Things to keep in mind while migrating from ColdFusion to Microsoft SharePoint

Being a ColdFusion developer, chances of not knowing much about SharePoint certainly stands high. Therefore, before you take the plunge to migrate from ColdFusion to Microsoft SharePoint, you must consider developing some basic knowledge of working amid the particular environment.

What is SharePoint?

Well, in simple terms, it is referred to an application of content management system that allows an access of data stored in MSSQL database. The incorporated search services of SharePoint keep it apart from just file storage in common folders and add the context of team collaboration and data file management that are usually generated by the Microsoft Office Suite.

So, what are the aspects that you must primarily keep in mind to ensure a successful migration of ColdFusion to SharePoint? Well, here is a look at the aspects that prominently focuses on the task of understanding the content management system application:

Exploring the site hierarchy of SharePoint and roles that are permission based

The application usually exists in the form of a structured site grouping referred to as site collection. In this respect, it is to be made clear that site permissions are usually linked to the Active Directory login of a user. All permissions to site collection typically begin at the top level and spread downwards to the created sites thereby, acceding to the permission of the parent level.

Here is a quick look at some of the principle permission levels related to sharepoint application development :

• Read – users can only have a view of the data along with the sites
• Contribute – Users can view, add, delete, and update the data along with the sites
• Design – Users can views, update, delete, add, approve, and customize the data as well as the sites
• Complete control – Users can exert complete control over the data alongside the sites.

Knowing Lists of SharePoint: Views and Items

The SharePoint List is often recognized as the foundation of a site related to the application. In simple terms, a List is nothing, but similar to a database table. The content management system application comes with a several template concerning a List i.e. task list, contacts, calendar, etc. Each of these features their own default columns; however, the application can be customized catering to the exact needs as well as interests. For instance, you can always go ahead and add a column to the particular list like customer ID, document library, etc. You can also consider the idea of creating custom lists featuring no pre-incorporated or defined columns and save them as templates, if you wish.

Usually, the List consists of four default pages that are generated following the creation: a look

• NewForm.aspx – allows the users to add items maintaining a pre-generated approach to the list.
• DispForm.aspx – allows the users to review an item in read-only form
• Edit Form.aspx – allows the users to undertake editing of a integrated item with proper permissions
• AllItems.aspx – allows a display of all list items maintaining a view that is non-filtered

Adding to all these is the final feature of the List that is Stored Views. This actually refers to filtered displays of Items present in the list catering to the chosen criteria of a user.

SharePoint Pages and Web Parts

When it comes to displaying a web page in SharePoint, it is to be noted that a usual page is likely to consist of pre-defined aspects and Web Part Zones that allows an addition of a Web Part. What is a Web Part? Well, a code snippet that exhibits the contained data of SharePoint in a specific layout. For instance, you can have a calendar Web Part that specifically exhibits Items from a Calendar List of the content management system application, offering you the options of exhibiting contents as a list of events or in the form of calendars offering monthly, weekly, and daily views. Building a page featuring multiple Web Parts allow you to put forward a design enabling a view in the form of dashboard quite quickly.

Once, you get all the necessary permissions within the environment of SharePoint, you can easily go ahead and experiment with the migration. Being a ColdFusion developer, you now have the choice of creating ColdFusion applications within SharePoint in a way like never before.

We provide sharepoint bespoke development services. If you would like to know what makes us expert sharepoint developers, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

5 Safety Concerns of Using SharePoint on Mobile Devices

The growing popularity of smartphones and tablets has encouraged many companies to upgrade their existing software by including specialized features and functionality to target the new users. Microsoft has upgraded SharePoint with loads of features to target some of the most popular mobile operating systems including Windows, iOS and Android. The mobile capabilities have made it easier for many application developers and resellers to optimize their users’ mobile experience without putting any extra time.

At the same time, these features have enabled users to access a variety of content on their mobile devices anytime and anywhere. Most companies, nowadays, allow their staff to access corporate resources through their mobile devices to reduce project cost. With more and more users accessing SharePoint 2013 on their handheld devices, it has become essential for companies to keep the mobile experience of their employees and customers safe and secure.

So the IT department often finds it a daunting challenge to completely control the way the corporate resources are being accessed by various stakeholders. Many companies even look for the best techniques to prepare a comprehensive SharePoint mobile security plan. However, you can always concentrate on some common mobile security measures to ensure that your employees and clients will access SharePoint content without compromising the security of sensitive corporate content. This can help you unleash the powers of custom sharepoint development while keeping security strengthened.

5 Common Security Guidelines for Using SharePoint on Mobile Devices

Securing Content when the Mobile Device is Lost or Stolen: In comparison to computers, the chances of a mobile device being lost or stolen are much higher. So you must make a policy to protect the sensitive documents and data of your company, in case a user’s mobile device is lost or stolen. If a person is allowed of access corporate resources on his smartphone or tablet, he must be asked to protect his mobile devices through a lock or pin. Also, you must explore options to remotely wipe out the documents and data stored on the mobile device. As the security features vary from one mobile device to another, you must implement policies by targeting the major mobile operating systems.

Protecting Users’ Login Credentials: Most mobile devices allow users to store their username, password, and similar credentials. Some devices even use cookies to store the login credential of users. So you must train your staff about the most effective way to protect their credentials. After completing a task, the user must sign out of the corporate website. Similarly, they must disable all options that allow them to remember their passwords or keep them signed in. It is also important to delete cookies on their mobile browser on a daily basis. These measures will make it difficult for unauthorized users to access the corporate resources in case the mobile device is lost or stolen.

Protecting Communication between Server and Mobile Device: Most users access the data and documents of their organization through their mobile web browsers. So you must implement a strategy to secure the communication between your SharePoint Server 2013 and mobile web browsers. You can always keep the communication secure by enabling SSL. You can even consider using Forefront Unified Access Gateway (UAG) or any other reverse proxy server to keep the communication secure. By securing the communication, you can further minimize the chances of your corporate resources being hacked.

Activate Exchange ActiveSync Protocol: As a communication protocol, Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync is effective in optimizing the device-side security. The protocol is presently available for Windows phones and other third-party mobile devices. You can further administer the device security by administering a comprehensive policy. Normally, the mobile devices of users access the SharePoint Server 2013 through a public-facing URL. So the SharePoint data and documents will remain inaccessible in case a mobile device is lost or stolen. Also, you can use the protocol to remotely wipe a variety of data from the mobile device. The protocol also enables you to prevent unauthorized access by displaying a lock screen that will force the users to enter a complex password.

Impose Multiple Authentications: Microsoft has further updated SharePoint 2013 with multiple authentication modes and methods. However, all authentication methods and modes may not be supported by each mobile device. So you have to make a comprehensive list of mobile devices that your employees use for accessing the corporate resources. Based on the supported mobile devices, you have to understand and implement the relevant authentication modes. Also, you have to decide the files, documents and resources that you will allow your staff to access on mobile devices. If you have made SharePoint sites, it will be easier to decide the mobile devices that can be used to access the resources externally. The external access restrictions will also have a impact on the authentication methods selected by you.

It is also important to review the guidelines for using SharePoint on mobile devices to make the security arrangements stronger and more effective. At the same time, you should also explore the latest security measures recommended by Microsoft to keep your corporate resources secure and inaccessible.

We provide Sharepoint development services. If you would like to know what makes us expert SharePoint developers, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

SharePoint - Ultimate Enterprise Apps creation Platform

SharePoint, a very important candidate to be the Apps platform for hybrid on-premise and cloud deployments. Several booming apps developed by SharePoint have a cross-platform implementation with higher user experiences and can run any device with ease. App vendors seem willing to require the price of maintaining multiple versions to secure better stability, performance and practicality utilizing the chances within the platform. Modern Apps with an HTML5 interface are more demanding in the web world. It is both a platform and an application. We need to understand where to use it best in each area.

SharePoint comprised of web technologies and standards-based APIs, launched in 2001 by Microsoft. It was version 2007 that first staked SharePoint’s claim as an application development platform. Then an updated version of SharePoint 2010 was released. As application usage grew, customers wanted to customize their site based on their own unique needs. Organizations seeking to involve the business users and analysts in all aspects of development, not just during the requirements gathering process. One of the reasons for the success of SharePoint has been its ability to empower end users. From creating custom views on lists, customizing web parts and building workflows, SharePoint has allowed the end-users to create much of the functionality they need without relying on IT each step of the way. It helps an enterprise to manage its data, applications and information more easily.

The recent trend of social networking makes unstructured content even more difficult. The Content Management Services provided by SharePoint makes it easier, where users find it difficult in terms of flexibility to tag a document, rate it, find and act with the topic matter consultants associated with the document, tired close to period. HTML5-based mobile browser experience, ability to associate multiple master pages to a single site, support for push notification and the addition of geolocation list datatype to make it easier to implement location awareness etc. With so many other worthy enhancements to choose from (enhanced API, performance improvements, BI enhancements), SharePoint database that stores the data, view, queries and macros.

SharePoint helps users to create customized applications in a cost-effective way. There are two main categories of SharePoint solutions are: those executing code on the server (Trusted Solutions) and those who doesn't (NoCode solutions).

NoCode Solutions
 

SharePoint in many ways resemble the integration architectures we see in the public web space, with light-weight interaction between distributed services. This means that a solution can be developed without any in-depth knowledge about the SharePoint platform, which is a great opportunity for novice users who are new to developing their business online by setting up a potential App. 

 

The skill set for NoCode solution development relies heavily on client-side technologies, such as JavaScript, jQuery, HTML and some basic ASP.NET. 

 

NoCode solutions have the great advantage of very low server footprint and thus there is very low risk of deploying these solutions, as they cannot interfere with the operations of the platform. They do not deploy or execute any compiled code to the SharePoint infrastructure, typically consume the SharePoint APIs and data over distributed interfaces such as Web Services or REST via the browser. This advantage is especially important in large-scale multitenancy hosting scenarios such as Office365, where operational stability and tenant isolation is extremely important. 

 

The drawbacks of NoCode solutions are mainly focused around the inability to utilize the raw processing power and services of the native server environment. This means that if you need to do stuff like running scheduled operations, or execute some demanding processing task, you'll need to externalize that task to an external service. Enterprises might also worry about the potential security and compliance risks of using NoCode solutions, as they commonly include mashups, which in turn takes advantage of external services. One example is the use of Google Charts. It provides a very simple, client side Java-script only solution, but the data you are populating your charts with are inherently shared with Google. 

 

Trusted Solutions 

 

SharePoint supports different kinds of trusted solutions, running on the SharePoint server infrastructure and on multiple browser. These types of solutions are established using WSP packages and execute compiled code on the infrastructure itself. The platform carries varying degrees of isolation to permit for different security and operational contexts. Microsoft has managed to set up a comprehensive structure with support for characteristic administration, provisioning and governance over the past two foremost versions of the merchandise.

With evolving trusted answers normally requires .NET programming skills, and furthermore in-depth information about the SharePoint programming APIs and deployment form. Developing the front-end is much the identical as for NoCode solutions, apart from the possibility of leveraging the full power of the ASP.NET web framework. This represents a cost for vendors making an primary entry to SharePoint, but it furthermore represents a important opening to utilize the centre capabilities of the stage.

Trusted solutions make it likely to exploit the full promise of the native stage services, making it possible to construct exceedingly powerful, integrated solutions that hold all facts and figures inside the enterprise at all times. This becomes an progressively significant asset as the breadth of platform services offered by SharePoint continues to grow, with things like the very quick seek and move supplement, presentation point, the secure shop service, visio services, word automation services and more.

Apps in the Cloud

Microsoft is focused on ensuring that all features, capabilities, development models built in SharePoint are 'service ready' - built with both on-premises and SharePoint Online in mind. NoCode solutions are more or less cloud-ready in nature but Trusted Solutions are complex.

 

Microsoft supports all types of Trusted Solutions in the cloud and thus increase their scalability level. Office365 will require establishing process isolation for code running on their servers and with the current SharePoint Architecture, this can only be done at the Web Application level, thus Office365 have to be able to serve these "units" in the scalable way in which they are serving Site Collections today. We expect this to arrive with Office365 in pace with the increasing demand for virtual private clouds which is in demand by upper SMBs. 

 

Once Microsoft has solved this little technical barrier they have in essence unleashed the full power of the SharePoint platform to allow it to be a potential host for Apps of all types, both on-premise and in the cloud. 

 

A complex but complete platform

 

SharePoint, 4 major versions 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2013 support a broad kind of solution kinds with distinct complexity, possibilities, development approaches and governance considerations. The models cater to distinct needs of customization ranging from the least significant of purposes, to the most comprehensive business systems running on the platform. Microsoft has effectively supplied tools to permit explain problems at all grades and they have done it at a stride that has permitted a large community to pursue, invest and apply precious business solutions. 

 
In the future, all of these solution types can run on-premise or in the cloud, served from a single App Marketplace for SharePoint. With sharepoint CMS customization services on the rise, it is nothing but clear that the world is getting ready to harness the benefits CMS has to offer.



We provide sharepoint migration services. If you would like to know what makes us expert sharepoint developers, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.