SharePoint 2010 “Super-Duper” Features

February 24th, 2010 by Tim

Within a few months (June 2010), SharePoint 2010 should be released (finally!) to the general public and the SharePoint 2010 revolution will begin.  It’s not just the business and your customers—internal and external—that will benefit from enhancements to SharePoint 2010.  With more enterprises storing more mission-critical data in SharePoint, Microsoft was compelled to bring to the table significant improvements to the administration, management, security, development, deployment, and governance of SharePoint implementations.  What Microsoft has created in the three years since the release of SharePoint 2007 is impressive.  In today’s blog, I’ll define some nifty features in SharePoint 2010 that you as an end user / end developer should take advantage and use in the 2010.

 

Access Services

Access Services lets user-generated databases in Microsoft Access become part of SharePoint for easier management by IT.  When a user creates an Access database and publishes it to SharePoint, the Access tables become SharePoint lists and the Access forms become ASP.NET pages in SharePoint.  The data stays in SharePoint, accessible via a browser and Access acts as a client for data manipulation, reporting, and viewing.

 

PowerPivot for Excel and SharePoint

PowerPivot lets users work with very large volumes of data and publish their work to SharePoint for others to view and interact with by using a browser.  Workbooks published to SharePoint can be managed as you would a SQL Server Analysis Services application.  PowerPivot for SharePoint displays data via a gallery based on Microsoft SilverLight, and there’s also a dashboard for monitoring and managing the PowerPivot environment.  In addition, there’s a Web Service that ports PowerPivot data via XMLA to external applications such as Report Builder.  Together, the client add-in and server components provide an end-to-end solution that furthers business intelligence data analysis for Excel users on the workstation and on SharePoint sites.

SharePoint 2010 Object Model

SharePoint 2010 API includes some new great features which allow developers to quickly create solutions and to connect to other applications and systems.

LINQ – With LINQ we can run queries for retrieving SharePoint data.  LINQ also provides strongly typed access to data in Visual Studio offering compile time validation to help avoid runtime errors.  And the most important syntax is very similar to SQL, no more CAML.  LINQ can be used to query, in principle, any data source whatsoever, all that is necessary to make a data source accessible with LINQ is that to create a LINQ provider for the data source.  One of the coolest things is the possibility to join results from multiple lists and multiple data sources.  This is very a powerful element to use SharePoint Lists; you can almost see this as a Data Layer.

REST (Representational State Transfer) – REST help developers rapidly build applications on the SharePoint framework, having the SharePoint APIs available everywhere makes it possible to integrate to SharePoint from almost any applications including those on non-Windows platforms whether they are on the client, server or in the cloud.  Unlike SOAP, REST is not a protocol, is using HTTP to retrieve and send data and is more like a Web APIs with more direct communications.

Business Connectivity Services (BCS) – With the Business Connectivity Services it is now easier to integrate SharePoint 2010 with back end systems. The main benefits are the Read/WRITE to External Systems, Familiar UI to External Data, No-Code Connectivity to External systems, Offline Access to External Data, Governance of External Data, Discovery Via Search, Life Cycle Management.  All this makes it easy to integrate SharePoint with external systems. Business Connectivity Services in SharePoint includes these features:

  • Business Data Connectivity (BDC) service
  • BDC Connectors and the pluggable Connector Framework
  • External lists
  • External data columns
  • External data in search
  • Secure Store service
  • External Data Web Parts
  • Profile pages
  • External data in workflow
  • Rich client integration
  • SharePoint Client API

These API’s are completely new in SharePoint.  Finally there is easy way to build Rich Internet Application like Ajax and SilverLight that cans retrieve data from our SharePoint application.

SilverLight – With the SilverLight Client API we can easily develop Rich Internet Applications that integrate in our SharePoint application.  A SilverLight application can run on the browser or on the client desktop.  To create a Silverlight Application with the SharePoint Client Object Model, use Visual Studio 2010, select Silverlight Application and add a reference to these two assemblies:

  • Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Silverlight.dll
  • Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Silverlight.Runtime.dll

You can find them under the C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\ClientBin folder

ECMAScript-  With the ECMAScript Client API we can easily develop Rich Internet Applications like Ajax or simple ASPX page with JavaScript that integrate in our SharePoint application.

To create an ASPX page with the SharePoint Client Object Model, add an ASPX page under the Layouts folder (C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS) and register the SP.js file by adding a ScriptLink.

.NET Managed – With the .NET Managed API we can easily develop Rich Desktop Applications like Windows Presentation Foundation (WCF), Windows form application or an Add-In to Outlook that integrate with our SharePoint application. These applications can run on the client desktop.  To create Windows Application with the SharePoint Client Object Model, use Visual Studio 2010, select Windows Form Application and add a reference to these two assemblies:

  • Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll
  • Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll

You can find them under the C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\ ISAPI folder

SharePoint 2010 Object Model includes a number of new features and functionalities for developers…now that you are aware of them…take advantage of these new capabilities!

Developer Dashboard

The developer dashboard is a new feature in SharePoint 2010 that is design to provide additional performance and tracing information that can be used to debug and troubleshoot issues with page rendering time.  With this new feature, IT pros and Developers can identify issues common and how to resolve these issues.  Developers can also use the dashboard to monitor code and diagnose bugs.  The dashboard offers a view on the bottom of each page that includes http request details, the time each request took, web server details, database queries, and more. You can set it to on, off, or on-demand.   A must have tool for any SharePoint developer!

Visual Upgrade

When you upgrade to SharePoint Foundation 2010, a new feature in the upgrade lets an admin choose among the following upgrade options:

  • Adopt the new look for all sites during upgrade
  • Let site owners decide the look after upgrade
  • Keep the old look after upgrade

If the admin decides to let the site owners make the decision after upgrade, a preview option becomes available in the site UI after the upgrade is finished.  If the site owner likes the visual upgrade, he or she can accept it.  If the site owner likes the previous look, the site can be changed to the previous Windows SharePoint Services look and feel.  What a concept…administrators will love this!

Content Organizer

When you activate Content Organizer in SharePoint 2010, this new and improved routing feature extends, enhances and makes more broadly available the routing engine used in the Records Center site template from SharePoint 2007.  It not only allows you to automatically route documents to different libraries and folders within those libraries, it can also be used for mundane housekeeping type activities such as making sure that no folder within a document library contains more than 5000 items, for example.  When item number 5001 is added to the library, the Content Organizer can automatically create a new folder and put the document in that folder.  All of this routing and folder creation can be handled automatically without further user intervention.  After a document is uploaded and the required metadata applied, the upload form displays a Url to a document that has been routed so the user knows where to find it in the future.

Conclusion

Diamond is a Microsoft Gold partner specializing in Information Worker solutions consisting of SharePoint, Exchange, OCS and Office.  Contact us today to chat about an upcoming project or pain point in your organization.  Diamond Technologies takes the uncertainty out of SharePoint and IT!

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So you bought Microsoft SharePoint….Now What?

August 24th, 2009 by Tim

At Diamond Technologies, our clients ask us all the time “what can SharePoint do”?  When we hear that, we’re reminded of the old spaghetti sauce commercial, the one that no matter what ingredient was asked about, the answer was “it’s in there”.   And that’s the challenge with SharePoint, there’s a lot in there.  But with SharePoint or any powerful technology, the question we really should be asking is not “what can SharePoint do”, but rather “what problem am I trying to solve?”

So now you know what problem you’re trying to solve, is SharePoint your best choice?  Well naturally…that depends (you knew that was coming didn’t you)?  According to Nucleus Research, Children’s Hospital Boston saw an ROI of 409% in 3 months by using SharePoint to move content creation from the IT department to the departments and content creators.

If your solution demands one or more of the following core features, we seriously recommend you take a look at SharePoint:

Portal – SharePoint does a great job providing a single platform for Internet, Intranet and Extranet Portals.  Half of the Ten Best Intranets of 2009 are built on SharePoint (source: Jakob Nielsen).

Collaboration and WorkFlow – Fancy words for getting your people working together more efficiently.  SharePoint provides the familiarity, productivity and seamless integration with the Microsoft Office suite of tools, including Word, Excel, Outlook and more.

Web Content Management – With SharePoint, managing your web content can be done by your team.  No more calling IT to get the website updated (careful – proper governance and approval guidelines are essential).

Document and Records Management – SharePoint lets you manage your documents and records effectively; including extremely powerful search capabilities and built-in functions for team collaboration on document creation, approval and workflow.

Forms – SharePoint comes loaded with tons of out-of-the-box templates for numerous standard line of business actions.

Business Intelligence – Another fancy word for business analytics and reporting, SharePoint provides out-of-the-box capabilities to manage and present server based Excel spreadsheets, KPIs and data dashboards.

Why do we recommend SharePoint for these key functions?  Because in each of these areas, the built-in capabilities of SharePoint make it a much better solution than custom development.  You’ll see results faster and cheaper, both in the short term and over the long run.  “Well architected SharePoint solutions are likely to be one of the smartest investments companies can make to survive and thrive in this challenging economy.” (source: Susan Hanley in Network World).

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3 Things You Might Not Know About SharePoint

August 24th, 2009 by Tim

Unless you’ve been hiding under the proverbial rock for the past couple years, by now you’ve probably heard plenty about Microsoft SharePoint.  Here are a couple things about SharePoint that you might not already know.

1. SharePoint Is The Fastest Growing Product In Microsoft’s History (And Why You Should Care)

Back in 2008 sales of SharePoint passed 100 million licenses sold, had attracted 17,000 user companies, and eclipsed $1 billion in sales for Microsoft.  Critics may dispute these exact figures or point to SharePoint’s flaws but they don’t deny that the SharePoint juggernaut is real.  For our customers, the reason this matters is simple – Technology executives have to be careful where they invest valuable resources, especially today.  Given these numbers it’s safe to say that SharePoint is here to stay.  We believe that SharePoint will be the de-facto building platform for Microsoft solutions in the future and we are counseling our client development shops that they need to understand and get on board with this technology or get left behind.

2. SharePoint Can Actually SAVE You Money

What you say?!  With licensing, implementation, training, and all that, how do I save money?  Diamond Technologies has always been a company focused on the business value of technology solutions so this one’s near to our hearts.  One of the strongest virtues of this technology is that SharePoint empowers your business users with the tools to create real business value without the IT department.  OK, before you IT types come to my office and kill me let me clear that up just a bit.  Once your IT folks establish the proper SharePoint governance and infrastructure, then your business folks can create that value.  Let’s face it, even in the best of times IT resources can be scarce and overworked.  With SharePoint, your departmental users can keep intranet and web content up-to-date; create and manage powerful business and workflow processes and much more, without engaging those IT resources.

3. A Sneak Preview At SharePoint 2010

There’s still a ways to go, but as the saying goes “time flies” and before you know it…So here’s a few tidbits of what we see as significant with SharePoint 2010.   Ready for the Internet – The current release (MOSS 2007) is currently regarded as a great platform for intranet solutions but is sometimes criticized for its applicability outside the firewall.  With SharePoint 2010, Microsoft seems determined to change that, with improved capabilities all around for developing collaborative solutions that will run on any device across all technical and geographical boundaries.  “64 is the new 32.” – Plan on including upgrades to your hardware platforms, operating systems, and your SQL Server (for storage). SharePoint 2010 will only be available in a 64-bit version. Also, your development staff should start looking at Silverlight and LINQ to get a jumpstart on the technologies which will be integral to the SharePoint 2010 release. Other Stuff – The new version includes a significantly improved web page editor, out-of-the-box support for Silverlight web parts, end-to-end integration with Visio’s back-end data links, more powerful search, and on and on.  Obviously, there’s much, much more to SharePoint 2010 than we can ever cover here, but we thought you’d be interested in a few things we think are important for your business.

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