Connect to Office365 API without Azure account

Question

I currently have an ASP.Net Webform app that is going to need to connect to Office365 to read/write emails and events. I have a service account that the client has created that will allow me to connect to their system and have access to other accounts (I'll be modifying other user's emails and events as well).

Do I have to create an Azure account for this? Is there anyway for me to connect to the webservice, authenticate with my service account, and then pull the information for other users without setting up additional accounts with Microsoft? (the system is only going to be used by the company internally)

I've tried adding a Connected Service through VS2013 (but didn't want to create an Azure account) and also just a Service Reference (but VS2013 kept asking me to validate my information over and over even though I can log in with the u/p outside of VS2013).

Answer 1

In order to use the Office 365 APIs, you need to register your application in Azure Active Directory. You wouldn't need a separate Azure account for this, an administrator for you client could register it in their own Azure AD associated with their Office 365 organization. Or alternatively you could get an Office 365 Developer Site, register your app in your Azure AD.

However, currently the Office 365 APIs don't support the model you're describing (using a service account to access multiple user accounts). That is something that we're currently working on and hope to release soon. The alternative, as Matt suggested, is Exchange Web Services, which does support the service account approach.