Why Every Developer Should Embrace SharePoint?
SharePoint is sometimes mistaken in many developer communities as simply an application, but it is far more than that. It is certainly a platform that is used for document management or ECMS, but it has several functions that make it a very reliable business tool.
As business units begin to demand more Agile development approaches, SharePoint is perfectly positioned to serve as not only a prototyping tool for new developments, but in some cases it can provide many end users with the permanent functions that will serve their ongoing and changing needs.
Forms of the Past
In the past, developers were often required to create forms for data entry. This is beginning to change. Similar to how Access databases were used, in the past, to allow users to perform simple analysis and run queries. SharePoint allows users to create their own web based forms, document business processes, and implement a workflow to track changes or approvals.
Most developers want to work on new technologies. By empowering the end user to address a majority of their needs for forms, data, and reporting; this allows developers to focus on the more important things like R&D or more advanced development. This is the top reason for developers to embrace SharePoint.
SharePoint provides a unified user interface for pages, forms, lists, and libraries that can be used across multiple business units. In the long run this will help to reduce the complexity of upgrades and reduce the need for customization. Certainly it is possible to customize site collections with Visual Studio or coding, but this should be avoided for most applications. Pretty bells and whistles are nice, but they come with a cost. The more unique that interfaces, customizations, or applications become - the more a developer will be needed to maintain and continue to enhance them in the future. This goes against the top reason to embrace SharePoint as a developer, but in some cases it isn't avoidable.
SharePoint has built in mobile interfaces that can be used OOTB. The functionality that is enabled is more than enough for most end users needs. Granted the UI is based on HTML, it is fluid and responds very well to touch screens. The look and feel is the same across multiple platforms like iOS, Droid, and WP.
Office Interfaces
The best feature that SharePoint offers, relies on its interfacing capabilities with other Office products. A user can quickly add a people picker - which is tied to active directory. The people picker can be used to show presence, IM, email, info, and provide workflow capabilities.
The user can also extract list data in Excel or Access so that further analysis can be done. Since the interface is automatically linked to the list the user only needs to refresh the data connection to get up to date data. In newer versions of Office 2010 or higher, workflow approvals and tasks can be managed from within Outlook without the need to go into SharePoint to approve or complete a task.
The Next Time...
Everyday new ideas and enhancements will be requested of developers that aren't critical to the consumer your business is trying to serve. Ask the requestor(s) have they considered SharePoint as a way to prototype, hash out requirements, or create a permanent solution. This will empower your organization and allow the business users to serve their own needs. Then you can get back to the really important stuff you want to do.