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The Infopath presentation to the .Net Architects User Group Rocked!

  • Artigo

Last night was lots of fun.

I delivered a 2 hour InfoPath presentation to the Israeli .Net Architects user group. This was my first time in front of this particular UG, and they are a pretty sharp bunch who were very interactive with questions and comments throughout the presentation. There were about 50-60 people in all, which was a great turnout considering the topic; InfoPath isn't very well known in Israel.

My previous Infopath presentations and training sessions were usually developer oriented so I added quite a bit of new content for this session.  The audience feedback shows that they really enjoyed it and especially liked the new materials. For whoever is interested, the TOC was as follows:

  • Introduction:  (1 hour)
    • Development, Part 1 (no code, just exploring the designer + connectivity capabilities)
    • Development, Part 2 (breaking out VS.NET and playing with the OM)
    • Deployment  + XSN Internals
  • The Real World : Common Scenarios (1 hour)
    • Add-Hoc Data Gathering - Walkthrough of a solution
    • Improving an Existing Business Process - Walkthrough of a solution
    • Line Of Business using InfoPath - Walkthrough of a solution

During the second hour we reviewed several common real-world scenarios, characterized the required investments and components involved in each solution, and got a feel for the user experience (and InfoPath's contribution to it). This was the best part of the presentation, and it would have been even better if I had an extra hour to go into more detail and answer the many questions which popped up during the walkthroughs. As it is, I hope that the architects got a good feel for the power and flexibility which an InfoPath/SharePoint/BizTalk solution provides.

I still need to clean up the slides before putting them up on the user group site. I'm flying back to New York tonight so I'll have 10 hours of 'quality time' with my laptop. Yay.

After the lecture we headed off to the blogger's dinner, which will be the topic of another post...

And since I am on vacation after all, here is the inevitable standard "random vacation picture":

My parents' cat "Happy"

Comments

  • Anonymous
    November 29, 2004
    Santo , Thanks For the amazing lecture!
    i installed InfoPath When i came back Home
    Also , I Figured Out That We Have Some Connection thourth Third Friend (Dotan)

    Come Again
    Dror Engel
  • Anonymous
    November 30, 2004
    Your parent's cat looks a lot like our cat...
  • Anonymous
    December 04, 2004
    Santo,

    The lecture was very good - 10x. Now, I got the understanding that InfoPath is another alternative for smart client application and front end. It will enable me to consider it as another alternative for customers we work with.

    You pointed that InfoPath allow end users who r not technical people to build entry forms easily. Its also can eliminate the need for developers for simple tasks - u said.

    Well, I think that InfoPath - in its initial versions is on the path to this goal - simple users would build their own entry forms and even make it a little bit handy and complex (the strong users). But the path is very long toward this goal. Without developers u will failed to enjoy the real power of InfoPath - especially its form design builder and validation productivity.

    I guess we will see in the near future of InfoPath the back end support which currently I find missing. I mean that the output of the entry form/s that were build using InfoPath will find the path to the backend repository automatically or by selecting one of the available network repositories. Right now, as I understand the forms output being kept in XML files. It would be nice if we could keep it in a rational DB tabels that will automatic generated using the tools and transfer to it whenever the user click the submit button.

    This will make InfoPath a more complete solution.
  • Anonymous
    December 04, 2004
    Hi Adi,
    Thanks a lot for the lecture - I really enjoyed it!

    I agree that the best part was the customers' "war stories". Maybe the best strategy for this kind of lectures is to start with the stories and show the tool's features "by the way" (just a suggestion :-)).

    Anyway as I said, I really enjoyed the lecture and I would love to hear from you again.

    All the best,
    Yoel