Using SharePoint Business Connectivity Services to Expose Line of Business Data

October 22, 2010

2

Session Promise (per the Abstract)

Business Connectivity Services (BCS) is the new and improved version of the Business Data Catalog. Business Connectivity Services make it easy to bring enterprise data into the familiar user interfaces of SharePoint and Office. This session will show how to leverage the power of Business Connectivity Services with Office and Visual Studio to build solutions. The demos included highlight the types of SharePoint solutions that can be created with Business Connectivity Services as well as applicable scenarios for each solution type.

Session Objectives And TakeawaysSession Objectives:

• Show how to leverage the power of Business Connectivity Services with the Office and Visual Studio

• Illustrate the types of SharePoint solutions that can be created with Business Connectivity Services

Key TakeawayBusiness Connectivity Services make it easy to

bring enterprise data into the familiar UX of SharePoint and Office

4

Today’s Agenda Includes…

• Business Connectivity Services (BCS) Overview• BCS Tools Overview• Demos• Create an ECT with SharePoint Designer • Configure ECT for Outlook Off-lining

• Q&A

5

Cogent Company | An Overview

6 ©2010. Cogent Company. Proprietary and Confidential.

Overview of Cogent Company

• We are a management and IT consulting firm focused on helping our clients• define actionable information management strategies that deliver

measurable business value• design, build and deploy sustainable and scalable information management

technology solutions• Our consultants average decades of solution design, development and

implementation experience• We partner closely with our clients to execute rapid deployment cycles that

consistently demonstrate “speed to value”• We provide industry-recognized expertise and innovation across the

spectrum of Microsoft and related technologies• We offer experience advising client executives and implementing

enterprise-class applications in multiple industries and client sizes

Our Services

7 ©2010. Cogent Company. Proprietary and Confidential.

Strategic Advisory Services

Information Management Services

Core Infrastructure Services

Custom Development Services

Productivity Services

• Solution Selection and Roadmap Development• IT Transformation and Governance• Project and Portfolio Management• Strategic Change Management

• Business Process Management and Collaboration• Application Integration• Enterprise Content Management and Search• Unified Communications

• Data Acquisition and Quality Analysis• Data Warehousing• Business Intelligence• Advanced Analytics

• Security and Networking• Data Protection and Recovery• IT Management and Security• Desktop, Device, and Server Management

• User Experience• Software Development• Service Oriented Architectures• System Integration

8

Business Connectivity Services Overview

9

BCS Connects

Users

ApplicationsData

• BCS enhances Office application and SharePoint application capabilities and their UI through features, services, and tools.

• The BCS feature set enables rapid development and deployment of scalable and security-rich solutions.

• BCS enables users to read and write data from external systems—through Web services, databases, and Microsoft .NET Framework assemblies—from within Microsoft SharePoint 2010 and Microsoft Office 2010 applications

10

BCS Scenarios• Reveal external data from enterprise applications and Web 2.0

services in Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010, SharePoint Server 2010, and in rich client Office applications.

• Provide Office Type behaviors (such as contacts, tasks, appointments) and capabilities to external data and services.

• Provide complete interaction with the data including write-back capabilities from Office applications and SharePoint Server to the underlying external system data and business objects.

• Enable offline use of external data and processes.

• Bridge the unstructured world of documents and people and the appropriate structured data that is locked in external systems.

Types of Solutions You Can Build Using BCS

11

Simple

Takes advantage of the native capabilities: BCS,

SharePoint 2010, and Office 2010

External ListExternal Data Columns

Web PartsOfflining

Intermediate(Declarative)

Uses no-code to create more powerful and

customized solutions.

Assemble and customize composite solutions

Create a Microsoft Outlook solution without writing

code.

Advanced(Code-based)

Uses Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 to create rich

code-based solutions.

Create reusable components

Create end-to-end solutions by using Office, SharePoint, and Business Connectivity

Services object models

Advanced Developer

Information Worker

Developers & Power User

Office Apps

Client Runtime Offline Operations Cache

DevelopmentPlatform

Business Intelligence

Enterprise content mgmt

Collaboration social

EnterpriseSearch

ECT Store Runtime Security Solution

PackagingOut of the box

UI

Web 2.0DBWCFWeb Service.NET LOB

SharePointDesign Tools

SharePoint Designer 2010

Visual Studio 2010

Business Connectivity Services StackBrings LOB Data Into SharePoint

SharePoint List with External Data Read / Write SharePoint Foundation Built on the SharePoint 2007 Business Data Catalog

Business Connectivity Services is included in Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010, SharePoint Server, and Office 2010.

Business Connectivity Services Feature

SharePoint Foundation 2010

SharePoint Server 2010 Standard Edition

SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise Edition

External List √ √ √

External Data column √ √ √

Business Data Connectivity (BDC) service

√ √ √

Connector Framework

√ √ √

Secure Store Service √ √

External Data Search √ √

Profile Pages √ √

Business Data Web Parts

√

Rich Client Integration √

External Content Types

Office Clients (Rich)

SharePoint (Thin)

External Content Type (ECT)

External Data Source(Web Service, DB, .Net

object, LOB system, Web 2.0 service, etc.)

BCS

BCS BCS-enabled solutions rely on ECTs to integrate external data into SharePoint and the Office client applications

Describes the schema and data access capabilities of an external data source and its behavior within Office and SharePoint

*formerly known as BDC Entity

The Building Blocks

• Enable reusability• Encapsulate complexities of external systems• Provide built-in Office and SharePoint behavior• Ensure secure access• Simplify maintenance• Enable external data search• Enable working offline

14

BCS Tools Overview

Solution Types, Toolsand Roles

SharePoint Designer

Advanced Developer

SharePoint SDK

VisualStudio

Power User

NO CODE* CODE

Developer

Solution Types, Toolsand Roles

Intermediate AdvancedSimple

• Customize• InfoPath forms• Outlook taskpane and

ribbon• Word (QuickParts)• Workflow• Web Part Pages

• Custom connectivity for data aggregation, transformation, security, etc.• Use custom code to

integrate data into any Office app• Business logic in forms

• Create reusable components (UI parts, ECTs, actions)

• Surface data in External Lists

• Connect those lists to Outlook, SPW

SharePoint Designer

SharePoint SDK

DeveloperPower User

NO CODE*

Advanced Developer

VisualStudio

CODE

Advanced Developer

VisualStudio

CODE

Solution Types, Toolsand Roles

IntermediateSimple

• Customize• InfoPath forms• Outlook taskpane and

ribbon• Word (QuickParts)• Workflow• Web Part Pages

• Surface data in External Lists

• Connect those lists to Outlook, SPW

SharePoint Designer

SharePoint SDK

DeveloperPower User

NO CODE*

Advanced

• Custom connectivity for data aggregation, transformation, security, etc.• Use custom code to

integrate data into any Office app• Business logic in forms

• Create reusable components (UI parts, ECTs, actions)

Advanced Developer

VisualStudio

CODE

Solution Creation Approaches

Power User

SharePoint Designer

Developer

VisualStudio

SharePoint

Designer

SDK

Single machine Dev EnvironmentCreate reusable ECTs that provide custom integration logic to virtually any data source using .Net codeAuthor thin and rich client UX as reusable componentsCreate Office Add-Ins in Visual Studio

Client-Server EnvironmentCompose solutions (no code) that connect to existing WCF, Sql Server databases and .Net ObjectsImplicitly author thin and rich client UX for External List and InfoPath Forms

IT AdminProduction

EnvironmentProduce

WSP

Import & Configure

SharePoint Server(Shared, Dev/Prod)

“Live” ConnectionExport, Import

& Configure

Dat

a Co

nnec

tivity

Shar

ePoi

nt a

nd O

ffice

Clie

nts

UX

Tools Feature Overview

FeaturesSharePoint

Designer 2010Visual

Studio 2010 SDK

Author External Content Types and Profile Pages• External Content Type Designer

Integrate External Data in WF• Workflow Designer

Generate and Author External Lists and InfoPath Forms• Lists and Forms Designer

Office Add-in Projects• Extend Office apps through BCS-aware code

add-ins and reusable components

Extend Outlook Declaratively• Outlook declarative ribbon (URL-based

actions) and Taskpanes extensions

Additional Samples and Utilities

Connect to existing WCF/Web Services, Sql Server or .Net Assemblies

Connect to virtually any data source through custom .Net code

20

DEMO #1Create an External Content Type With SharePoint Designer+ More Stuff

External Data ColumnsExternal Lists External Item Picker

External Data in Outlook External Data in WordBusiness Data Web PartsProfile Pages

External Data in AccessExternal Data in InfoPath

21

DEMO #2Configure External content type for Outlook Off-lining

SharePoint Designer and Visual StudioRecapCapability / Tool

SharePoint Designer 2010 Visual Studio 2010

Connect to Existing WCF, Sql Server, .Net Assembly

Any data source by creating .Net Assemblies

Modeling Approach Discover and Configure Create and Publish

Target Scenarios Author “simple” models with OOB UX (External Lists, Outlook, SharePoint Workspace, InfoPath, Search, simple FK-based associations)

- Author complex models with custom connectivity logic for aggregation, transformation, security, etc. - Author custom UX via VSTO customizations- Author reusable rich and thin UI parts (WebParts) that connect to External Data

Limitations -Data source needs to expose “proper interface shape”-Advanced stereotypes (Bulk, Batch)-Generic/polymorphic services-Only Foreign Key Associations

- Visual designer only for .Net object based models- Separate development and packaging of rich client and server components

Rich/Thin SolutionsPackaging and Deployment

BCS-

enab

led

Solu

tions Rich Client

Components

Thin ClientComponents

ClickOnce Package

WSPPackage

SharePointServer

Import

Deploy and Update

Include in WSP

Office Client

24

Cogent Company | more details

25 ©2010. Cogent Company. Proprietary and Confidential.

Cogent Thinking

•Office 2003 Programming: Real World Applications•Pro ASP.NET 2.0 Website Programming •Pro Office 2007 Development with VSTO

Books

• 5 Business Reasons for Adopting the Windows Platform - CIO.COM•Easy Time & Billing with SharePoint, Outlook, & Excel (and VSTO tool) - Devx.com•Repurpose SharePoint Services Data Using Excel's Spreadsheet XML - Devx.com•Outlook the Way You Want It—Build Custom Outlook GUIs with WinForms & VSTO - Devx.com•Create a Sales Dashboard using Excel, InfoPath and VSTO 2005 - Devx.com•VSTO's Outlook Integration Makes Building Managed Add-ins A Snap - Devx.com•An Office Developer's Timesaver: Using VSTO 2005 to Integrate Excel and Access - Devx.com

Articles (call for links)

•Business System Builder•Office Developer•Simple Talk

Blogs (call for links)

•Southern Methodist University, Cox School of Business: Adjunct Faculty; Guest Lecturer, IT and Operations Management.•University of North Texas:•Guest Lecturer in College of Business Administration and English Department•Advisory Board, College of Business Administration, Information Technology & Decision Sciences Department•Member, Center for Decision and Information Technology

Academics

26 ©2010. Cogent Company. Proprietary and Confidential.

Our ExperienceClient Firm Solution Cogent Solutions

Fortune 50 wireless telecommunications firm

Implement PMO for integration of billing and customer care systems for largest wireless merger.

Cogent PMO Toolkit

Fortune 50 financial services firm

Customize Microsoft Outlook and integrate to third party CRM system and processes.

Cogent Office Application Integration Accelerator

Fortune 50 software firm

Customize SharePoint to manage channel sales process.

• Cogent SharePoint Development Accelerator

Fortune 500 real estate services firm

Implement reporting system on legacy operations systems and processes.

• Cogent PMO Toolkit• Cogent Requirements Management Toolkit

Top US media services firm

Extract firm from 10 year IT outsourcing arrangement and implement in-house organization and processes.

• Cogent Business Value Accelerator• Cogent Requirements Management Toolkit

Global direct marketing service agency

Develop image selection application and integrate digital asset management system. Implement web site design.

Cogent SharePoint Development Accelerator

Regional Health Insurance Firm

Develop and deploy content management system and integrate 3rd party applications.

• Cogent Business Value Accelerator • Cogent Requirements Management Toolkit• Cogent SharePoint Development Accelerator

National Specialty Hospital

Deploy IT governance process and system. • Cogent Business Value Accelerator • Cogent PMO Toolkit

• Business Connectivity Services Overviewhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee557898.aspx

• Setting Up the Dev Environment for Business Connectivity Serviceshttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee559625.aspx

• Top 15 BCS Object Model Classeshttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee559652.aspx

• BCS Package Generatorhttp://code.msdn.microsoft.com/odcsps14bcspkgtool

Resources and Next Steps