Combine SharePoint 2019 with Confluence Data Center

[Sebastian Siegert]

Hi everyone,

I'm working as a consult for a client who runs a wiki for 100.000+ users on Confluence Data Center and is establishing a SharePoint environment for their roughly 200.000 users.
My job is to create a concept to combine these two platforms and probably several more (local intranet, other websites in the network etc.) into one cohesive social intranet. Confluence will keep being the internal wiki, SharePoint will be the document exchange and collaboration system. My main goal is to make a proposal, which parts of the intranet should be hosted where but eventually the tools have to be linked together as closely as possible to improve the ease of use for users, especially those who have really good domain knowlegde but are not that tech-savvy.  

The basic idea is to have SharePoint 2019 as the central entity from where users can go everywhere. The first step in that direction would be to run a search in SharePoint and forward it to confluence. The results of the Confluence search should then be visualized in SharePoint, e.g. in a specific WebPart tha calls the REST API and (hopefully) gets back the results to visualize them. I've been in contact with the developers of the "Embedder for Confluence" plugin who, well, created a tool that enables embedding confluence in websites. However, they told me that they've not been able to create their plugin for the Data Center version of Confluence.

Are there limitations in the API that prohibit embedding Confluence Data Center into non-Atlassian software or would it generally be possible to embed parts of confluence into SharePoint?

I know that there have been questions regarding Confluence and SharePoint before but they were either verys old or did not provide an answer to my questions. I'd be grateful if you might have some ideas on the issue.

Regards
Sebastian

[David Toussaint _Communardo_ · Accepted solution]

@Sebastian Siegert there are a couple (3-4) Marketplace Apps that offer some kind of integration between SharePoint and Confluence. All of those have up- and downsides I believe and which of those Will be more relevant to your customer most likely depends on the specific setting (like what Confluence, Cloud/DC? What SharePoint, Online (as Part of Microsoft 365) or on-premises (and if so, which version? 2013/2026/2019?))

I suggest to reach out to those vendors directly via support (all should have a support link in the Marketplace Listings) and clarify the most important questions (functionality, data security, etc) up front. I'd expect them all to be pretty helpful :)

However if embedding Confluence Content in SharePoint by using a custom web part I'm only aware of one the products linked above offering this functionality, and that would be SharePoint Connector for Confluence.

Disclaimer: I'm working for the company behind the mentioned SharePoint Connector for Confluence so obviously I'm more familiar with that product than with the others that I linked. I however encourage you to look into those and and reach out to the vendors to learn more about those apps.

[Bill Bailey · Accepted solution]

Hello @Sebastian Siegert , that is going to be tough, trying to mix a tool from 2010s with one from the 1990s. ;-) The two are somewhat orthogonal in concept.  Confluence works really well for collaboration of documentation source.  Sharepoint is file oriented allowing users to check out documents in Word, for example.

I think trying to marry the two into a cohesive system will be hard, and you will need to get a good understanding of what they want to do. At first blush, I would make Confluence the central point of the interface as it can handle the Intranet, where you could create Sharepoint dashboards within Confluence (mainly because the SharePoint UI is not really user friendly, and Confluence gives you access to modern code). 

I would also try to move them from storing content as Word files and move to Confluence pages to make full use of a modern toolset.

But yes, the Confluence API is very robust, so you can make calls externally without issues. Now displaying those results in Sharepoint would be highly challenging.

Good luck,

Bill

[Sebastian Siegert]

Hi Bill, 

thank you for your quick response. From a "political" standpoint, Confluence will not be the master in this game. I do know the limitations of the SharePoint UI, nowadays better than I hoped I ever would, but it will still be the central entity. 

Confluence is the central Wiki and it will probably stay that way but it will certainly not be used for anything else then as a knowledge base. In contrast to SharePoint, Confluence enables every average Jane and Joe to participate and share their domain knowlegde, so that's a big Pro. 

Anyway, SharePoint will be used to host documents for file exchange and they will use Word, Excel and so on. Also, SharePoint will be used for hosting communities in the organisation (linked with Exchange and so on). Some word documents (mainly manuals) will become ASPX-pages but the documents will persist. 

On the bright side, if the Confluence API allows to make calls via it's REST API and responds in kind, I guess our SharePoint developers will be able to visualize the results somehow. I guess I'll take a deeper diver into the API description and talk about the issue with our SharePoint devs, maybe they have an idea how this might work out.

Regards
Sebastian

[Bill Bailey]

Oh good lord, being constrained by having to make antiquated tools as the central starting point. And I could think of no better place to save user manuals than in Confluence.

The good news is that the Confluence API is very robust, so you can get almost any information out of and into it you want. Now whether Sharepoint can consume it, is another story.

Good luck!

[Sebastian Siegert]

Thank you! After his post in this thread I've been in contact with @David Toussaint _Communardo_ and he provided me with enough information to go into a discussion with my client. Thank you all for your help!

[Martin Seibert]

Maybe the Linchpin Intranet Suite (see marketplace entry) could be of help for you.

[Sebastian Siegert]

Thank you, I will check that out as well.

[Robby Holtmann_IntraFind Software AG_]

Hi @Sebastian Siegert ,

With our enterprise search solution for Confluence "iFinder Confluence Search" you can also connect SharePoint and other applications & data sources.
So you have a central search engine and the search input field can be integrated in Confluence and SharePoint (and other applications) at the same time.
This way Confluence users can find and access with the embedded searchbar in Confluence content from SharePoint. Likewise the other way around. SharePoint users can then also find and access Confluence content. Of course all based on user rights. With search profiles it can be defined that each user group gets exactly the accesses and functions (e.g. facets/filters/sources) in the search UI that are necessary for him. The following articles will also help you:

• iFinder Confluence Search/Enterprise Search
• iFinder Search Macro

You are welcome to contact me at atlassian@intrafind.com 

Thanks

Robby

[Sebastian Siegert]

Hi Robby,
I will have to check with my client, whether a new search solution is a way to go. As I'm only a consultant, I can't decide whether to walk down that path or not. I'll check out the applications you mentioned and discuss that with my client. If a new search engine is on the table, I'll come back to you. 
Just as another piece of information: we're talking about a search engine for roughly 200.000 user, spanning multiple platforms and solutions. Is iFinder still viable for a project of that size?

Regards
Sebastian

[Robby Holtmann_IntraFind Software AG_]

Hi Sebastian,

yes, of course. Our customers include enterprise companies with e.g. >200,000 search users and billions of content items in different sources.

https://intrafind.com/en/customers

You are welcome to contact me at atlassian@intrafind.com

Thanks,

Robby

[Sebastian Siegert]

Hi @Robby Holtmann_IntraFind Software AG_,
thank you for the feedback. I suppose you have already heard back from my colleagues? I'm using the information you provided to discuss the issue with my client.

EDIT: I do have a follow-up question, although we're leaving the territory of the initial question. I've taken a closer look to iFinder and it would solve the issue regarding searchability between the two platforms for the client. However, I've not yet found information, how iFinder could be embedded in Confluence and SharePoint. Is it possible to replace the internal search features of SP and Confluence and visualize the iFinder results instead? Is there for instance an iFinder webpart for SP or a plugin for Confluence?

Regards
Sebastian 

[Robby Holtmann_IntraFind Software AG_]

@Sebastian Siegert ,

Yes, thats correct. In Confluence you need our Plugin "iFinder Confluence Search" which delivers the new searchbar. You can choose, which user group should get the iFinder searchbar and which of them get the standard Confluence searchbar. In any case, there is only one searchbar in Confluence for the users available. 

In M365/SharePoint it works with a aditional webpart which delivers the search UI. 

Thanks,

Robby