Kanban Task Manager SharePoint editions - Sandboxed or Add-in/App?

The kalmstrom.com product Kanban Task Manager is available in two SharePoint versions, sandboxed solution and add-in. Evaluators sometimes ask us which version to choose, and when they do we always ask them what SharePoint version they use. The add-in only supports SharePoint 2013 and higher, and that is part of the reason we have two setup files.

Sandboxed Solution came first
Sandboxed SharePoint solutions came with SharePoint 2010, and Kanban Task Manager for SharePoint was released in 2012. A sandboxed solution is delivered as a WSP file that is uploaded and activated in the Solutions Gallery of each site collection where it will be used.

When that is done, the sandboxed solution must also be activated on each site where the solution will be used.

A sandboxed solution can contain custom managed code, which will be deprecated by Microsoft, but the kalmstrom.com sandboxed solution uses JavaScript as much as possible, and the code is to 99% running in the browser. Only a minimal part runs on the SharePoint server.

App for SharePoint
With SharePoint 2013, Microsoft introduced a new concept: apps for SharePoint. When we were developing our Kanban Task Manager "app", Microsoft announced that the name "apps for SharePoint" is changing to "SharePoint add-ins", so we decided to change our name into Kanban Task Manager SharePoint Add-in.

Apps/Add-ins only support SharePoint 2013 and higher, so if your organization is on SharePoint 2010 you only have the sandboxed alternative. For evaluators with a later SharePoint version, I would recommend the Add-in.

Add-in gives easier installation
While the sandboxed solution file must be uploaded to each site collection, the add-in APP file only has to be uploaded once for the whole organization ‒ to the app catalog of the farm or tenant. Then Kanban Task Manager can be added to any site with the "add an app" command. The demo below shows how this is done.



Instead of downloading the APP file from kalmstrom.com and then upload it to an app catalog, you can of course download Kanban Task Manager Add-in from SharePoint Store. This works well for a few installations, but otherwise I recommend you to keep the add-in in the app catalog. All subscription levels give free use of Kanban Task Manager Add-in within the farm or tenant.

Add-in in web part
Once Kanban Task Manager Add-in has been configured on a site, it can be inserted as an App Part on any page in the site. This is not possible with the sandboxed solution.

The add-in runs entirely in the browser, so if you are worried about the single percent of the sandboxed solution that needs the server, you have another reason to choose the add-in when you evaluate Kanban Task Manager. Good luck!

By Peter Kalmström
CEO and Systems Designer
kalmstrom.com Business Solutions