For many users, Microsoft Office is simply a way to create documents and spreadsheets. But recent versions of the Office suite have become much more.

Office Business Applications (OBA) are an emerging class of application that helps businesses unlock the value of their line-of-business (LOB) systems and turn document-based processes into real applications. OBAs leverage the power of the Office Business Platform, that is, the clients, servers, services, and tools that comprise the 2007 Microsoft® Office system to solve business problems.

Office Business Applications allow users to increase productivity by providing a seamless and integrated end to end user experience. Documents remain at the center of the experience, while deep integration with business logic, data, and services make them more relevant than ever. Users can collaborate and get work done in familiar ways. Server tools bring powerful search, portal technology, and advanced workflow to the enterprise.

Platform Capabilities

Office Business Applications are made possible by key platform capabilities, called OBA Services, in the 2007 Microsoft® Office system. These consist of: workflow, search, the Business Data Catalog, a new, extensible user interface, Microsoft® Office Open XML Formats, and the Web Site and Security Framework.

Workflow

Windows Workflow Foundation forms an integral part of the Office Business Platform to facilitate automated workflow processes. With a workflow, events can automatically trigger changes in the flow, or users can select actions based on their needs.

Search

The Office Business Platform offers a powerful search engine portal to find relevant results across the organization quickly. Not only is document content indexed, but a flexible metadata system allows advanced queries to be executed based on projects, people, and document types. Advanced tagging capabilities allow documents to carry contextual data beyond the actual contents.

Business Data Catalog

Users require data from LOB systems every day yet the data is typically accessible only to a handful of individuals well versed in the LOB system interface. The Business Data Catalog, or BDC, allows Office applications to reference read-only data from LOB systems.

Extensible User Interface

The 2007 Microsoft® Office client applications, such as Outlook®, Word®, Excel®, and InfoPath® support a wide variety of customizations to add the exact features that people need. Custom Task Pane can host controls such as lists, buttons, and text boxes to present information from other sources for reference or integration within documents. Smart Tags allow contextual actions to appear based on text entered in the document, and ribbons can be created or extended to expose line-of-business logic and data.

Ecma Office Open XML File Formats

New, open file formats expand the use of documents throughout the enterprise. Generating automated documents is easier than ever, and companies benefit from documents that can be shared across platforms and between applications. Data can be embedded for tracking, workflow, LOB data associations, or even caching to allow offline editing of information.

Web Site and Security Framework

Companies can create web sites that are heavily customized for specific business, department, or personal needs. Documents can be viewed or modified in a browser, or downloaded for offline use. Both user- and role-based security create a range of options for restricting sensitive information, and deliv ering the most relevant experience.