Isn't this usually the way all new things begin? Jump in and sink or swim.Well blogging is a new experiment for me.

Basically here at Microsoft I'm working more inside (than outside) Redmond within the Architectural Strategy team on the Developer and Evangelism side of the Corporation, helping organize how and what Microsoft get's into with standards bodies; mainly the industry standards bodies. The way Microsoft is organized it's almost like a mini-UN of "PRODUCT development States" so I guess I've got some good use for those diplomatic skills I picked up as one of the UN's elected Rapporteurs. Both the UN and Microsoft have their own very unique / sometime arcane 'ways of doing things' but at the end of the day it's all about bringing different views together and achieving compromise.

There's a lot of cool stuff hapening with Microsoft and 'standards', much more than the general public might realize. Why? Well, I think Microsoft knows *exactly* whats behind operating todays standards organizations, and the challenges they are facing these days. Things like diminshing subject matter experts attending meetings, the real delivery value of some standards, the growing costs it takes to run a standards 'business'; and make no mistake about it that standards organizations really have their own business models.

This blog is not only going to get under the surface of standards organizations, down to their 'dreams, nightmares and realities', but also take a fresh look at how industry standards can move forward with the new business opportunities which new technology paradigms like 'business services' is starting to open up for everyone. From technical topics around web service standards and the concepts of SOA, to the new paradigm of real business process modeling beyond the tried and proven world of 'document slinging' EDI, and more.