From InfoPath to NintexKnut Relbe-MoeOffice 365 MVPChief Technical Architect

Knut Relbe-Moe

My Experience: SharePoint evangelist, mentor, speaker Old developer, turned Architect / ITPro Have worked with SharePoint since the 2003 version. Worked with several clients upgrading their solution from 2007/2010 to 2013. Works as a Lead Architect and advisor creating SharePoint Farm

architecture/infrastructure on many projects. With up to 25.000 users. Worked with automating the installation and configuration of SharePoint.

Chief Technical ArchitectKnowledge Factory, Oslo, NorwayOffice 365 MVPMigration ExpertEducator for GlasspaperNintex Virtual Technical Evangelist

Knut.Relbe-moe@knowledgefactory.no

http://www.sharepointblog.no @shareptkarm +47 982 24 609

Help we got Infopath, Microsoft says InfoPath is dead, what shall we do?

Move to the future

OR still use InfoPath?

• POC for Norwegian People’s aid to check if we can replace the InfoPath forms with Nintex Forms, and to give an estimate on the workload to do that, and the benefits that the end users will get from moving form InfoPath to Nintex.

Case:

Today

• Mobility / bad network• Forms is filled out in

«office» and not on site.• Alot of forms• Not to many workflows• Powerusers that builds the

forms today

Challenges

1. InfoPath was supposed to make it easy for Business Users to create their own forms. However, in practice it was difficult for Business Users to edit and deploy InfoPath forms, save for the simplest of tasks. For example, business users had to know XML to create a form with any complexity.

2. Deployment was a pain for any forms that were slightly complex (and thus needed code-behind). Updating existing forms was also tricky, as you could easily break existing saved forms.

3. Playing with the front-end was finicky – you had to get the rules and fields right, or you could get some very cryptic error messages.

4. We encountered performance issues on forms with many fields and rules.

What were the challenges in our experiences with InfoPath?

5. We could not re-use components or style guides across forms – there was a lot of copy/paste.

6. Mobile device rendering was not the most pleasant experience – if it happened to work, great!

7. Integrations to third-party services was not as simple as it first seemed. There was no OOTB way to easily connect to Twitter, Yammer, CRM, Biztalk, etc. All connections had to be manually set up.

What were the challenges in our experiences with InfoPath?

1. Nintex is built natively on SharePoint and leverages the existing SharePoint infrastructure and Workflow engine. There is no additional infrastructure needed.

2. It can be deployed with no downtime.3. When a workflow is kicked off, it loads in the

definition, which means that as you publish your workflow changes the next instance of the workflow will use it.

4. It is designed to be used by Business Users – no code is required to build any workflows.

Why do we recommend Nintex?

5. It comes OOTB with workflow actions that give you the ability to update social sites like Yammer and Twitter.

6. There is mobile support, with offline access.7. It works in the cloud with Office 365.8. It supports multiple integration points, including CRM

and Biztalk.

Why do we recommend Nintex?

Drag-and-drop workflow designer for Microsoft SharePoint

QUICK & EASY• Workflow for Everyone• Reusable templates and modules• Rapid ROI

BUILT ON SHAREPOINT • Simple deployment and management• Easy Adoption• No additional infrastructure costs

CONNECTED• Internal and cloud integration

INTELLIGENT• Real-time workflow status

Workflow

Web-based Forms Designer for Microsoft SharePoint

QUICK & EASY• Forms for Everyone

• Empower business users• Enhance developer productivity

• Design once• Customize quickly • Publish in an instant

ACCESS ANYWHERE, ANYTIME• Secure access to SharePoint Users• Publish to Public• Publish to Mobile

WORKFLOW INTEGRATION• Transform workflows into business applications

Forms

Mobile

Workforce Productivity, Anywhere, Anytime

QUICK & EASY• Design workflows and forms in SharePoint• Publish to multiple devices• No Code

INTUITIVE & CONSISTENT• Native device apps• Familiar user experience

FROM SHAREPOINT TO MOBILE• Real-time synchronisation of business process• Secure Interaction• On and Off-line

• Nintex forms can’t be used on a infopath form library

Challenge

• Option 1: Create a powershell script/windows app to recreate all form libraries to lists

• Option 2: Use a tool to do this for us.• Qdabra's InfoPath to SharePoint List Tool • ShareGate, create a script to create all columns and

the lists in code, and then map all the fields from the forms to the fields in the lists and do the migration with ShareGate.

Solution

• Alot of repeating tables have been used. This is stored in the xml.

Challenge

Solution

Use a tool, «Qdabra's InfoPath to SharePoint List Tool” or custom code:

•If you wish to import repeating data, simply check Data is from repeating group box.

Solution

•Click on the small browse icon to browse for the repeating group.

•Expand the form’s schema in the task pane.

Solution

•In the Schema Tree, double click the repeating group that you want to use. •The form will then get the XPath value of the selected group.

Solution

•Finally, select all the fields that you want to display in your SharePoint list:

http://www.infopathdev.com/blogs/jo-anne_alfafara/archive/2009/04/04/how-to-use-qdabra-s-infopath-to-sharepoint-list-tool.aspx

• We have alot of Infopath forms, it will take alot of time to draw then in Nintex

Challenge

• None at the moment, but playing with the idea of reading the XML from InfoPath and automatically draw the Nintex forms in a Windows app.

Solution

Discussion, what would you do?

@shareptkarmOffice 365

Questions?

http://mwssummit.com/you-are-invited/

Thank You!• Knut Relbe-Moe• Chief Technical Architect

• Knut.relbe-moe@knowledgefactory.com• shareptkarm@outlook.com

• http://o365fb.help• http://sharepointblog.no

@shareptkarm