Microsoft builds Office, Web services bridge

Developers can link business systems to Office applications with Web services

By Joris Evers

May 25, 2004 12:00 PM ET

IDG News Service - Expanding on its vision of Office as a front end to business applications, Microsoft Corp. yesterday announced the trial release of a software bundle that allows developers to link business systems to Office applications using Web services.
The bundle, called Office Information Bridge Framework, includes an Office add-in for interpreting XML metadata; a server component that exposes data, views and actions of a Web service; and a metadata designer that plugs into the Visual Studio developer tool, Microsoft said at its Tech Ed user event in San Diego.
The Office Information Bridge Framework allows developers to add functionality to Office applications such as Outlook and Excel so users of those applications can access information in back-end business systems from within the Office applications, Microsoft said.
Microsoft is pitching the Office-to-Web-services bridge to enterprise developers as well as other software vendors to expand on Office. Its own Microsoft CRM product team is leading the way. By using the Office Information Bridge Framework, Microsoft CRM users can now access customer relationship management data from within Office applications, Microsoft said.
The Information Bridge Framework works with Visual Studio .Net 2003 and requires Windows Server 2003, SQL Server 2000 with Service Pack 3, Office Professional Edition 2003 and Version 1.1 of the Microsoft .Net Framework.
The final version of the framework is due in July, Microsoft said.
More information on the Office Information Bridge Framework is available online.

Reprinted with permission from

IDG.net
Story copyright 2009 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

Recommend Digg Twitter ShareThis

Email Print Send Feedback Reprints

Additional Resources

POLL RESULTS

Leading IT Pros Weigh In on Top IT Issues

Accelerate your knowledge of the IT world you inhabit by viewing the results of a series of polls taken by your IT peers. These polls of 100+ IT professionals each are available for full viewing. They cover key topics such as virtualization, processor performance, green IT, cloud computing and many others. Be a part of the buzz.

WHITE PAPER

For Best Results, Think Beyond the Box

Technology is complex. Keeping it running productively shouldn't be. To that end, you want to minimize the number of solutions needed in-house to simplify operations, maintenance, and support. Kodak offers a best-practices model. One company provides support for both scanner and software, for fast problem resolution without vendor finger-pointing. Download now!

WHITE PAPER

Accelerating the Path to Demand Intelligence with a Demand Signal Repository

Utilizing demand intelligence improves the precision of pricing, product assortments, channel/store placement, and promotion, which are all essential for sustainable revenue management performance. Learn more, download this free whitepaper today.

White Papers & Webcasts

The High Performance Workplace
In this paper we examine the challenges and define the critical steps CFOs, CIOs, COOs and CEOs, in midsized global companies, can take...

How to Reduce Eclipse BIRT Development Effort for Data Visualizations
Web applications can come with a long list of visualization requirements for structured data. By delivering your output through the BIRT Interactive Viewer,...

Extend, Replace, or Convert; which is the best way forward for COBOL Applications?
There are a number of choices when looking at ways to take existing COBOL applications forward. This white paper discusses the most common...

Strategic ECM Webinar
Learn what new strategic business benefits can be realized through ECM!...

2009 Gartner Magic Quadrant Report
Truly understand your options for WAN Optimization Controllers...

Managing And Protecting Your Ever Increasing Mobile Assets
Learn best practices for desktop and application virtualization, computer security, and computer life-cycle management....

Tech Horizons: ASG's metaCMDB, The Technology That Rocks
Improved business productivity often requires more efficient IT and more efficient IT cannot be achieved without a better understanding of the way business...

5 Architecture Issues that Impact BES performance
This Live webinar will identify critical log file errors, performance counters, and configurations to pay close attention to when optimizing BES server performance....

The Vector Approach to Data Center Power Planning
This white paper describes an approach that considers the major milestones and thresholds in data center power requirements-and how planners should adjust their...

Usability Is Everything
Learn what sets Workday's HR and Payroll solutions apart from the competition....

All White Papers | All Webcasts