Maarten Visser

InfoPath alternatives and the

potential of PowerApps

Maarten Visser

Email : mvisser@meetroo.comTwitter : @mvisserWeb: maartenvisser.com

FORMS BIOOutlook/Exchange Forms in 1999SharePoint Forms since 2001InfoPath Forms since 2007Third party tools (now)

Product ManagerStandard Intranets,Workflows and Dashboardsfor Office 365

SharePoint Forms15 years ago Microsoft gave us List Forms

• Patent June 2000 (XSLT gen)• InfoPath released in 2003• Multiple data sources• Offline use

• New InfoPath versions in 2007, 2010, 2013

InfoPath

• Microsoft announced InfoPath was discontinued on January 31, 2014

The InfoPath/FoSL drama story

March 3, 2014, 13:00 PTLas Vegas

InfoPath Funeral #SPC14

The next day

FoSL (Forms on SharePoint Lists )

Forward to February 2015….

InfoPath support confirmed for SharePoint 2016

Office client & InfoPath Services support were (again) confirmed until 2023

And a couple of days later… Vlad Catrinescu makes a discovery on the Office 365 roadmap page: FoSL is dead!

Forms on SharePoint Lists (FoSL) was a set of functionality to allow users to customize the look and feel of a SharePoint list. The prototype was created and demonstrated at the SharePoint conference several years ago. The hope was that it was low hanging fruit, and an easy "win" for getting users some basic functionality as a replacement to InfoPath in regards to customizing the look and feel of SharePoint forms. However, it didn't accomplish all the things they had hoped it would. We started thinking about an overall forms strategy, and realized FoSL didn't really fit into the big picture, either.

Summary written by Becky Bertram

Summary of AME with Sonya Koptyev

InfoPath is alive!But…

Forms Services will be maintained in SharePoint Online at least 12-18 months after the release of SharePoint 2016. So the InfoPath story for Office 365 might end after 2017…

So what to do?

InfoPath Alternatives

• Form Designer• Form Filler• Form Publishing• Microsoft Specials

What is InfoPath? (InfoPath Core Features)

Form Designer• WYSIWHG Form designer• Drag and drop interface• Large library of controls• Rules for Formatting and validation• Get data from data sources (SharePoint)

Form Filler• Desktop client• Embeded in SharePoint (Online)• Offline usage• Mobile Support (missing, but available in alternatives)

Form Publishing • SharePoint List / DocLib• File (XML) / email• Database (Access / SQL)• Webservice

Microsoft Specials• Outlook/SharePoint Task Integration• Custom Actions (Custom Code)

How can we build Form Solutions today?Excel Online ServicesAccess Apps FormsBuild Custom formsOpen Source SolutionsSharePoint Third Party AppsVarious Online services

Excel Online Services

ProsEverybody knows ExcelData can be manipulated easily

ConsOnly useful for very basic formsNo design optionsNot mobile friendly

ExcelForm Designer• WYSIWHG Form designer• Drag and drop interface• Large library of controls• Rules for Formating and validation• Data connectionsForm Filler• Desktop client• Embeded in sharePoint (Online)• Mobile Support• Offl ine usageForm Publishing• SharePoint List / DocLib• File (xml) / email• Database (Access / SQL)• WebserviceSpecialsTask IntegrationCustom code

GREEN 0RED 10

Access Apps Forms

ProsCan handle relational data (SQL Server/Azure)Easy-to-use and buildPowerful!

ConsLimited design optionsNot built for single lists or tablesNo way to do workflow (linked list is read only)Enterprise feature (E3/Plan 2)No Search No Security trimming

AccessForm Designer• WYSIWHG Form designer• Drag and drop interface• Large library of controls• Rules for Formating and validation• Data connectionsForm Filler• Desktop client• Embeded in sharePoint (Online)• Mobile Support• Offl ine usageForm Publishing• SharePoint List / DocLib• File (xml) / email• Database (Access / SQL)• WebserviceSpecialsTask IntegrationCustom code

GREEN 5RED 6

Custom forms in SharePoint

ProsVery extensible and reusableYou can pick the technology you like

ConsYou need to be a developer Maintenance (costs!)

CustomForm Designer• WYSIWHG Form designer• Drag and drop interface• Large library of controls• Rules for Formating and validation• Data connectionsForm Filler• Desktop client• Embeded in sharePoint (Online)• Mobile Support• Offl ine usageForm Publishing• SharePoint List / DocLib• File (xml) / email• Database (Access / SQL)• WebserviceSpecialsTask IntegrationCustom code

GREEN 8RED 3

OpenSource: Forms7

Spbiz Session

OpenSourceForm Designer• WYSIWHG Form designer• Drag and drop interface• Large library of controls• Rules for Formating and validation• Data connectionsForm Filler• Desktop client• Embeded in sharePoint (Online)• Mobile Support• Offl ine usageForm Publishing• SharePoint List / DocLib• File (xml) / email• Database (Access / SQL)• WebserviceSpecialsTask IntegrationCustom code

GREEN 4RED 3

• Nintex Forms (*)• K2 SmartForms (*)• Formotus• KwizCom Forms (*)• Infowise Ultimate Forms • Dell Quick Apps• PDF ShareForms• SPForm

* OnPrem + SharePoint online App

Third party solutions

SharePoint Appstore

Third Party AppsProsQuick to learnMost work on mobile devices

ConsA third party tool will require licensesCan be difficult to reuse / migrate

ThirdpartyForm Designer• WYSIWHG Form designer• Drag and drop interface• Large library of controls• Rules for Formating and validation• Data connectionsForm Filler• Desktop client• Embeded in sharePoint (Online)• Mobile Support• Offl ine usageForm Publishing• SharePoint List / DocLib• File (xml) / email• Database (Access / SQL)• WebserviceSpecialsTask IntegrationCustom code

GREEN 8RED 1

And many more (combined) SaaS services could help you build forms that post to SharePoint!

Think IFTTT for business services

Online ServicesOnline Services

Form Designer• WYSIWHG Form designer• Drag and drop interface• Large library of controls• Rules for Formating and validation• Data connectionsForm Filler• Desktop client• Embeded in sharePoint (Online)• Mobile Support• Offl ine usageForm Publishing• SharePoint List / DocLib• File (xml) / email• Database (Access / SQL)• WebserviceSpecialsTask IntegrationCustom code

GREEN 8RED 2

PowerAppsPowerApps

Form Designer• WYSIWHG Form designer• Drag and drop interface• Large library of controls• Rules for Formating and validation• Data connectionsForm Filler• Desktop client• Embeded in sharePoint (Online)• Mobile Support• Offl ine usageForm Publishing• SharePoint List / DocLib• File (xml) / email• Database (Access / SQL)• WebserviceSpecialsTask IntegrationCustom code

GREEN 11 !RED 0

PowerApps!

What is it?• No InfoPath replacement accoring to Microsoft, but..

• Most core InfoPath features are supported

• Most important missing: No Web Forms (to embed in SharePoint)• Only Native apps in current preview

• Windows 8• Windows 10,• iOS (iPad and iPhone)• Android (coming later)

• Webforms are in the Roadmap (currently in development)• All forms are based on HTML5/JavaScript/CSS

Datasources?!• Excel file• SQL Server• SharePoint lists/libraries• OneDrive• Dropbox• Google Docs• SendGrid• SAP• Oracle• Safesforce.com• Dynamic CRM• Twitter• Bing

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eBbPlAg001w/VmWNy2SweAI/AAAAAAAADqE/NFsTrtvSoOw/s1600-h/clip_image002%5B1%5D.png

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5RF2KE2AoIQ/VmWNyAei72I/AAAAAAAADp4/YiDANqjZPFw/s1600-h/clip_image001%5B3%5D.png

Schedule

The future?

Now hoping for a Spring 2016 release

Office 365 RoadmapThe office roadmap said:

"The ability to create custom SharePoint List forms is an important scenario. We are refining our plans in this space as part of a more comprehensive set of forms investments.  We will update the roadmap when we have more information to share.“

Now hoping for a Spring 2016 release

What I learned at Ignite 2015The ‘Forms Session’ was te only session scraped from the Ignite conference.

Team is working on something but was not ready to launch.

When the solution is there, tools will be supplied to migrate InfoPath forms to the new ‘Forms vNext’.

Thanks.

That was it!

www.slideshare.net/mvisser