Extensio Extender for Microsoft Outlook extends data from enterprise and web data stores within Outlook screens.   With Extensio, end-users can query, update and initiate business processes that run on back-end applications directly within their Outlook interfaces.

Business Users spend a great deal of their working day on Outlook, collaborating and communicating with other people, to conduct their daily activities.  With no tools to access enterprise information within Outlook, users have to swap screens to look up required data from multiple enterprise and web stores, resulting in loss of context and user frustration.

Secondly, business processes reside on one or more enterprise applications and require to be executed using their own GUIs. Business decisions and discussions, however, are done on Microsoft Outlook.  Once process decisions are made on Outlook, users shy away from using Enterprise applications to initiate the relevant business process due to the inherent complexity of applications, and instead depend on power users to perform swivel chair integration to complete the process.  The disconnect between the application centric business process and user-centric email communication and collaboration results in broken business processes, out of date data and decreased business efficiencies.

Since Outlook is not connected to enterprise data stores, business users are forced to

• Toggle from Outlook to difficult-to-use Enterprise Application Screens
• Instruct power users to update data in applications to reflect decisions made in Outlook
• Loose their context, resulting in poor productivity and accuracy

Benefits of Extending Enterprise Applications to Microsoft® Outlook 

Extensio extends enterprise data to Outlook using a SOA based Information Server, and provides the following benefits:

• Provides real-time enterprise data right within Outlook, within users context
• Provides data in a easy to use format, hiding most of the enterprise application complexity
• No need to switch screens from Outlook and learn complex applications
• Initiate business processes right within Outlook, reducing errors and duplicate data entry

With Extensio, business users can interact with enterprise applications and enterprise processes in their context, on their Outlook screens with increased ease and convenience.  Whats more, it works with Outlook 2000+ onwards, and requires no upgrades!

Who Benefits from the Extensio Extender for Microsoft Outlook?

Extensio bridges the gap between enterprise and web data stores, and Outlook, and provides the real time data access to business users.  The users that can leverage the Extensio Extender for Microsoft Outlook include:

• Logistics Managers who need inventory data as they interact with their suppliers on Outlook
• Operational Managers who need leave employee performance data while monitoring weekly reports
• Finance and Accounts Managers who need budget data as they approve or decline expense requests

Key Features of the Extensio Extender for Microsoft Outlook

The Extensio Extender for Microsoft Outlook is a full-featured Outlook add-in that works with Microsoft Outlook 2000+ to provide on-demand data from enterprise data stores on Outlook screens.  The Extender adds a side bar and a tool bar within Outlook that is used by the user to select an appropriate data service, and specify the input/output parameters.  Once the input is provided by the user, the output results queried from the back-end applications are made available in the Oultook Side Bar, right within Outlook.

Some of the key features include:

• Accessibility of enterprise data within Outlook
• A Sidebar that hosts authorized information service list and service request and response, from multiple information sources
• Supports information services that provides read and write operations across multiple data sources
• Choice of usage: Alt-click based query on input word, or form based interactive user input
• Configured with user and group level access permissions and privileges
• Most recently used service prompt for user
• Related Services provided alongside for output results

Deploying Extensio Extender for Microsoft Outlook

Customer's IT department uses the SOA-based Extensio Information Server and its browser-based Extensio Studio to build information services that connect the target applications to the enterprise data-sources, extract appropriate data, assemble them using transform, filter or other custom operations and deliver them on Microsoft Outlook as per the user requirements.

Once Extensio Information Services have been built for Microsoft Outlook, the same information can be directly delivered on multiple user channels such as Desktop Gadgets, Microsoft Excel, Web Widgets, Web Services, Partner Applications, and Mobile devices.