramatically accelerate how business apps are built, reducing time to solution from weeks or months to minutes and empowering a new category of app creators,” the company said.

Employees will be able to create apps using a “Microsoft Office-like experience”, with templates and a visual designer to automate workflows. PowerApps can be connected to cloud services such as Office 365, Dynamics CRM, Salesforce, Dropbox and OneDrive.

And, Microsoft said, they can be shared “like documents”.

Developers and IT professionals can use the Azure App Service to create native and web apps, and can also build additional data connections and APIs to existing business systems, while managing data access and maintaining corporate policies.

Microsoft has already partnered with companies such as Bose and Metro Bank, which have built solutions including a recruiting app for an internal team and a mobile app for banking employees that connects to customer relationship management data.

The service was built after noticing challenges in the business app market, which Microsoft believes continues to “lag behind consumer app scenarios in terms of richness and ubiquity.”

It also found there was a lack of skilled mobile developers, and that because mobile app distribution typically happens through app stores, or through mobile device management, there is friction in getting apps onto employee phones.