The addition of Microsoft Forms Server 2007 gives you the ability to create forms in Office InfoPath 2007 and allow Web-based and mobile access to forms for process automation. These forms can then be stored in SharePoint Products and Technologies lists, Line-of-Business systems, or any third-party system. Allowing a power user to create and manage forms reduces the overall costs associated with custom programming, with essentially the same end results. This allows your programming resources to be used where they are better needed. Forms also provide a method for validation at the time of entry, reducing the total cost of collecting and streamlining information.

Excel Calculation Services is a Shared Service and offers many benefits, including Web viewing of spreadsheets, secure spreadsheet sharing, performance caching on the server, and centralized management of business data. While many IT professionals might argue that SQL Server is the best place for business data, that isn’t reasonable for many organizations that have decentralized IT, or are short-staffed in the Database Administration area.

The Business Data Catalog (BDC) provides a straightforward way to connect to back-end server application storage systems such as SQL, Oracle, Siebel, SAP, and PeopleSoft. While many developers will simply connect directly to the content source, the BDC provides administrators a way to communicate with these back-end systems. Additionally, the BDC allows for the indexing of third-party systems for searching.