The Dot Net Factory Demonstrates Multiple Applications For SharePoint Security Management And Workflow At The Microsoft SharePoint Conference 2009
(MMD Newswire) October 23, 2009 -- The Dot Net Factory continues to demonstrate leadership in the market for both Identity Management solutions and Microsoft Windows Workflow Foundation application development for Microsoft SharePoint with its showing of four applications, two of which were newly released, at the Microsoft SharePoint Conference 2009 this week in Las Vegas, NV.
The Dot Net Factory's portfolio of SharePoint applications includes: the EmpowerID 2009 Identity Management Suite, the EmpowerID 2009 SharePoint Role Enforcer, the newly released EmpowerID Workflow for SharePoint and the newly released Universal Data Adapter for the SharePoint Business Data Catalog.
The EmpowerID 2009 Suite is a workflow-based Identity Management platform that ships with over 150 workflows that cover: password reset; user provisioning; corporate whitepages, user provisioning and deprovisioning; access control to resources; approvals; and more. Its ability to create new workflows and reports from scratch (in addition to the over 75 reports it ships with), allow it to play an indispensable role in meeting security, governance and compliance needs.
The Dot Net Factory's Role Enforcer for SharePoint module of EmpowerID 2009 has been expanded and provides SharePoint with: access control; centralized and automated permissions management; self-service access requests via configurable workflow processes; and full-featured reporting.
Role Enforcer for SharePoint solves the essential business and technical challenges of deploying SharePoint in the enterprise by enabling effective enterprise-wide management, enforcement, and audit for even the largest and most complex environments.
Role Enforcer for SharePoint provides a view of an entire SharePoint environment by inventorying and monitoring all SharePoint sites, lists, folders, document libraries, users, groups, and roles. Included in the inventory process are all permissions assignments in SharePoint so that admins can quickly determine who has access to what for reporting, as well as managing this access with friendly workflows - even across multiple SharePoint sites and farms. End user administration costs are decreased and security is strengthened with its workflows that execute self-service access requests with delegation-based approval routing and audit tracking.
EmpowerID 2009 Suite adds specific value to SharePoint user management with its integral Metadirectory, which is a fully compliant .NET Membership and Role Provider directory that can be used by any .NET 2.0 or greater application that supports this method of authentication and authorization. This allows SharePoint 2007 extranets and other .NET applications to be accessed by extranet users without having to create user accounts for them in an internal Active Directory. Internal directories and domains are thereby insulated from extranet users by allowing external SharePoint users to be created and managed within EmpowerID's Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) Metadirectory.
The EmpowerID 2009 Suite also provides a new and innovative usage of the SharePoint Feature plug-in model by embedding EmpowerID's user interfaces for workflow-based self-service and delegated administration directly into an organization's SharePoint sites. It includes the ability to dynamically match the look and feel of your SharePoint sites. All EmpowerID interfaces match the theme of the site that the user is currently browsing when using EmpowerID inside SharePoint sites, including the forms and dialogs in all workflow processes, all of the EmpowerID pages that provide corporate white pages functionality, as well as SharePoint site access management, user administration, group management and other task-focused views.
The Dot Net Factory also introduced at the show its new EmpowerID Workflow for SharePoint, an extension of EmpowerID's enterprise-class rapid workflow design and development platform for Microsoft Windows Workflow Foundation solutions, to specifically address SharePoint custom workflow needs. Workflow for SharePoint uses EmpowerID's workflow server and communication framework for hosting enterprise workflow applications.
Enterprise features of the platform include load-balancing between distributed workflow servers, fault tolerance, failover and a robust role-based access control framework that adds security and built-in approval routing to all workflow processes. SharePoint Workflow includes BPM Studio, the premier design and development environment for organizations seeking to create solutions on the Windows Workflow Foundation. It offers a visual design tool that provides drag and drop designers for all components of a workflow-based application.
The EmpowerID BPM Studio allows organizations to design workflows that seamlessly integrate with SharePoint Sites, Content Types, Lists and Libraries at various stages in a process. It allows users to "wire up" the events from SharePoint Sites, Content Types, Lists, and Libraries so that they trigger EmpowerID workflows. In one mode, EmpowerID workflows are triggered by users initiating requests that integrate SharePoint content at different stages where desired. In a second mode, events - such as changes to content in SharePoint lists and document libraries - trigger EmpowerID workflows that automate processes as simple as document approvals, or as elaborate as a new employee hiring process.
Workflows can be designed to leverage SharePoint Lists, Document Libraries, and InfoPath Forms as user interfaces, or they can use BPM Studio's rich code-free visual designers to create workflow interfaces that automatically function in the Web, Silverlight, and Windows Presentation Foundation.
BPM Studio includes all of the components needed to create a complete workflow application in record time using its drag and drop designers for code-free development. Designers are included for creating: workflow activities (shapes), workflow processes, WCF web services, BDC applications, workflow forms, searchable data lookups, web interfaces, ribbon menus, and reports. In addition to the code-free designers, EmpowerID provides developers with an extensive C# development environment allowing full custom coding, as well as the ability to reference web services and external assemblies.
The Dot Net Factory also demonstrated a second new product at the show - the Universal Data Adapter (UDA) for SharePoint's Business Data Catalog. With the UDA, EmpowerID introduces a new method for simplifying and extending the Business Data Catalog (BDC), a key component of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Enterprise Edition.
The UDA from The Dot Net Factory provides a very powerful framework for surfacing data from all kinds of data sources into the Office SharePoint Server with little or no knowledge of the Business Data Catalog metadata model. It also allows organizations to extend the usage of BDC data from simply being a read-only source to allowing SharePoint and workflow processes to write back to these systems, creating and modifying records on them with security, approval processes, and full audit logging and reporting.
"We are excited with our recent product releases and continued enhancements to EmpowerID 2009 to continue to build out the security and the functionality that many sophisticated SharePoint users and enterprises have been demanding for the extremely popular and successful SharePoint platform. At the core of each of these solutions is our powerful Windows Workflow Foundation-based workflow engine which unlocks the vast potential SharePoint has for being a portal without limits," said Patrick Parker, Chief Executive Officer, The Dot Net Factory.
Pricing and Availability
EmpowerID 2009, Role Enforcer for SharePoint, EmpowerID Workflow for SharePoint and The EmpowerID Universal Data Adapter for the SharePoint Business Data Catalog are available immediately.
About The Dot Net Factory
Based in Dublin, Ohio, The Dot Net Factory is a Microsoft Partner and leading provider of Identity Management and Secure Business Process Automation solutions. The Dot Net Factory's EmpowerID Windows Workflow Foundation-based platform is deployed and proven in organizations worldwide, ranging in size from hundreds of users to hundreds of thousands of users.
For more information, or to request pricing or a demonstration, please visit http://www.thedotnetfactory.com, email sales@thedotnetfactory.com, or call toll free to (877) 996-4276
##
All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
Press Contact:
Bradford Mandell
The Dot Net Factory
brad@thedotnetfactory.com
877.996.4276