Crow Canyon Blog

Microsoft “Winter Winds” Blow In: SharePoint Workflows, InfoPath on the Way Out

Out with the old, in with the new – Microsoft is cleaning house a bit, retiring SharePoint 2010 Workflows on Office 365 in November and ending mainstream support for InfoPath next summer. That means it is time for you also to do some “Fall Cleanup” and get going on finding alternatives to these two expiring technologies. 

It does not make sense to wait for the last minute. You don’t prepare for winter in the middle of a blizzard! It takes forethought and planning, not scrambling at the last minute.

 

Ant or Grasshopper? 

In other words, be like the ant, not the grasshopper. Fortunately, we have the tools to help your “ant nature” take hold and get you prepared for when Microsoft puts SharePoint 2010 (& 2013) Workflows and InfoPath into cold storage. 

Our NITRO Studio is very well suited to replace both InfoPath forms and SharePoint Workflows. NITRO is a powerhouse of forms, workflows, actions, reports, portals, bots, and more. It is the foundation you need to weather the stormy days ahead as you migrate from old technologies to new. 

We are experienced travelers on this path. Crow Canyon Software has been around for over 20 years, bringing organizations of all types the latest in Microsoft collaboration technologies. We have been through many winters of change, as Microsoft went from Exchange public folders, to early versions of SharePoint, to Office 365, and to Teams.  

Take Shelter with NITRO Studio and Crow Canyon Business Applications 

Along with our NITRO Studio, we have a robust stable of core business applications. These applications all use our NITRO platform. They are customizable and configurable to meet your specific needs. 

In some cases, one of our out-of-the-box applications – maybe our Request Manager, Purchasing, or Work Orders — will be an easy replacement for an existing InfoPath form and workflow processes. The application may need just a bit of tweaking to meet your requirements. Plus it will deliver more than InfoPath, with mobile and cloud capabilities, bot and portal technologies, and overall better performance. 

At other times, our NITRO Studio can be used to replace the soon-to-be-expired InfoPath form or SharePoint workflow. For example, you may have an InfoPath form that does not fit into any standard application. In fact, we can almost guarantee you do, if you have used InfoPath formsalmost all of them are custom implementations. This could be a specialized request form, a government-required form, or a particular form used only in your industry, etc. 

With NITRO Studio, it is simple and straightforward to create a custom form and build business process into it by adding on workflows and actions, integrating with databases, enacting approval processes, issuing work orders and task, generating reports and documents – really, anything that InfoPath or SharePoint Workflows can do, but better. NITRO runs on any device and is fully responsive and cloud-enabled. 

Portals and Bots to Keep You Warm All Winter 

In addition, our solutions bring exciting new features – portals and bots. You can set up a self-service portal for your end users and staff. This makes it easy and convenient for people to make and fulfill requests, check status, get approvals, add notes, close tickets, and other such processes. 

Bots bring automation and self-service to a new level. By engaging with the bot, users can get answers 24 x 7. This relieves the staff of handling routine requests, which, by some measures, account for 60% of all tickets at an average Service Desk. 

The bot can also help staff resolve tickets by providing guidance and quick interactions with the ticketing system, knowledge base, and end user. It makes it easy for service desk staff to view, update, and close tickets, speeding response time and increasing user satisfaction.  

Like the Song Says: “The Weather Outside is Frightful, NITRO is so Delightful 

Don’t let Microsoft’s “winter winds” give you frostbite. Let us help you prepare for the change in the weather. Check out our NITRO Studio with a free demo! Contact us now to “get ready for winter”. 

Scott Restivo