The goal of this 3 day, instructor-led training course is to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to configure MOSS to serve as a platform for business application integration.  Almost every organization has a long list of business systems and applications that have been developed over time using different development technologies.  Typically, end users have to adapt to using these multiple applications and learn multiple interfaces without having one central place to go to interact with multiple applications and data at once.  This decreases user productivity and can lead to poor business decisions, since important data that exists in different applications is not presented together in the user interface.

One of the hallmarks of MOSS 2007 is its ability to serve as a hub for enterprise application integration.  This course dives deep into how it can be used to achieve common application integration scenarios.   The student will create, configure, and deploy solutions using the Business Data Catalog, Excel Services, the Data View Web Part, Microsoft Access, and Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) to learn the feature set MOSS offers as a business application integration platform.

This course is intended for:

• MOSS solution designers
• MOSS administrators
• Information Workers
• Business Analyst
• IT Professionals
• Any user that has a good foundation in SharePoint and would like to learn about the different integration points.

This course does not teach application integration using the SharePoint .NET object model.  Therefore, it is not a programming course.  Instead, it teaches how the out-of-the-box features can be properly configured to achieve common integration requests.  More complex integration requirements may require .NET programming which is beyond the scope of this course.

The typical environments that these professionals work in are medium-to-large organizations that desire to use MOSS Enterprise Edition to more deeply integrate the work space.

This course will be of primary interest to students who work for companies that have deployed MOSS Enterprise Edition.  MOSS Enterprise Edition is the only edition of SharePoint 2007 that includes the Business Data Catalog, Excel Services and Report Center features which are key to using SharePoint 2007 as an application integration platform.

Students that work for companies that have deployed WSS or MOSS Standard Edition may also benefit from parts of the course or may use the course as a way to assist in evaluating whether or not their organization should consider upgrading to MOSS Enterprise.

After completing this course, students will be able to:

• Understand the configuration needed for Single Sign-on and Kerberos security and why these features are important to using MOSS as an application integration platform.
• Understand the “double hop” issue and why it occurs and the configuration required in MOSS to address the issue
• Create a Business Data Catalog Application Definition file
• Import the BDC Application Definition file and configure user security
• Create actions for a BDC entity
• Deploy BDC Solutions
• Configure the Data View Web part to read data from the BDC
• Configure Excel Services
• Deploy data-driven Excel Services solutions
• Configure the Data View Web part to write back to data sources
• Create and Deploy KPI and filtered Dashboard pages
• Integrate MOSS with MS Access
• Integrate MOSS with Microsoft Reporting Services (SSRS)
• Deploy reports to a Report Center in MOSS

Ideally, students will have previously completed the Applying SharePoint 2007 - MOSS Core Features course or the SharePoint 2007 Jumpstart course.  These students will be well-prepared for this class.

Students who cannot attend Applying SharePoint 2007 - MOSS Core Features or SharePoint 2007 Jumpstart first, at a minimum, should already be familiar with creating sites and workspaces, creating libraries and lists, working in document libraries, establishing security, editing pages, working with web parts, and working with content types and site columns.  It is critical that students have a solid foundational knowledge of SharePoint 2007 before attending this course.

(Note: This Course Outline is subject to minor changes and refinements based on student feedback and instructor experience.)

Module 1: Single Sign-On (SSO) and Kerberos security

In order to connect MOSS to most non-SharePoint data sources it is necessary to utilize Kerberos security or create a Single Sign-on repository.  This allows the data connection to avoid the problematic “double hop” issue.  In this module, Students will learn:

·         The default MOSS security settings after a normal installation

·         How to change the Global Access Control settings for your Shared Service Provider

·         How to set up Kerberos security for SharePoint, Excel Services, SQL Server Analysis Services, and SQL Server Reporting Services

Module 2:  Creating the Business Data Catalog Application Definition file

The Business Data Catalog is the #1 business application integration feature in MOSS.   The heart of any Business Data Catalog application is the Application Definition file. While it is one thing to have the ability to create a “no code” solution to access corporate business data, it is an entirely different thing to produce the XML file needed to properly make the connection.  It is important to know the tools that are available and what they can do.  In this module, students will:

·         Review the different BDC application file creation tools that are available

·         Create an application definition file and learn how it is structured

Module 3:  Configuring Your BDC

One very exciting piece of the BDC feature set is the ability to take an element of an organization’s back-end business data, surface it through the BDC, and then pass it to a URL based application.  For instance, if a company has its BDC connected to a products database, the name of a product could be passed to a Google search string URL to find that product online.  This ability is referred to as Actions in the BDC feature set.  Along with Actions, user security and the Business Data Profile Template must also be set up and configured in the Shared Services Provider.  In this module, students will learn:

·         How to upload the application definition file

·         How to configure user security

·         How to create a BDC action

·         How to alter the profile page

Module 4:  Consuming BDC data, web parts, lists, and MOSS search

Once a BDC connection is configured, the connected business data can be consumed in one of three ways: through the Business Data catalog web parts, as custom list columns, and as part of the new BDC search capability.  In this module, students will learn:

·         How to deploy and customize the BDC web part to create a true BDC application

·         How to create and utilize custom BDC columns in a list

·         How to configure the Business data search feature to surface BDC data in SharePoint search results

Module 5:  Introduction to the Data View Web Part

A powerful visual design tool for SharePoint is SharePoint Designer.  For the cost of a typical web development tool kit, SharePoint Designer offers deep integration with the SharePoint site functionality.  One feature in SharePoint Designer is particularly relevant to this course: the Data View Web Part.

The Data View Web part allows developers to connect to numerous typical data sources and surface the data directly on a SharePoint Site.  It also allows the designer to configure write-back functionality to the back-end data source, if desired.  In this module, students will learn about this hidden jewel and put it to work.  Topics covered include:

·         Survey of the type of back-end data sources the Data View Web Part can connect to

·         Connecting the data view web part to a SQL database

·         Connecting to an XML file

·         Deploying the web part

·         Using the web part to update data

Module 6:  Excel Services modules

Excel Services brings many new dynamic changes to the portal.  By integrating these new server-side features, MOSS 2007 Enterprise becomes a powerful information delivery portal for key operating data.  This module will provide an introduction to using Excel Services.  Key topics discussed include:

·        What is Excel Services?

·         Setting up a trusted file location

·         Using the Excel Web Access Web Part

·         Interactive Excel Workbooks

·         Creating graphical dashboards with Excel Services

Module 7:  Excel Services data connections

The ability of Excel Services to take over the calculation functions and the heavy processing of shared spreadsheets make it a powerful tool.  But another cornerstone capability is its ability to connect to external data sources for analysis and charting purposes.  Excel Services expands this functionality by using a standard data connection, called the “Office Data Connection (ODC)”, and storing it in a new MOSS “Data Connection Library (DCL)” which can then be accessed by Excel spreadsheets or directly from MOSS 2007 Enterprise.  Key topics discussed in this module are:

·         Setting up a trusted Data Connection Library (DCL)

·         Setting MOSS security for the Data Connection Library

·         Creating an ODC spreadsheet in Excel Services

·         Changing the global access control for the MOSS environment to allow Excel to refresh data

·         Creating automatically updating web parts

Module 8:  Data view web part – writing back to the data

The ability to view back-end application data in the portal where information workers “live” is a great feature.  But as soon as the data is shown, a need to update the data from within the portal is not far behind.  This module revisits the Data View Web Part with the focus of writing back to the data source.  The Data View Web part will allow update, insert, and delete actions to a data source.  In this module, students will learn:

·         How to connect the data view web part to a SQL Server DB

·         How to establish a secure connection with the data source

·         How to update data via the Data View Web Part

Module 9:  KPIs, Dashboards, and filters

One often discussed feature of MOSS is the ability to deliver Business Intelligence data in the portal.  Through key integration points such as Excel Services and Reporting Services (SSRS) along with the use of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), dashboard pages, and filters, MOSS can be the home for a large portion of the business intelligence data for the company.  This module will focus on:

·         Understanding each of the four KPI types available in MOSS

·         Understanding what makes a dashboard page  actionable

·         Creating a dynamic dashboard page

·         Creating SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) KPIs

·         Creating filters to drive the data on the dashboard page and KPIs

Module 10:  Microsoft Access and MOSS

Microsoft Access has always been a powerful analysis tool allowing users to connect and work with data from multiple data sources.  Now SharePoint 2007 can be tightly integrated with Access to allow a bidirectional flow of data.  A SharePoint list can be configured to write to an Access database or Access can be configured to interface with a SharePoint list and write data back to it.  In this module the student will learn the following:

·         How to create an Access view on a existing list

·         How to create a list from within Access

·         How to use Access as a reporting tool for a SharePoint list or application

·         The steps required to take a SharePoint list offline using Access

·         How to migrate an existing Access database to a SharePoint list

Module 11:  Reporting Services integration

Excel Services is a great tool that opens a whole new world of options for the Business Intelligence professional.  But what happens to the MOSS 2007 Enterprise information delivery portal when Excel isn’t powerful enough?  Microsoft has developed the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (SSRS) Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Technologies to provide a direct integration between Reporting Services and MOSS 2007 Enterprise.  In this module, the student will walk through a step-by-step process of integrating Reporting Services and MOSS 2007 Enterprise.  Key topics discussed in this module are:

·         Working with Reporting Services Configuration Manager

·         Creating an integrated database and changing SSRS to integrated mode

·         Configuring Central Administration 3.0 for Reporting Services

·         Deploying Reports using SQL Server Business Intelligence Development Studio

Module 12:  Reporting Services Report Deployment

Having completed the integration of Reporting Services and MOSS 2007 Enterprise, the student will focus on delivering data-rich reports in MOSS 2007 Enterprise and creating SSRS dashboard pages with SSAS KPIs and SSAS filters.  Key topics discussed in this module are:

·         Accessing Reporting Services reports through a MOSS 2007 Enterprise Report Library

·         Incorporating Reporting Services reports in web parts

·         Connecting to the SSAS cube via the ODC connection in MOSS

·         Deploying Reports using SQL Server Business Intelligence Development Studio

·         Filtering SSAS KPIs via SSAS filters