This chapter introduces the Microsoft Office system and shows how workflow plays into its technologies. With the advent of Microsoft Office 2007, workflow is a large part of the new feature set. Up to this point, this book has covered workflow development in the context of developing solutions from scratch. Although custom solutions definitely have their place in the world, extending and using existing technologies such as the Microsoft Office system, where it makes sense, can provide a great deal of time and cost savings.
This chapter covers the following topics:
The components of Microsoft Office
Collaboration with Microsoft SharePoint
How workflow fits into Office and SharePoint
Office and SharePoint development scenarios