Today, Bamboo Solutions has launched MashPoint, a new, free data integration platform for SharePoint. MashPoint enables the integration of external data sources in Windows SharePoint Services or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. MashPoint makes it easy to connect to databases, line-of-business systems, and Web services within SharePoint. Data from these sources can be displayed in a SharePoint list, visualized with Web Parts, or leveraged by custom applications. MashPoint is standardized against the Business Data Catalog architecture, ensuring backwards and foward compatibility for your applications and SharePoint solutions.
This official release is a key milestone in the ongoing development of a platform designed to open up SharePoint and facilitate the flow of data across the enterprise portal. First and foremost, however, MashPoint provides tremendous new capabilities to Bamboo's portfolio of enterprise grade SharePoint Web Parts. Web Parts like Data-Viewer, Chart Plus, and Virtual Map View can now be simply configured to consume and instantly visualize data from outside of SharePoint. Moving forward, MashPoint will enable communication between Bamboo Web Parts, allowing them to communicate and interact.
MashPoint's capabilities go well beyond Bamboo Web Parts. Developers can use the MashPoint API to author their own .NET applications. MashPoint includes Bamboo Single Sign-On, enabling frictionless access to authenticated data stores. Data may be edited or updated in SharePoint with changes being instantly reflected in the originating system.
The potential applications are endless. To get you started and spark the imagination, we've authored a number of use cases and sample applications. You can find all of these examples, technical specifications and more on the MashPoint topic page:
Technical support for MashPoint is offered via the MashPoint forum.
On a personal note, I hope you will join me in congratulating all of the teams at Bamboo that have worked so hard over the past year to execute on this vision and make MashPoint a reality. Bamboo Architect Jonas Nilsson is the passionate visionary and tireless workhorse who led the initiative. But I'm certain that Jonas would be the first to acknowledge our entire Engineering organization led by Tim Do. Wes Bryan, leader of Bamboo's Product Management team, also played a principal role in defining and shaping the platform. And of course none of this would have been possible without the hands-on leadership of Lam Le, our Chief Operating Officer.
So please, download MashPoint now and join us in exploring the capabilities of this exciting new platform. We believe this is a game changing development for the SharePoint community, and we look forward to your feedback.
Posted
Nov 07 2008, 05:05 PM
by
Steve Gaitten
My name is Steve Gaitten, I am Director of Online Operations at Bamboo. My primary mission is to make Bamboo Nation the most useful SharePoint community site on the web. I am also focused on ensuring a world class shopping experience for customers who visit the Bamboo Solutions Online Store. Prior to Bamboo, I spent over a decade at America Online. At AOL my most recent roles included Director of Product Management in the Messaging & Social Media division as well as Managing Editor of AOL Money & Finance. I am a patented inventor, a bad golfer, an enthusiastic horticulturalist and a dog lover.