InfoPath's future and what everyone's saying
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Andrew Connell
- "the future is unclear at best, realistically pessimistic and a dead-end at worst"
- "I do not use InfoPath any more & I do not recommend people use InfoPath going forward"
http://www.andrewconnell.com/blog/now-infopath-is-dead-rip-infopath-but-now-what
http://www.andrewconnell.com/blog/my-thoughts-infopath-2013-the-future-of-infopath
Mark Rackley
- http://www.sharepointhillbilly.com/
- Suggest: List based JavaScript Form library
Corey Roth
- Lists a great list of feature sets for the future Forms solution
- Suggest: wait and see SPC348
Jeremy Thakes
- "I found that if you used InfoPath in your Organization to empower Information Workers to build their own forms, a lot of the times they’d hit the 80/20 rule and then hand it off to developers who would have to fix them or complete them."
- Suggest: ISV Nintex Forms
http://www.jeremythake.com/2014/01/microsoft-confirm-infopath-2013-is-last-release-of-the-product/
Microsoft
- InfoPath is dead.
- Long live Forms:
http://www.sharepointconference.com/content/sessions/SPC348
Patrick Halstead
I like Patrick's coverage the best, probably because this is his bread and butter. He has been thinking about this and planning for a while.
His upcoming webinar series will cover the various approaches to deal with the data that's currently in the forms:
- Status Quo: keep same format (XML): Formotus, ServBus, Qdabra eForm Viewer
- Hybrid (SharePoint List): move the form's data into SharePoint Lists, then use SharePoint list forms
- Convert to ISV: Nintex, K2, Adobe, Salesforce
- Custom development (database): extract data into database, then build pages and use full set of controls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_rhNrFx5D8 [After InfoPath: Planning your Form's Future]
I say: Please Don't panic.
I'm waiting to see:
- Qdabra eForm Viewer (cheap / free / open source? does the user need to do anything?)
- Nintex Forms (roadmap, feature compatibility)
- Microsoft's SPC348 (upgrade roadmap? future support? feature compatibility? could be the most expensive path)
I'm sure everyone will have a lot to say in time for the SharePoint Conference. Stay tuned.