The Summer 2006 Release: Enabling Enterprise-Wide Applications

In the July 2006 issue of the CorasWorks Workplace Monthly, we introduced the concept of Workstream Applications, a powerful new class of enterprise-wide applications that allow organizations to define and drive the flow of information across their workplace, across departments, and across business functions.

In this article, we take a deeper look at the concept of enterprise-wide applications powered by CorasWorks, paying specific attention to the capabilities of the Summer 2006 release of the Workplace Suite, as well as the benefits of implementing enterprise-wide applications using CorasWorks.

Implementing Enterprise-wide Applications Using CorasWorks

In 2003, CorasWorks began building its products and services on Microsoft SharePoint Products & Technologies (part of the Microsoft Office System), and Microsoft .NET. We continue to believe that this platform, including the upcoming SharePoint v3 (2007), is the best choice for building the "next-generation" collaborative solutions. We extend this platform by building our own products and services that "transform" a collaborative platform into a next generation system for integrated business applications. We call this next generation system “the workplace.”

Using the workplace means that instead of having to go from application to application to do work, the work that needs to get done and the information to do it are brought to the end-user by the workplace itself.
How then can you implement a Workplace in a world where, more and more each day, success depends on distributed teams of people working together? The Summer 2006 release of the CorasWorks Suite addresses this challenge by enabling the design and implementation of enterprise-wide applications built on the SharePoint platform.


Key Characteristics of Enterprise-wide Applications

First, let’s look at some important requirements for a SharePoint application to be used throughout the enterprise. Consider the following:

·       Modular components can be used by anyone with access to them, even from different sites, in different locations.

·       Centrally managed information used throughout the organization

·       End-user ability to create valuable views of information

o        Aggregated views of information in one place

o        Views of information related together

·       Delegated administrative and development work to end-users

·       Adherence to a common security framework

Powerful New Capabilities in the Summer 2006 Release

Now we’ll shift our attention to understanding how these requirements are easily achieved using CorasWorks. The example we’ll use involves the project team sites of two departments, Human Resources and Information Technology. Consider the diagram below of a simple project collaboration solution.

A Simple Project Collaboration Solution

The diagram tells a story that is very typical of CorasWorks usage. The bottom portion represents a place, usually one or more site collections in a SharePoint implementation, where project team sites are stored. In this case, the team sites are mixed together. Some of the team sites (the blue ones) are HR projects, while the others (the red ones) are IT project sites. Traditionally, SharePoint users must navigate to each site to participate and use the information.
 
However, the diagram above also shows two project collaboration dashboards made possible by the use of CorasWorks components. The dashboards are part of a workplace that gives end-users the information they need to be most productive and do their job most effectively.

Now think back to the characteristics described above as they relate to using CorasWorks in the Project Collaboration scenario.

·       Modular CorasWorks components can be used by anyone with access to them, even from different sites, in different locations to create dashboards with targeted information stored anywhere within the enterprise.

·       CorasWorks Central Configuration Services and the Actions Framework enable centralized control, management, creation, and flow of information for use throughout the organization. In the example above, you can:

o      Indicate from a central location the projects that belong to HR and those that belong to IT.

o      Create and modify collaborative information (documents, tasks, announcements, issues, custom lists, etc.) from the dashboards, but store the information in the appropriate project’s site and lists.

·         Allow end-users to create valuable views of information within their dashboards.

o      Configure CorasWorks roll-ups to display aggregated views of issues, tasks, etc. which are specific to the end-user viewing the dashboard.

o        Use CorasWorks Cross-Connect displays to view all active projects and their related issues together in one view.

·       All of the CorasWorks components needed to build the solution are web parts, meaning no custom development is required and System Administrators can easily delegate administrative and development work to end-users.

·       CorasWorks components adhere to and leverage the SharePoint security model for sites and lists.  So whether you are controlling who can modify the dashboards or showing a security-trimmed user interface, you have the benefit of a common security framework.

Benefits of CorasWorks-Powered Enterprise-wide Applications

Understanding the simple example above is a great starting point to contemplate the possibilities of using CorasWorks across the enterprise. CorasWorks provides its customers with the ability to create a distributed, collaborative architecture that allows organizations to look at their processes in new ways. Then, more importantly, taking that insight and rapidly snapping together business applications with plug-and-play components. While the benefits of using CorasWorks and SharePoint for this purpose could be an entire article itself, we’ll highlight a few of these here.

·       Usability: A common interface for applications and reduced need for navigation dramatically enhances the end-user experience.

·       Scalability: The ability to centrally control and configure information spread throughout the workplace makes it both feasible and easy to work with hundreds and thousands of SharePoint sites and lists.

·       Flexibility: Modular components and solutions are easily snapped together by non-technical people.

·       Maintainability: No need to maintain custom code and reduced system administration complexity and intervention.

·       Security: Adherence to a common security framework (i.e., Active Directory)

Powerful Enterprise-wide Applications
CorasWorks has built an application platform for SharePoint that connects to information throughout the organization and enables re-use and development of applications on an enterprise-wide scale. We are currently seeing this happen in many business verticals including Education, Financial Services, Government, Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals, Manufacturing, and Telecom, Energy, and Utilities.

The latest version of our Workplace Suite offers significant help to those looking to deliver results by designing and implementing solutions that are aligned with the end-users’ objectives, allow secure sharing of information, and allow re-use of successful processes and tools across the enterprise without custom development, costly software licenses, or extended implementation timelines. The CorasWorks Workplace Suite Summer 2006 release truly makes implementing enterprise-wide applications on the SharePoint platform a winning decision.