Recently, I have found myself using Visual Studio LightSwitch more and more. And needless to say, it got me thinking about a strategy for LightSwitch in a SharePoint environment. Yes, the product positions itself as a tool to develop LOB apps in a rather fast fashion. There will be those that will deem it as a prototype tool, many RAD tools end up being that. But, LightSwitch had this “je ne sais quoi” about it. Actually, I feel I know what it is.
If you are still with me, step into this thought with me. What if, Visual Studio LightSwitch had the possibility of going to an area were InfoPath should have gone? What if we built smarter forms? Forms that could be delivered to a Windows Azure environment/repository? Forms where SharePoint was abstracted from the regular view, but still store the information? It is a strange thought. But here is my reasoning. If I am a customer that has not bought into Office365 for whichever reason, but I have a SharePoint Foundation service on prem or hosted how can I leverage the use of Web based Business Forms?
Not looking to stir the pot or start a revolution (not good at that), but rather open the possibilities of what LightSwitch can offer in this space. Create a list in SharePoint Foundation, connect and design through LightSwitch, connect the SharePoint deployment to Windows Azure though Azure Connect, deploy the LightSwitch application to Azure. Not saying this is the only way, but looking at the options available. It also not about using buzz words, but rather solutions.
Obviously, this post is just the start of a thought process, but I see many opportunities to make it a reality. Many pieces are starting to fall into place. From the offerings of companies like Infragistics and ComponentOne with their controls and such, to the amount of work the LightSwitch Team (Beth Massi comes to mind) has put around making sure everyone is up to date and understanding what this tool can do.
I feel and believe the perfect representation of my thoughts would be through some webcast/demo. That will be my next step in this adventure worth taking a look into. Until then … happy coding!