Integrating Sharepoint With Other Microsoft And Third Party Tools

Connecting SharePoint and Office 365

Office 365 provides a suite of productivity and collaboration tools that can integrate tightly with SharePoint to streamline access to information and workflows. Key integration features include single sign-on, calendar syncing, cloud-based storage syncing, and more.

Overview of Office 365 Integration Features

SharePoint offers out-of-the-box integration with popular Office 365 apps and services like Exchange, Teams, OneDrive, Planner, and more. Some major areas of integration include:

Centralized identity and access management via Azure Active Directory
Single sign-on (SSO) allows seamless navigation between SharePoint sites and Office 365 tools
Sync SharePoint calendar with Outlook calendar via Exchange
Collaborate on SharePoint content within Teams channels
Co-edit Office documents from SharePoint libraries in real-time using Office Online
Synchronize SharePoint document libraries with OneDrive cloud storage
View and edit SharePoint list data in Excel
Create tasks lists, project plans and boards in Planner based on SharePoint lists

With robust Office 365 integrations, users can collaborate across SharePoint sites and Office 365 tools with minimal context-switching.

Table of Contents

Configuring Single Sign-On between SharePoint and Office 365

Single sign-on (SSO) allows end users to access SharePoint sites without re-authenticating as long as they are logged into Office 365 or Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). By federating identities into Azure AD, administrators can enable seamless SSO between SharePoint and other integrated tools.

Key steps to configure SSO include:

Map internal user identities to cloud identities in Azure AD using AD Connect
Assign SharePoint licenses to Azure AD user accounts
Publish SharePoint apps to Azure AD application catalog
Configure Azure AD application proxy for secure remote access
Use Azure AD access panels provide easy access to all apps

With SSO enabled, users can open SharePoint sites and documents without re-entering credentials, improving the user experience.

Importing Office 365 Calendars into SharePoint

Syncing Outlook calendars stored in Office 365 Exchange with SharePoint calendar apps allows users to view consolidated event data in either system. Key methods include:

Connecting a SharePoint Calendar app to an Exchange calendar via the app settings
Configuring server-side sync using Exchange Web Service Managed API 2.0
Using PowerShell scripts to sync Exchange and SharePoint calendars

Calendar synchronization ensures consistency between personal Outlook calendars and team calendars hosted in SharePoint during meetings scheduling and event tracking.

Synchronizing SharePoint Document Libraries with OneDrive

Syncing OneDrive cloud storage folders with SharePoint Online document libraries helps organizations centralize document storage and enables robust file-sharing capabilities using OneDrive links.

Steps include:

Ensure user OneDrive accounts are provisioned in Office 365 admin center
Configure OneDrive sync client on each user device
Map SharePoint Online document library to a synced OneDrive folder

Bi-directional synchronization propagates updated files in SharePoint and OneDrive after initial sync. This allows users share up-to-date cloud-based files easily.

Integrating SharePoint with Microsoft Applications

SharePoint interoperates deeply with Microsoft product ecosystem from Azure services to Office 365 tools to Dynamics 365 apps. Native integration minimizes total cost of ownership of additional solutions.

SharePoint and Microsoft Teams Integrations

As Microsoft’s hub for teamwork, Teams seamless collaboration with SharePoint enables:

Associating SharePoint sites to Teams channels for easy content access
Co-authoring Office files stored in SharePoint from within Teams
Adding SharePoint page tabs directly into Teams channels
Planning projects and tasks using SharePoint lists inside Teams

Combining the strengths of Teams conversations and SharePoint content management facilitates great teamwork.

Using Power BI Analytics with SharePoint Data

Power BI integrates tightly with SharePoint Online to unlock robust analytics and business insights:

Use Power BI web parts within SharePoint pages
Embed Power BI reports stored in SharePoint document libraries
Automate refresh of Power BI datasets sourced from SharePoint lists
Apply Power BI security roles to govern data access

Power BI lets you visualize SharePoint list data in insightful interactive reports and dashboards.

Building Power Apps Solutions using SharePoint Lists

Power Apps empower pro developers and non-coders alike to build custom apps using SharePoint data as follows:

Generate Power Apps automatically from SharePoint list schema
Customize SharePoint forms using Power Apps studio
Connect 100+ data sources including SharePoint to apps
Embed Power Apps in SharePoint pages or Teams
Extend apps via custom connectors, Azure functions etc.

Power Apps solutions based on SharePoint ensure apps have latest data from lists and libraries.

Automating Workflows with Microsoft Flow

Microsoft Flow enables straightforward integration between SharePoint and hundreds of popular SaaS apps plus on-premises data sources. Common use cases include:

Triggering flows on SharePoint list events like item additions
Updating SharePoint list rows using data from integrated SaaS apps
Orchestrating approval workflows for SharePoint content
Generating PDF reports of SharePoint list data

Automating manual processes with Microsoft Flow improves productivity by interconnecting apps using SharePoint data.

Third-Party Integrations

An ecosystem of third-party tools from independent software vendors (ISVs) augment SharePoint’s native capabilities for custom solutions.

Popular Tools for Extending SharePoint Functionality

Leading third-party tools serve specialized needs like process automation, reporting, social integration, marketing, and more:

Reporting: Qlik, Tableau, Dundas BI
Process automation: Nintex, K2, Pega
Data integration: Scribe, SnapLogic, Dell Boomi
Marketing: Hubspot, Marketo
Social business: NewsGator, Hive by Slack

Given niche ISV solutions, organizations choose tools strategically matching use case requirements while ensuring manageability.

Using the SharePoint REST API for Custom Integrations

For advanced SharePoint application development projects, the SharePoint REST API enables CRUD access to SharePoint data from external apps via HTTP requests:

Service capability exposure through standard OData protocol
Develop apps using popular languages like .NET, Java, JavaScript etc.
Authenticate requests using OAuth 2.0 and Azure AD app identities
CRUD SharePoint entities like sites, lists, libraries etc.

For direct yet secure integrations with on-prem and cloud data sources, SharePoint REST API is the go-to choice.

Building Integrations with Webhooks and Azure Functions

Lightweight yet powerful integration approaches include combinining Azure Functions serverless code with SharePoint webhooks enabled via PnP PowerShell:

Define SharePoint list webhooks to push data changes to Azure Function endpoints
Process real-time data in Azure functions written in Node.js, C# etc.
Stateless invocation only when events occur
Add business logic via code without managed workflows
Cost efficient and highly scalable

Webhooks and Azure functions create event-driven integration pipelines to propagate SharePoint data changes to other systems reliably.

Key Benefits of Integrating Tools with SharePoint

Tools integration magnifies productivity and expands organizational capability by unifying systems, data and processes.

Improved Productivity through Workflow Automation

Automating repetitive tasks is easier by connecting SharePoint with Microsoft and third-party tools for process coordination:

Standardize governance workflows across tools
Reduce manual handoffs between systems
Orchestrate end-to-end processes using triggers
Accelerate document reviews and approvals
Focus staff on value-added work

Automation enables people to focus innovation while ensuring governance consistency via system integrations.

Enhanced Data Insights with Business Intelligence

Deeper business insights come from collating data across multiple systems – on-premise and cloud – using SharePoint plus Power BI:

Centralize data from Dynamics, SAP etc. on SharePoint
Model data relationships using Power BI dataflows
Create unified reports across disparate data sources
Interactive dashboards enable insights discovery
Augment decision making using self-service analytics

SharePoint and Power BI integration amplifies the value of data through consolidation, modeling and visualization.

Streamlined Access to Information across Platforms

Users can securely access SharePoint content straight from the tools they use daily, ensured by SSO:

Gateway to all files, records and apps
Consistent security and governance
Consolidate searches across repositories
Embedded experiences prevent context shifting
Promotes adoption across employee base

Unifying identity, security and content access improves employee experience and productivity.

Extended SharePoint Functionality without Code

Fusion teams of business and technical leaders can rapidly deliver solutions by connecting SharePoint to other platforms:

Accelerate innovation and agility
Reduce solution costs via configuration over customization
Empower fusion teams for better technology experiences
Maximize existing investments with incremental capabilities
Cloud scale and elasticity built-in

Composable solutions create opportunities for everyone to advance digital transformation and democratize innovation.