How to Establish Efficient Workflows Using SharePoint?

SharePoint, as one of the most popular and preferred web application development platforms, is used by enterprises for a number of purposes. The latest version of this platform, that is, SharePoint2013 has a lot of benefits, out of which, establishing efficient workflows is definitely one.

Before we go into the discussion about how SharePoint portal development helps in accomplishment of tasks or in faster production of outcome, it is necessary to understand the concept in the very first place.

What Do Workflows Mean?

With respect to the SharePoint products and technologies, workflow comes up as an automated movement of items as well as documents through a sequence of tasks related to the business processes. Now, the movement can be employed to manage the business processes well within an organization by allowing the organizations to logically treat the items or documents in a SP list or library. Business logic, on the other hand, comprises instructions that denote the actions while also controlling those actions that happen to a document or item.

Establishing Efficient System with SharePoint 2013

It is quite understandable by now that workflows have got a lot to do with the smooth flow of information. Organizations increasingly feel the need to communicate the right message to the right people at the right time. The establishment of efficient workflows with SharePoint 2013 begins with an automation along with management of the human workflow by means of using SP workflow tools. These tools automate the process to improve both individual as well as enterprise productivity.

Workflow Structure and Features

Workflow consists of the following components:

• Events, more specifically, initiating events, as essential components, enable the movement to do something. Once the workflow is initiated, users can be given a form to gather data while eventually carrying out the workflow.

• Then we have the steps, which consist of one or more actions and conditions and are considered the primary means of organization and structure within workflow.

• Conditions form another essential part of the particular manner in which the automated movement carries out the processing of information.

• After steps and conditions come the Actions, which can actually signify anything starting from working with items associated with the workflow to updating a data repository or sending email to some participant.

Steps Involved in Establishing Efficient Workflows

Using and establishing workflows with effectiveness must go through certain steps. Here is an overview of the process:

Addition to a Library, List or Content Type

Adding the automated movement to a list, library or content type ensures that it is made available for the items or documents in a specified location. One must have the permission to manage lists for the desired addition. In most instances, it is the site administrators that perform the task.

Beginning Workflows on Documents

Following an addition of the automated movement, it needs to be started on an item or document. The type of the automated movement needs to be selected and a form has to be filled out with the information that is required by the same. Customization of the same is also facilitated depending upon the way it was configured and designed.

Modification of Workflow in Progress

Changes to the automated movement can be made to alter the way it behaves. Modification is facilitated and this further paves the way for the efficient establishment of the movement.

Completing the Tasks

Any event that necessitates human interaction is represented by a certain task and in SharePoint, this task can be completed by the participants directly or by means of a client program, which is a part of the 2007 Office release.

Tracking the Workflow Status

The owners as well as the participants of the movement can track the progress of the same. This can be done by means of checking the status page, associated with the workflow.

We provide Sharepoint 2013 mobile development services. Small and medium businesses worldwide hire Sharepoint developers india from us at Mindfire Solutions for diverse application development needs. Please contact us today – we will be glad to assist.

3 business problems solved with SharePoint

With rapid globalization, businesses are required to cope up with the trend to operate from locations outside the office; hence the need for efficient communication becomes all the more evident. Dynamism and agility are the ultimate necessities for businesses to have a competitive edge, but paper-based processes or poorly structured documentation storage are becoming a hindrance, given the time as well as the effort needed in searching for information.

So far as paper documents are concerned, it is inconvenient to track them. Very often, there is the probability to lose them and moreover, manual processes can result in errors. Since the process state is not visible, considerable time has to be spent in completion of actions or monitoring the process. Poor visibility may also be caused by storage of documents in inadequately structured shared drives, wherein manifold versions often lead to duplication and loss of visibility for the most recent version. All these issues combined together lead to lower productivity and higher cost, with dire consequences such as litigation in case processes fail.

Across the years, SharePoint has emerged successful in solving these common business problems. With the passage of time, this product by Microsoft has become the standardized means for storage as well as sharing within an organization. Every client has a different manner of SP utilization for solving problems. Let us discuss three common business problems that SharePoint has solved.

Document Management : It is a fact that a number of businesses make use of sub-folder structure for storage of documents and emails are being used to distribute them. In this case, locating documents within a deep set of sub-folders or going through loads of emails might be a great hassle. Being a central location for the complete set of documents, SP is able to solve these problems to a great extent, enabling rapid access of documents.

A powerful feature of SharePoint document management is that the storage of “meta-data” or information is possible against the documents within columns. A much more robust solution is provided by SP, which brings together the data as well as documents. Moreover, document control features such as the capability of viewing track changes or version history have great potential especially in cases where using the latest version is extremely essential. Again, a document's major and minor versions enable a department or an individual to make alterations to a document without publishing the alterations before they are entirely ready. Version conflicts are prevented by the check-in and check-out features, and documents are also made available for out-of-office use.

Workflow Issues : Since SP empowers non-technical users with the capability of fixing efficiency issues, it is indeed a great tool for solving business issues as well as making room for rapid development. So, now employees who are well-versed with the issues can leverage SP to solve them without involving the IT department. This is where the beneficial uses of SharePoint workflows come in, which help in accelerating the process, reducing errors, doing away with unnecessary steps, providing better documentation along with enhancing communication.

SharePoint solutions also enable convenient document movement through approval process, updating information from other databases or software programs, and so on.

Collaboration : SharePoint goes a long way in doing away with the problems of disparate systems, unstructured data and decisions, thereby resulting in increased collaboration. Considering the collaborative aspect, the major areas wherein SharePoint comes in handy are HR Management, Compliance and Business Intelligence. As an efficient collaboration portal, SharePoint empowers investors, clients, partners, coworkers, stakeholders to share ideas and information on dedicated SP pages which store information pertaining to that particular project. Moreover, with the help of SP, a team environment can even be promoted amongst employees who work remotely, irrespective of the frequency at which employees meet each other.

Thus, it is clear that SharePoint, with its powerful features have been able to solve critical business problems thereby leading to immense benefits. Proper implementation and management can indeed lead to great business improvements. Sharepoint 2013 mobile development teams can help you build products within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide SharePoint portal development services. If you would like to hire sharepoint developer from our certified team of SharePoint developers, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

SharePoint Migration Using 3rd Party Tools

Currently in SharePoint, content migration is achieved using third party tools. Leveraging third party solutions simplifies the procedure along with reducing the effort or time needed for the process. It also cuts down on the cases of failed migrations arising out of issues such as file corruption. Analysis has revealed that clients spend good amount of time preparing data for migration, and these efforts may not yield fruit in case the policies and procedures are not adhered to. Owing to such risks, clients prefer using third-party ISVs or independent software vendors for migrating content from on-premises SP into the hosted service. Let us check out the following third party tools that facilitate migration or consolidation of content.

AvePoint: A recognized leader in rendering infrastructure management solutions for Microsoft SP, AvePoint is a cost-effective and efficient solution for migrating business-critical content from diverse electronic repositories to Microsoft SP. The following are a few of the different DocAve Migrator modules:

• Content can be automatically moved from source SharePoint 2003 or 2007 into the mapped elements within SP 2007 or 2010 by SharePoint Migrator.

• Website Migrator provides an efficient, reliable and affordable solution for the organized transfer of web content to MS SharePoint 2007/2010.

• Content sprawl is reduced along with IT productivity enhancement by eRoom Migrator through centralization of eRoom project databases as well as other collaborative assets across a single SharePoint 2010 and 2007 repository.

• Consolidation of manifold EMC Documentum content sources over SP can be automatically achieved by Documentum Migrator, thus maximizing ROI for legacy content present within EMC Documentum.

Clockwork Software: This software offers reliable document migration from old ECMS to SharePoint 2013 or SharePoint 2010. Successful migration can also be achieved from any SQL Server based ECMS (CMS, DMS, EDRMS) with files stored over a network drive or share. ECMSs such as Hummingbird DM6, Worksite, FileNet, DOCs Open and so on. With this, various version and metadata can be migrated to SharePoint libraries as well as folders. It is also good for small migrations.

Idera SharePoint migration suite: It is by far the most comprehensive solution available. This tools empowers you to visually architect as well as organize content and metadata during the migration process, thereby improving usability, eDiscovery, search and manageability. This suite can be used again and again, without any services, in a variety of scenarios that include SP site reorganization, SP platform upgrade, as well as rolling out new applications and sites. The following are the components of the migration suite:

• SP information architect which facilitates rapid and convenient development, deployment as well as maintenance of SP taxonomies and metadata.
• SP content organizer allows for the application of metadata and relocation of files anywhere within SharePoint with simply a few clicks.
• With the help of SharePoint migration manager, content can be deployed, migrated or compared within different versions of SP or from file systems.

Metalogix: Data can be migrated into SharePoint from any source system by using Metalogix. It is possible to migrate from one version of SharePoint to another, from diverse Enterprise Content Management systems as well as from Exchange public folders, websites, blogs or file systems. For simplifying the process, there are different kinds of modules like SharePoint Site Migration Manager,Website Migration Manager for SharePoint, Metalogix Migration Manager for Blogs, etc.

Axceler-Davinci Migrator: It reduces the risk, brings down the cost as well as reduces the time required for the procedure. With the help of the Davinci Migrator, you would be able to identify possible problems prior to their occurrence. Migration estimates aid the creation of realistic schedules. Moreover, Davinci allows migration in a single big wave or a series of continuous smaller waves. Hence you have the freedom to operate as per your own schedule.

Apart from the above-mentioned ones, there are a number of other tools such as Vital-Path, Vyapin, Tzunami, Proventeq and so on. By using these third-party tools, many obstacles that cause hindrance to the overall migration process, can be overcome. If you need an experienced hand with your sharepoint migration, you can hire developers from top companies in sharepoint. That will surely release a lot of stress associated. However please do ensure that the vendors you choose at least possess the awareness of tools available.

We provide sharepoint portal development services. If you would like to speak to one of our certified SharePoint developers, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

SharePoint Professionals

SharePoint Professionals helps your company to quickly respond to changing business needs. Xpert MOSS 2010 consultants can also help you increase your company's productivity, cut costs with unified infrastructure, reduces business complexity, provides a secure way of storing information and much more. SharePoint Software Development Services enables you to easily manage your websites, makes the process of information sharing easier across boundaries etc. Microsoft SharePoint Consulting firms provides services such as enterprise content management solutions, Business Intelligence reports, Enterprise search, Business workflow & Electronic forms, collaboration among employees and various portals. Business processes in an organization are made automatic under a SharePoint web part solutions. The other big advantage of using SharePoint Portal Development in an organization is that it is easy to integrate with other existing data sources without difficulties. Dedicated SharePoint Consultants from India can assist you in creating an extensible, scalable and reusable Enterprise Information Architecture for your organization based on SharePoint. SharePoint 2010 Server helps organizations to leverage out technology to meet business continuity. You need the help of best SharePoint Consultants to provides all the benefits of Microsoft SharePoint application Development Services. Its a leading SharePoint provider in India. We have years of experience and expertise in executing various SharePoint web parts solutions. Please visit our outsource SharePoint projects page for more details.

Its a top SharePoint Consulting firm in India has an experience of over 7 years in Sharepoint and Sharepoint Migration. offers a wide range of offshore outsourcing services, support and solutions in SharePoint. The services offering in SharePoint application Development are SDPS, SharePoint Site Branding, SharePoint Web Development & Portal Development, SharePoint Custom Webpart development, SharePoint SQL Reporting, SharePoint QA and Testing. Dedicated team of expert SharePoint Professionals who can help with all your SharePoint needs.  

Why Sharepoint BI ?

When decision making is based on all the information available in the organization then business intelligence with sharepoint server is the right choice. In the era of web 2.0 where the business need is to consume information in a unified manner which facilitates information sharing across boundaries, then Microsoft office sharepoint server is the most popular example of an integrated suite serving for this purpose. If you want to access information any where anytime be in on desktop or web Sharepoint business intelligence services is the answer. Office SharePoint Server 2007 can link to business applications, such as SAP, Siebel, and Microsoft SQL Server 2005, allowing you to easily publish reports, lists, and key performance indicators (KPIs).The information workers can assemble data from multiple sources and publish that data on the Web with the help of sharepoint server (BI).

Let us first describe what is Business intelligence.It is a generic term that describes the processes and technologies whose primary purpose is to monitor, analyze and plan thereby driving the Business Process improvements. Sharepoint (BI) shows all the spheres of information and presents the right information at the right time and in the right manner. It also enhances the productivity and decision making levels in your organization. With BI in SharePoint, you can easily access the information, use it, deploy it and maximize its ability to positively influence business decisions. It also ensures security of data and information.

There are three important components for sharepoint BI:

Knowing Your Deployment's Health and Status: Information about your Microsoft SharePoint servers, their functions, roles, services, and health is critical to developing future procurement and management strategies.

Understanding Platform Activity: Understanding how your deployment is being leveraged by end-users is vital to efficient management. Having access to accurate and timely answers to the following questions is critical to intelligent decision making

On-Demand Analysis & Reporting: A centralized, customizable dashboard, delivering precisely the metrics is a very critical tool for business-intelligence.

The features of Sharepoint (BI) are discussed below:

The Report Centre: It provides a central location for BI related information. With the help of Report Center the users can search for item by using categories, they can view a calendar of upcoming reports and subscribe to reports that are relevant.

Excel Services: It enables you to store an Excel workbook on a server and then publish any part of that workbook on a web page. The users only need a browser to view and interact with the live data. Its main advantage is the calculation occurs on the server, because of which the business logic in the workbook is never exposed

Key Performance Indicators: A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a visual cue that communicates the amount of progress made toward a goal. By using Sharepoint KPIs, you can know where you are, how far or behind and what is the minimum task completed.

Filter Web Parts: Office SharePoint Server 2007 has 10 Filter Web Parts that enable you to enter or choose one or more values to change the contents of one or more Web Parts on a page to display exactly the information you need.

Dashboard: An Office SharePoint Server 2007 dashboard is a Web page template that allows you to assemble and display information from disparate sources such as reports, charts, metrics, and key performance indicators.

India is the leading BI suite supporting information delivering sharepoint BI Services to multiple UI channels. It is regarded as many of top SharePoint Business intelligence Services providers in India. Few of company's are gained adequate expertise in Sharepoint Business Intelligence 2010 and years of experience in developing sharepoint applications and sharepoint projects in various industry domains.

SharePoint SQL Reporting

SQL Reporting Services is a popular enterprise reporting application in the IT industry today. Many corporations are using SharePoint technologies (MOSS 2007 / WSS 3.0) as their primary portal, content management and information management system with excellent collaborative features such as document sharing and workflows in their SQL reporting services. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint Technologies enables you to take advantage of SQL Server 2008 report processing and management capabilities within Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) 3.0 or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. The integration point between Reporting Services and SharePoint was two separate Web Parts: Report Explorer and Report Viewer. These Web Parts made it possible to view reports within SharePoint .Using SQL SharePoint reporting you can create web application pages in which you can create subscriptions and schedules, and manage reports, models, and data sources. There are numerous benefits and advantages to integrating Reporting Services with Office SharePoint Server 2007. It provides synchronization from the SharePoint content database to the report server database. There is also a custom security extension that uses SharePoint permissions to control access to report server operations. You can derive the benefit of a revised Reporting Services Configuration tool that you can use to configure a report server for SharePoint integrated operations. It is a single consistent user interface for managing and viewing reports and provides a much richer user experience. Reports and all associated resources are stored within the Office SharePoint Server 2007 database and are automatically synchronized with the same reports that are stored and executed from the report server. Scheduling, caching, and subscriptions are stored in the report server database only because this functionality is not available natively in a SharePoint document library. It is a single security model for reports because they are treated like any other document inside a SharePoint document library.
 

Sharepoint application development companies are providing entire gamut of customized development, Tools & development needs using SharePoint Portal Server, Windows Share Point Services OR SharePoint 2007. Many companies have years of expertise in development SharePoint projects. The services offered by sharepoint development companies are:

• SharePoint Deployment Planning Services (SDPS)
• SharePoint Site Branding
• SharePoint Web Development & Portal Development
• SharePoint Custom Webpart development
• SharePoint Custom Workflow development using Visual Studio (VB / C#) and SharePoint Designer 2007
• SharePoint Enterprise Content Management (SharePoint CMS)
• SharePoint Enterprise Portals and Business Intelligence
• SharePoint integration with Microsoft Info Path 2007
• SharePoint customization and automation using Content Types and Event Receivers
• SharePoint Site Migration
• SharePoint Installer applications
• SharePoint package installers using WSP Builders
• SharePoint SQL Reporting
• SharePoint QA and Testing

Sharepoint Application Development

Enterprise Relationship Sync.

We can define Enterprise Relationship Management as a business strategy for value creation that is based on the leveraging of network-enabled processes and activities so that the relationships between the organization and all its internal and external departments get transformed to maximize its current and future opportunities. A software is developed using Share point webpart development which manages all the executive relationship program. It facilitates high-impact opportunities for executives with customers as well as partners. Match the right executives with the right opportunities, at the right time is the foremost benefit of this application. This tool supports executives throughout the process and enhances field effectiveness through relationship building with the people within the organization. This software also maximizes the effectiveness of the team in an organization by upgrading and enhancing the tools the team uses to do their job and to represent their programs.

The core technology used here is Sharepoint application development. And the associated technologies used are Asp.Net 2.0, SQL Server 2005, Sharepoint 2007.

Intellectual capital Knowledge

The term Intellectual capital refers to all resources that determine the value and the competitiveness of an enterprise. The value of an enterprise is made up of physical asset, financial asset and intangible asset, which is called the Intellectual capital. It cannot be easily translated into monetary terms, eg of IC are quality of employees or the reputation of a brand name. This projects developed a software using Sharepoint support services which maximizes the potential of Intellectual capital in an organization. This application would utilize both knowledge component as well as Sharepoint component. The Knowledge component would be used to nominate documents (e.g the appraisal rating of employees or the feedback from a consumer survey etc) since this is where documents are already being uploaded and searched. The multi-phase review and voting portion aspects of the process will be on SharePoint because SharePoint offers several out-of-the-box functionality that fits this aspect well.

The core technology used here is Sharepoint software development. The associated technologies used here are WSS 3.0, SQL Server 2005, Sharepoint 2007.

Trade Mark 

 

A trademark is a distinctive sign or a indicator used by an individual,business organization, or a legal entity to identify that the products or services that are sold to the consumers originates from a unique source, and trademarking is also done by an organization to distinguish its products or services from those of other entities. A trademark is a typical intellectual property which includes a typical name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, or a combination of these elements. An application is developed by Sharepoint developers which keeps a track Organizations Trademarks Registration, Approval, Expiry Processes etc. Initially the application was developed for the legal department using VB & SQL Server, then it migrated to MOSS 2007.

The core technology used here is Sharepoint solution services. And the associated technology used here Sharepoint MOSS 2007.