Microsoft Sync Framework : Case Study

SharePoint 2010, Windows 7 and PwC Now Integrate Microsoft Sync Framework v2.0

liamca — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:17:00 GMT

As we announced earlier today, Microsoft Sync Framework V2.0 is now available for public download.

Along with this release I wanted to outline a number of companies and partners that are already using Sync Framework v2.0 including Windows 7, Microsoft Office 2010 and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

SharePoint has also chosen to integrate Microsoft Sync Framework as part of their solution for synchronizing to Office SharePoint 2010. The SharePoint and Office teams will use the Sync Framework as the engine powering synchronization between Office Workspace (Groove) and SharePoint. In addition, the SharePoint server will also expose Sync Framework API’s that will allow any developer to build providers to integrate new data stores into SharePoint.

"The Sync Framework will greatly reduce the amount of code that an ISV needs to create, and this represents probably the most painful code that they otherwise would have had to write".
Maxim Lukiyanov, Program Manager SharePoint Server, Microsoft

For more information on this please see our new case study: Microsoft Sync Framework used to Create Microsoft SharePoint Workspace 2010

The Windows 7 Device Stage gives users a common user interface to manage and synchronize data with their Windows 7 enabled phone. Contacts, calendar, tasks and even notes can be synchronized with any data store. Sync Framework v2.0 is the easiest way for developers to implement data synchronization providers for any store to enable it for the Windows 7 Device synchronization experience.

"The flexibility of Sync Framework and its ability to track and exchange data really set this technology apart. Since Sync Framework is data agnostic this allowed us to develop a framework tailored around contact, calendar, tasks and notes data".
Anna Boyd, Windows 7 Engineering, Microsoft

PricewaterhouseCoopers has put a system in deployment for 60,000+ mobile auditors in 150 countries to allow much of their work to be done remotely at the client site, making disconnected, offline use of their application and friction free collaboration across teams.

"Our implementation of Sync Framework ‘just worked’ for our auditors. If they set automatic synchronization, our software finds peers, verifies access rights to the same engagement database, and updates all databases. They might be connected to each other over a client’s network, or just via ad hoc (no access point) WiFi. If just one laptop has access to the servers, that laptop automatically funnels all changes from the laptops to the server and vice versa. No manual configuration is needed".
Dr. Glenn Ricart, Technology and Development Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Liam Cavanagh

(Internal) Customer Spotlight - Synchronization Scalability and Live Toolbar

liamca — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 01:36:00 GMT

One of the most common (and most dreaded) questions anyone who writes a synchronization technology will get is “How well does it scale”? I say dreaded because it is an incredibly difficult thing to state with 100% certainty that a product will scale to X number of concurrent users for all customer scenarios. There are just too many variables, such as the amount of data being transferred, how fast the machines are, how much memory there is, what is the throughput of the network connection, etc. To help us answer these questions, sometimes we can point to specific benchmarks or customer implementation examples. One of the most recent examples of high scale sync that we can look at is Live Toolbar. For those who have not tried it, Live Toolbar is a technology used by many millions of users across the world. Live Toolbar works as a plug-in within your Internet Explorer browser and gives you quick access to Windows Live and Live Search.

In the latest version of Live Toolbar, you can now share your favorite websites with people in your network on Windows Live. You can also sync your Internet Explorer favorites across multiple PCs—sign in and access them from any computer where you’ve installed the Windows Live Toolbar.

This favorite synchronization capability is accomplished through the use of the Microsoft Sync Framework. The favorite sync feature consolidates your favorites into a central Windows Live storage server in the cloud allowing you to then share them and view them from anywhere. This feature is rolling out across the world and is currently only available in US and Taiwan, however, it still shows a potential of being able to being able to handle a huge scale of millions of synchronization users through the use of Microsoft Sync Framework.

Liam Cavanagh

Customer Spotlight – Interscape Flip for the Mobile Sales Workforce

liamca — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:24:00 GMT

Continuing with our Sync Framework customer spotlight, I wanted to introduce another company called Interscape who has developed a simple to use sales tool called FLIP Client. Flip was built to incorporate features like scheduling, pipeline reporting, outlook and more. I had a chance to talk with Matt Francis, CEO of Interscape and this is what he had to say about the Sync Framework and Occasionally Connected Applications:

“About 2 years ago I noticed sales professionals using a slew of applications to manage their sales process. Some were online, some were disconnected… None of them let people manage data and documents in a “sync” framework. The idea is that no matter what the data store is, we need an easy way to keep it in sync”.

“We started researching and found Microsoft’s new SYNC Framework to look like a good solutions for our new FLIP sales client to keep documents on the team in sync with each other. It worked exactly the way we wanted, we created a SYNC provider and the SYNC Framework handled the rest”.

“We then implemented an interface to keep our data in sync as well, between SQL CE and SQL2005. No problem, just create a sync process and interface and now our remote data store is syncable (not a real word… yet!)”

“We then had another challenge… How do we keep the events in the client in-sync with Outlook? The answer was SYNC Framework. We worked with the SYNC Framework group and created an Outlook sync interface. The framework managed the rest”!

“Overall, the idea of occasionally connected applications is perfect for the mobile workforce. Helping them sale thousands of dollars on wireless cards, reduce frustration of slow online applications, and keep them working when they need to be, is the goal of any organization. The SYNC Framework helped us out and we have accomplished the goals using this technology”.

“Now our sales team and other companies are using the FLIP client to work when and where they want to”!

One of the things that I really like about Flip Client and something I can appreciate from discussions with other customers is the need to make synchronization solutions simpler. I believe we are approaching a time in technology where data synchronization is not just limited to large enterprises that have the resources to implement and manage these solutions. We are now starting to see solutions that incorporate cloud based data storage and sync services such as Project “Huron” that offload the complexities of data synchronization scalability, security, availability and management to the cloud. As these technologies and others like Flip Client mature, I believe small and mid-size businesses will begin to see the advantage of data synchronization typically only available to large organizations.

For more information on Interscape and Flip Client, please visit: http://www.interscapeinc.com/ or for a closer look at the client please visit: http://www.perfectsalesclient.com/

Liam Cavanagh

Customer Spotlight – Sync2DB (Outlook to Database Synchronization)

liamca — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:41:00 GMT

If you were to ask me what the three most commonly requested synchronization targets are, I think I would have to say Outlook to Database, Database to Database and SharePoint. Today I would like to highlight one of our partners who have worked to solve some of this. Sync2DB is a simple to use Windows application that enables synchronization between Microsoft Outlook and your database. Best of all, it is all based on the Microsoft Sync Framework!

When talking to Sergej Klimuk, of Sync2DB, he explained to me that “All other synchronization solutions between Microsoft Outlook and databases are complicated because they require configuration and an Outlook add-on installation on each user account and PC and allow only one connection at a time. Sync2DB is the first tool that helps to avoid or minimize the user interaction with the program, and helps developers create safe data subscriptions, providing synchronization and deploy the application onto thousands of users' PCs in a matter of days”.

One example of a typical use case involves an employee who logs in to the corporate website and clicks the “subscribe/ synchronize/ upload Outlook data” button. The Application will automatically get downloaded and installed on the user’s PC. The data and fields selected by the administrator in a Microsoft Outlook folder will be automatically uploaded to the selected database with pre-defined parameters. The process of synchronization can be fully silent without any user interactions, or fully displayed with all the required program interfaces and notifications, along with the status of upload/synchronization. Synchronization processes that will follow can be fully automated /scheduled or requested manually from corporate website after logging in, as well as from the desktop shortcut that will require logon.

In the current implementation, Sync2DB has made it possible to synchronize any Microsoft SQL database with Microsoft Outlook (versions 2002-2007). In addition they are targeting support of Microsoft SharePoint Server Data as well as other database systems such as MySQL which will help customers solve a number or other common requests.

For more details, please visit http://www.sync2db.com

Liam Cavanagh

Sync Case Study - ServiceU Corporation & Event Management

liamca — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:55:00 GMT

One of the best parts about getting our first version of Sync Framework out the door is that we can now start talking about some of the customers we have been working with over the past few months and some of the great solutions that they are building.

Beyond the customers I mentioned earlier (SmugMug, InterScape, Fujitsu Siemens) I also wanted to point you to another customer called ServiceU Corporation. This company is a leader in the field of supporting online and on-demand event management. As you will read in the case study:

"Its software services, created and deployed using the Microsoft® Application Platform, are used by churches, schools, universities, theaters, and businesses to manage concerts, conferences, and other events. As a Payment Card Industry Level 1 Service Provider, the company is interested in security and performance, which is why it is upgrading to Microsoft SQL Server® 2008. ServiceU is using a number of new SQL Server 2008 features including enhanced auditing, and Policy-based Management to enforce configuration policies. The company is also using the new Performance Data Collection and Plan Freezing features to enhance performance, and the Data Compression and Backup Compression features to reduce the cost of disk-based storage".

To help power this solution, ServiceU chose Sync Services for ADO.NET:

"Working from Visual Studio 2008, developers can use Microsoft Synchronization Services for ADO.NET 2.0 to synchronize data from disparate sources over multi-tier and service-based architectures. ServiceU likes this feature because it is interested in deploying more solutions that run on mobile and remote devices. “Whenever you have server-based, data-driven applications coordinating data with mobile devices, synchronization is essential,” says Smith. “Synchronization Services will be a great help as we develop new occasionally-connected solutions to offer to our customers.”

Over the next few months we will be talking more and more about some of the great companies that are using Sync Framework and Sync Services for ADO.NET.

Of course, given that our technology is free and readily downloadable from the web, we don't hear from every customer. As such, if you are using any of these technologies please let me know (at the Email link on the sidebar) so we can share your success with the rest of the community.

For more details on this case study, please go to: http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspx?casestudyid=4000001258

Liam