On January 23, 2014, we will host an online class, Cheap Thrills in SharePoint 2013. This course will be led by Ira Fuchs, a SharePoint Technical Specialist at Microsoft. Ira is also the author of a popular book, with the same name.

Asif Rehmani, the President of Rehmani Consulting, Inc, and a SharePoint MVP has commented: “In [his] book, Ira provides a bunch of laser focused scenarios which will take [the reader] from zero to hero in a very short time! Understanding and utilizing the concepts of workflow, InfoPath forms, content types, metadata, external content types and many of the SharePoint fundamentals to create quick ‘cheap thrills’ is the focus of this book – no coding needed!”

No code development is likely to be an important benefit for SharePoint 2013 stakeholders. Line of Business (LoB) units can implement no code development for custom requirements. The advantage of recommending no code development options to LoBs include the following:

• Lower cost of Development: High level programming expertise is not required to develop the workflows built with no code development approaches
• Easier implementation, administration and maintenance: Processes can be supported with readily available tools, including Visio and SharePoint Designer
• Better utilization of business data: Key components of workflows will all be accessible from SharePoint 2013. Enterprise term sets can be applied, producing added options for data analysis for business intelligence-gathering purposes

An additional set of benefits, already mentioned in an earlier post promoting this course, will result from a better use of enterprise document management (EDM) as an operating methodology. No code development makes forms-creation more accessible to units across an organization. When electronic forms are built for workflows, establishing clear accountability for approvals, remedying “bottle necks”, etc. should be easier. As well, organizations implementing these approaches may realize a reduction in printing costs, as more of the “paper trail” is automated and preserved in SharePoint document libraries and lists.

Ira Michael Blonder

© Rehmani Consulting, Inc. & Ira Michael Blonder, 2013 All Rights Reserved