InfoPath And The Future Of SharePoint Forms
Organisations are currently looking ahead to find viable alternatives for their SharePoint forms solution currently based on InfoPath forms.
From the start, InfoPath was never built for but rather retrofitted to support SharePoint forms.
Microsoft turned to researching a web-based solution for the design and creation of forms online rather than on a desktop.
InfoPath is generally a great tool for businesses needing to build forms because of its support for basic calculations, external data sources, conditional formatting and custom code.
Over the last decade, SharePoint has outgrown InfoPath, exposing its limitations, especially its XML foundations. First of all, when publishing forms to SharePoint, users can encounter rendering issues, the forms are not mobile friendly and the usability is lagging. For large lists, the publishing process is not stable.
Status of InfoPath and SharePoint forms
The updated guidance from Microsoft is that InfoPath will still be supported until 2026, which is a long time in terms of software technology.
SharePoint 2016 supports InfoPath browser forms. InfoPath 2013 works with SharePoint 2016 InfoPath Forms Services.
InfoPath 2013 is the last version Microsoft will release, and support has been extended until 2026 to match SharePoint 2016 support lifecycle.
Office 365 will support InfoPath browser forms officially until further notice, although they are not working in the mobile view. The browser forms containing code are not supported anymore.
Microsoft provides guidance that the successor to InfoPath is PowerApps, but with some caveats: feature parity with InfoPath is not a goal and InfoPath will still be preferred for some scenarios like offline work or rich XML documents.
Alternatives to InfoPath forms
A common usage scenario for InfoPath customers is to build moderately complex, interactive forms that integrate with SharePoint lists and libraries.
Currently there are not many options available from Microsoft:
- PowerApps (and Flow)
- Excel Surveys in Office 365
- Custom .NET forms in SharePoint
As a result, major players are currently offering powerful alternatives to InfoPath:
- Nintex Forms
- K2 SmartForms
- Formotus
| Comparison | PROs | CONs |
| PowerApps (and Flow) | Runs on every device Easy to deploy Bring your own data |
Basic workflow offering Complex in hybrid scenarios |
| Excel Surveys in Office 365 | Easy to extract and transform the data Accessible to the masses |
Not mobile friendly
Not useful for complex forms No integration with external data sources |
| Custom .NET forms | Highly reusable and extensible Integrates well with other technologies Highly customizable Virtually no implementation constraints |
Hard to maintain Developer knowledge needed Big learning curve for some InfoPath customers |
| Nintex Forms | Mobile phone/tablet support Friendly workflows No code solutions Web based, drag and drop experience |
LOB systems integration missing Licence and cost implications |
| K2 SmartForms | Low code powerful BPMS Reusable forms automatically generated from SharePoint lists Mobile friendly forms |
Cost of licences implications Steep learning curve even for technical staff |
| Formotus | Mobile/touch optimized forms Seamless migration of InfoPath forms Rich offer of data store connectors |
Basic workflow offering Licensing costs (as license-months) |
The future of SharePoint forms
SharePoint has never been known for having the best user interface, but has provided a platform around which organizations could develop powerful business solutions using forms, workflows, lists and by manipulating the look and feel.
Forms are challenging to design and, with all its advances, the fact remains that SharePoint has a user experience (UX) problem. The developments and news coming out of Microsoft suggest they are focusing on improving the user experience.
Everyone using InfoPath is to some extent concerned about finding a replacement. Need some help? Just ask.