PeopleSoft and SharePoint Integration
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is the product available in 64-bit mode?
A: Yes. We have dedicated 64-bit builds of both the product and the installer.
Q: What SharePoint resources will you need to support this product on SharePoint?
A: A SharePoint administrator is required to perform the initial install (roughly 10 minutes per server), and also to drop any revised rules configuration files, etc. into the appropriate Program Files directories if required.
Q: Has the product been tested in VMWare environment?
A: It has been tested in VMWare, Hyper-V, and VirtualPC environments.
Q: Once the product is installed, can users create solutions without having to publish the Central Administration or SSP? For example, BDC solutions require publishing through the SSP.
A: As the last part of the installation procedure, the SharePoint administrator adds the BTRG Content Viewer Web Part to the SharePoint Web Part gallery. Any users that have the ability to modify a page (even their own personal sites) may use the web part. Internally, we have several folks who have added PeopleSoft Timesheet and Expense Entry components to their personal pages, as these are the only parts of PeopleSoft they use on a regular basis.
Q: How can we use this solution to provide Employee or Manager Self-Service to our users through SharePoint?
A: Self-service is the most popular application of this technology, because PeopleSoft has a robust set of delivered self-service functionality that can be exposed (in whole or in part) through SharePoint without any code. Simply point the BTRG web part to the URL of your target page in PeopleSoft, and you're publishing PeopleSoft content through SharePoint in a matter of minutes. In addition to publishing individual pages to SharePoint, you can also publish PeopleSoft's delivered "Navigation Collections". These are the pre-built menus of related content that exist throughout the PeopleSoft UI. For example, PeopleSoft HCM contains a Navigation Collection for Employee Self-Service that contains Profile Management, Benefits Registration, among others. By deploying this Navigation Collection to SharePoint, you're able to provide entire groups of functionality to your users with just a few clicks.
Q: What version of SharePoint is required?
A: The product works with all variants of SharePoint 2007; Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) 3.0, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007, Standard and Enterprise.
Q: Is the MOSS Business Data Catalog required?
A: No. The Business Data Catalog, or BDC, is used when connecting SharePoint with an underlying data store, to display entity information using SharePoint lists. BTRG's Connector integrates PeopleSoft's existing UI into SharePoint, so the BDC isn't necessary. To be clear: this product doesn't only connect to PeopleSoft data -- rather, it connects to PeopleSoft UI, but displays it in SharePoint.
Q: How does security work? Is a separate login required or can we use Single Sign-on?
A: The Connector can optionally be configured to perform Sngle Sign-On to PeopleSoft. That means that if you've successfully logged into SharePoint (either by entering a username and password, or if this is already tied to your workstation login), you do NOT need to login to PeopleSoft. The solution is based on a hybrid of embedded HTTP headers and custom SignOn PeopleCode. Details are available upon request.
Q: What if users are connecting from a shared workstation or over the Internet? Can we still use Single Sign-on?
A: The identity information is derived from the SharePoint identity, not the Windows Integrated Authentication identity. This means that once the user has logged into SharePoint, by whatever means you've allowed, his SharePoint identity is mapped to his PeopleSoft identity, and Single Sign-on to PeopleSoft can happen. Note that our technique is not dependent on the MOSS SSS extensions, and can therefore run using the more basic WSS version of SharePoint.
Q: What parts of PeopleSoft can be displayed in SharePoint?
A: Any part of the PeopleSoft web application can be integrated into SharePoint. Essentially, if you can see it in the PeopleSoft web application, you'll be able to see it in SharePoint.
Q: Does it work with Japanese, French, and other non-English language pages in PS?
A: Yes. Again, if you can see it in the PeopleSoft web application, you'll be able to see it in SharePoint.
Q: Does this require a dedicated server or virtual machine?
A: No. Although previous varesions of our product ran as an applicance VM, we've re-tooled the Connector so that it runs as a custom web part and a server component directly on the SharePoint server.
Q: Does this product work in a load-balanced environment?
A: Yes. Because the product runs directly on the SharePoint server and uses PeopleSoft's existing HTML rendering channels, no changes to your IT infrastructure are necessary.
Q: If I change the theme of my SharePoint site, will the BTRG Connector need to be reconfigured?
A: No. If you've chosen to let the current SharePoint theme flow through to the embedded PeopleSoft content, that content will automatically take on the look and feel of whatever theme you've applied to your SharePoint site.
Q: Will SharePoint users ever be able to see restricted PeopleSoft content?
A: No. Users are limited to what they are able to see within the regular PeopleSoft web application. Therefore, if a user's role or permission set doesn't permit her to see certain content in the PeopleSoft web application, she will receive the same "not authorized" message if she tries to view the content through SharePoint. In the case of Navigation Collections, the links displayed will be limited to those for which the user is authorized. This is the same behavior as in the PeopleSoft web application.