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Office Business Applications

Office Business Applications Developer Center

OBAs connect Line of Business (LOB) systems with the people that use them through the familiar user interface of Microsoft Office. OBAs enable businesses to extend the Microsoft Office clients and servers into business processes running in LOB applications such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Supply Chain Management (SCM). This enables enterprises to create new value from existing IT investments by combining them in innovative ways.

Featured Content

OBA Sample Application Kits

Get detailed reference information on how to integrate line-of-business (LOB) systems such as PeopleSoft and SAP with the Microsoft Office system.

Creating Office Business Applications Using Excel Services and Open XML Formats

Excel Services + Office Open XML File Format = powerful Office Business Applications that require no client code installation.

Office Business Applications Services Web Site and Security Framework

Learn to build custom applications that use SharePoint Server 2007, InfoPath 2007, SQL Server Analysis Services, SQL Server Integration Services, and the Business Data Catalog.

Video: Office Business Applications Explained

Lewis Levin, Corporate VP, discusses OBAs.

Video: What is an OBA?

Javed Sikander, Director of Industry Architecture, talks about OBAs.

Books Excerpts

Programming Microsoft Office Business ApplicationsProgramming Microsoft Office Business Applications

Get practical guidance for creating custom applications by using the capabilities of the Microsoft Office platform. This hands-on reference illustrates how to use Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Office and the Microsoft Office system to create Office Business Applications.

Code Samples

Customer Service Request Management

This code sample presents an example of an Office Business Application (OBA) built on the 2007 Microsoft Office system and addresses some of the demanding collaboration and business insight requirements of a CSR application.

Sales Proposal Document Management

Use the sample files in this download to learn how to use the Microsoft Office platform to create a custom solution that allows multiple users to collaborate on the creation of a sales proposal response document.

Tools and Utilities

Customer Service Request Management

This code sample presents an example of an Office Business Application (OBA) built on the 2007 Microsoft Office system and addresses some of the demanding collaboration and business insight requirements of a CSR application.

Sales Proposal Document Management

Use the sample files in this download to learn how to use the Microsoft Office platform to create a custom solution that allows multiple users to collaborate on the creation of a sales proposal response document.

OBA Reference Application Packs (RAP)

Each RAP contains a reference solution architecture and a sample application that illustrate how to build an OBA using the Microsoft Office Platform.

OBA RAP for Loan Origination Systems

Learn how to build an OBA designed to support cross-functional processes and allow information workers to collaborate, and then download the code to get started.

Consumer Engagement Reference Architecture (CERA) for Health Plans

Walk through the process of building a reference architecture, and then download the OBA RAP for Health Plans.

OBA RAP Pack for Manufacturing Plant Floor Analytics

Learn how to build an Analytics OBA using the Microsoft Business Intelligence (BI) Platform.

OBA RAP Pack for E-Forms Processing in the Public Sector

Learn how an OBA can be built to automate and optimize forms processing in a Public Sector organization.

Office Servers, Clients, and Tools

Server Development

Business Data Catalog
Excel Services
New Dev-Centric Features in Office SharePoint Server Keep Your Apps Rolling
Team-Based Development in SharePoint Server 2007
Walkthrough: Developing a Custom Application Using Excel Web Services
Workflows in Windows SharePoint Services

Client Development

Creating Custom Task Panes Using Visual Studio Tools for Office
Creating Office 2007 Custom Task Panes
Customizing the Office Fluent User Interface in Access 2007
Developing InfoPath 2007 Managed-Code Solutions
Migrating a Document-Level Customization to an Application-Level Add-In
SharePoint Designer 2007

Tools

Building Office Business Applications Using Visual Studio Tools for the Office System (3.0)
OBA/VSTO Starter Kit v. 1.0
Microsoft Office Interactive Developer Map
Setting Up a Development Environment for the 2007 Office System (Technical Article)
VSTO | Office Development with Visual Studio Developer Center

Office Business Applications Services

Office system provides several key capabilities as services that are delivered on both client applications and also on the server. Each of these services has their own Web services interfaces. As a developer, you can take advantage of these services to cleanly integrate core business processes into Office clients and Office servers.

Webcasts and Videos

Related Sites

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