MicrosoftSoCalArchitectBlog : Architecture

Describing Web Platform Stack

dachou — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 01:59:12 GMT

Web 2.0 applications are taking on a new form. They are composite applications in nature, and increasingly can be created and hosted completely in the Web (cloud), without any dedicated or owned physical infrastructure. And they are increasingly being implemented at higher levels of abstraction (moving up the stack). This aspect demonstrates the power of network effects in enabling the participation age, and fueling the explosive pace of innovation towards creating a Web that connects/involves more people and is more relevant and intelligent. This blog post provides a description of the Web platform stack, which categorizes the observed patterns and trends, and their relationships and dependencies, in the Web 2.0 phenomenon, into a structured context; as an attempt in providing some clarifications into the way Web is evolving.

http://blogs.msdn.com/dachou/archive/2007/12/01/describing-web-platform-stack.aspx

This post is the latest in a series of “Web as a Platform” discussions:

· Web 2.0 - A Platform Perspective

· Popfly as a Web Platform

The Microsoft Certified Architect Program

dachou — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 01:57:32 GMT

My colleague Joe Shirey just put together a series of eight posts that cover the process of the Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA) program and “what would I tell someone interested in the program”.

Joe is one of the board members of the MCA program that has helped to shape it since its inception. He offers many insights to people who may be interested in pursuing certification in this prestigious program.

Check out his blog posts:

· Intro

· Why do you want to get the MCA?

· Preparing the documentation

· Putting together your presentation

· What else can you do to prepare for the board?

· The competencies

· Going in front of the board

· What to do with your results

Popfly as a Web Platform

dachou — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 01:52:26 GMT

Popfly provides an environment where people without a significant technical background can build stuff in, and hides the complexities in the underlying infrastructure. It also articulates many of the Web 2.0 principles, such as enabling participation and harnessing collective intelligence, leveraging the long tail, lightweight development models, rich user experiences, etc. This blog post provides a perspective on how Popfly can be leveraged as a next-generation platform in the Web 2.0 world.

http://blogs.msdn.com/dachou/archive/2007/11/26/popfly-as-a-web-platform.aspx

Web 2.0 - A Platform Perspective post by David Chou

scottker — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 03:49:00 GMT

My collegue David Chou does a great job of distilling the new Internet platform, here is an excerpt... Collectively, the rich cluster of "Web 2.0" sites on the internet form a services foundation from which applications and functionalities can be built...(read more)

MSDN "PowerSeries" Event on Software plus Services (S+S), Windows Live, and Office Application Platform

dachou — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 03:40:00 GMT

December 4, 2007 - Irvine, California

The emerging technology macro-trend today is the convergence of the Web and physical worlds, often referred to as the disappearing boundaries between the on-line and off-line worlds. This trend underscores a shift from using web browsers on personal computers as the only way to connect on-line, to a model of personal computing where seamless, consistent, yet focused experiences are delivered via a variety of connected devices. Join us for three ArcReady sessions designed to demystify how the Software Plus Services (S+S) vision effectively supports this view of the future and how Microsoft intends to implement this vision, how the Windows Live Platform enriches online experiences, and how Microsoft Office can serve as a composite application platform bringing together online experiences. Microsoft architects and key partners delivering these sessions will give you the knowledge you need to make informed decisions. ArcReady – reinforcing the foundation of solution architecture.

We are giving away an Xbox 360 at the event. :)

ArcReady: "Software Plus Services" (S+S) Distilled

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), Web 2.0, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and User Experience (UX) are among of the most prominent trends driving a new era in technology. Today's environment is marked by the commoditization and consumerization of technology, ubiquitous Internet connectivity, new and highly scalable monetization methods, collective edge intelligence, design-driven product development and more. In this session, you'll learn about Microsoft's unifying response to this new environment, called the "Software plus Services" (S+S) strategy.

We'll cover:

The basics of S+S and why it's relevant today
Technology trends at the architectural level
How the S+S strategy applies to the future
How .NET developers can deliver greater customer value

ArcReady: Windows Live Platform Overview

As the Web has grown and evolved, so have user expectations. Today's Internet users still go online to get information, but also to manage productivity, consume media and entertainment, and interact with others. Users expect great Web experiences that let them bring their personal context (relationships, interactions, memories, locations) with them wherever they go. In this session, we'll look at how services from the Windows Live Platform enable developers to give users the most compelling personal experiences on the Web.

You'll get:

A comprehensive look at Windows Live services, APIs and more
Examples of how to incorporate services into current offerings

ArcReady: Office as a Platform

Organizations are adopting service orientation as a design principle to drive enterprise agility and business innovation. With service-oriented architecture (SOA), they can efficiently respond to business changes and rapidly evolve their IT systems. This session will explore how 2007 Microsoft Office System clients, servers, and tools deliver a development platform that can be used to create collaborative, role-based, easy-to-use solutions and composite applications that extend the traditional business applications and enterprise systems.

We'll cover:

Leveraging 2007 Microsoft Office as an application platform
Using capabilities such as collaboration, productivity and enterprise search
Service-oriented business applications that leverage Office as the development platform

To register, go to the event website.

SOA Security - Enterprise Architecture Perspective

dachou — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 04:50:00 GMT

http://blogs.msdn.com/dachou/archive/2007/10/17/soa-security-enterprise-architecture-perspective.aspx

Awesome Event! International Patterns and Practices Summit November 5-9, 2007 @ Microsoft Redmond Campus

scottker — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 00:46:00 GMT

Awesome content, rock-star speakers, what else could you ask for?

The next patterns & practices Summit takes place November 5 - 9 in the Kodiak Room at the Microsoft Conference Center at Microsoft's main campus in Redmond, Washington.

Summit Web Site: http://www.pnpsummit.com/west2007.aspx
Patterns and Practices Site: http://www.microsoft.com/practices

Keynote presentations by: Anders Hejlsberg, Steve McConnell, Scott Guthrie, Scott Hanselman, & John Lam

The international patterns & practices Summit showcases the official Microsoft "patterns and practices" for developers, designers, and solutions architects who need to learn how to integrate architectural design patterns and procedures with the technology provided by Microsoft's .NET platform.

The patterns & practices Summit packs into four full days unique presentations offered by many of the industry's best speakers. An evening reception sponsored by Infragistics will give attendees an opportunity to meet with Microsoft personnel. Attendees will come away with a strong foundation in the architectural principles underlying Microsoft's .NET technology, which will prepare them to construct the next generation of enterprise-scale applications.

Schedule

Day 1 (November 5th) - Architecture

8:30 AM	9:30 AM	Keynote - Anders Hejlsberg
9:30 AM	9:45 AM	(break)
9:45 AM	10:45 AM	Architectural Refactoring - Dragos Manolescu
10:45 AM	11:00 AM	(break)
11:00 AM	12:00 PM	Architecture of the Microsoft ESB Guidance - Marty Masznicky
12:00 PM	12:45 PM	(lunch)
12:45 PM	1:45 PM	Designing for Workflow - Ted Neward
1:45 PM	2:00 PM	(break)
2:00 PM	3:00 PM	Architecting a Scalable Platform - Chris Brown
3:00 PM	3:15 PM	(break)
3:15 PM	4:15 PM	Grid Security - Jason Hogg
4:15 PM	4:30 PM	(break)
4:30 PM	5:30 PM	Moving Beyond Industrial Software - Harry Pierson
5:30 PM	6:00 PM	(transportation)
6:00 PM	8:30 PM	Evening Reception (hosted by Infragistics)

Day 2 (November 6th) - Agile

8:30 AM	9:30 AM	Keynote - Steve McConnell
9:30 AM	9:45 AM	(break)
9:45 AM	10:45 AM	Agile is More Than Monkey-See-Monkey-Do - Peter Provost
10:45 AM	11:00 AM	(break)
11:00 AM	12:00 PM	Empirical Evidence of Agile Methods - Grigori Melnik
12:00 PM	12:45 PM	(lunch)
12:45 PM	1:45 PM	What?s new in "Rosario" process templates? - Alan Ridlehoover
1:45 PM	2:00 PM	(break)
2:00 PM	3:00 PM	Lessons Learned in Unit Testing - Jim Newkirk
3:00 PM	3:15 PM	(break)
3:15 PM	4:15 PM	Agile Security - David LeBlanc
4:15 PM	4:30 PM	(break)
4:30 PM	5:30 PM	"Yet Another Talk on Agility" - Brad Wilson & Peter Provost
5:30 PM	6:00 PM	(break)
6:00 PM	7:30 PM	Evening Event (hosted by CodePlex)

Day 3 (November 7th) - Development

8:30 AM	9:30 AM	Keynote - Scott Guthrie
9:30 AM	9:45 AM	(break)
9:45 AM	10:45 AM	Enterprise Library 3.0 Applied - Lars Laakes
10:45 AM	11:00 AM	(break)
11:00 AM	12:00 PM	Future of Model-Based Design - David Trowbridge
12:00 PM	12:45 PM	(lunch)
12:45 PM	1:45 PM	Dependency Injection Frameworks - Brad Wilson & Scott Densmore
1:45 PM	2:00 PM	(break)
2:00 PM	3:00 PM	The Right Tools for the Right Job - Rocky Lhotka
3:00 PM	3:15 PM	(break)
3:15 PM	4:15 PM	EntLib Devolved - Scott Densmore
4:15 PM	4:30 PM	(break)
4:30 PM	5:30 PM	The Growing Divide in the Patterns World - Dragos Manolescu, Wojtek Kozaczynski, Ade Miller, Jason Hogg
5:30 PM	6:00 PM	(break)
6:00 PM	7:30 PM	An Evening with Microsoft Research

Day 4 (November 8th) - Software Factories

8:30 AM	9:30 AM	Keynote - John Lam
9:30 AM	9:45 AM	(break)
9:45 AM	10:45 AM	Domain-Specific Development with Visual Studio DSLTools - Gareth Jones
10:45 AM	11:00 AM	(break)
11:00 AM	12:00 PM	Using Team Factories - David Trowbridge
12:00 PM	12:45 PM	(lunch)
12:45 PM	1:45 PM	Patterns of Software Factories - Wojtek Kozaczynski
1:45 PM	2:00 PM	(break)
2:00 PM	3:00 PM	Building Services with the Service Factory: Modeling Edition - Bob Brumfield & Ade Miller
3:00 PM	3:15 PM	(break)
3:15 PM	4:15 PM	Web Client Guidance: Building Rich Internet Applications with ASP.NET AJAX and the Web Client Software Factory - Michael Puleio,Chris Tavares, & Blaine Wastell
4:15 PM	4:30 PM	(break)
4:30 PM	5:30 PM	Build Your Own Software Factory - Wojtek Kozaczynski

Day 5 (November 9th) - Applications

8:30 AM	9:30 AM	Keynote - Scott Hanselman
9:30 AM	9:45 AM	(break)
9:45 AM	10:45 AM	Future of "patterns & practices" - Rick Maguire
10:45 AM	11:00 AM	(break)
11:00 AM	12:00 PM	Evolving Client Architecture - Billy Hollis
12:00 PM	12:45 PM	(lunch)
12:45 PM	1:45 PM	Fresh Cracked CAB - Ward Bell
1:45 PM	2:00 PM	(break)
2:00 PM	3:00 PM	Make it Your Own - Scott Densmore

Southern California ArcCouncils - November 2007

dachou — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 19:26:29 GMT

The next set of SoCal Architect Councils is a “plain old technology briefing” covering the upcoming versions of Visual Studio, Windows Server, and SQL Server.

This event will be held in San Diego on November 28th and Irvine on November 29th.

Please register for the location that works best for you. The event starts at 11:45 AM and includes lunch.

Wednesday, November 28: La Jolla - Lodge at Torrey Pines
Register here: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032356126&Culture=en-US
Thursday, November 29: Irvine - Microsoft Technology Center
Register here: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032356127&Culture=en-US

Plain Old Technology Briefing

In early 2008, Microsoft will launch Visual Studio 2008, Windows Server 2008, and SQL Server 2008. The focus of this Architect Council is to provide a preview of these products and to answer your questions.

Agenda

11:45 AM Arrival
12:00 PM Lunch and announcements
01:00 PM Visual Studio 2008 and .NET 3.5, Mickey Williams, Neudesic
02:30 PM SQL Server 2008, Steve Muise, Neudesic
04:00 PM Windows Server 2008, Mark McReynolds, Microsoft
05:15 PM Raffle and close

Visual Studio 2008, http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/aa700830.aspx
Windows Server 2008, http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/default.mspx
SQL Server 2008, http://www.microsoft.com/sql/2008/default.mspx

Locations
The Lodge at Torrey Pines
11480 North Torrey Pines Road,
La Jolla, CA 92037
Phone: 858.453.4420
Website: http://www.lodgetorreypines.com/

Microsoft Technology Center
Three Park Plaza, Suite 1600
Irvine, CA 92614
Phone: 949.263.3000
Website: http://www.microsoft.com/about/companyinformation/usaoffices/southernca/orangecounty.mspx

IT Architect Regional Conference 2007 10/15/2007-10/16/2007 in San Diego!

scottker — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 11:02:00 GMT

Scheduled for October 15-16th, 2007, the ITARC 2007 conference is an event focused on the architecture topics in IT. The organizers at IASA (International Association of Software Architects) have arranged over 30 session in 4 concurrent tracks covering...(read more)

What is User Experience (UX)?

scottker — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 22:11:00 GMT

"If an application is hard to use, I just use it less"

I haven't posted for a while but after months of thinking about User Experience, how it impacts business, having customers ask "Why is User Experience (UX) important?", it all just came to me at one time. We've been looking for definitions as to what constitutes User Experience and after a lot of conversations with people who are a lot smarter than me, I think this is as good a definition as I've heard from anyone.

User Experience (UX) is anything that can piss off the user.

Or in more politically correct terms....

User Experience (UX) is any component of a system that can cause user dissatisfaction.

That's it, it's not earth shattering, it's probably not politically correct, but I think when you think about User Experience in those terms it can really bring a lot of components into view.

User Interface (UI) is part of User Experience (UX), we know that a bad UI can really cause dissatisfaction. I just want to stress this point again; UI is a subset of UX, not all of it.
Response time is part of UX, if I have to wait 30 seconds for each screen I'm not going to be very happy.
Availability is part of UX, if I'm on an airplane and I can't get to my application, I may be unhappy.
Installation process is part of UX, if it's too hard to install, it may never get used.
Data Access is a part of UX, if I can't get to ALL of the data I need the solution is not complete.

The interesting thing about a definition that is not constrained by Developer or Operations specifically, and the focus of processes like User Centered Design (UCD http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_centered_design ), is that they make us think more holistically about the solution from the user perspective, and more importantly what can cause dissatisfaction. Every time a decision is made around the "system", ask the question, "Will this decision cause dissatisfaction?". Then think about the risk/reward from the user perspective.

I could rant on about how many "good for the company" decisions are made every day without concern for the user but I would rather hear your opinion. What are the things YOU think about when you hear the term User Experience (UX)? What is an example of a Good User Experience? A bad one?

Let me know what you think about this?

Scott Kerfoot
Microsoft Corp.

Microsoft is Hiring an Architect Evangelist in Southern California!

scottker — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 06:45:00 GMT

Microsoft Southern California / US Developer and Platform Evangelism
Architect Evangelist

If you are interested please contact Kevin or Scott and/or submit your resume at the link below!

http://members.microsoft.com/careers/search/details.aspx?JobID=E5D780CA-F353-471B-A9D3-A749761A0947

The Architect Evangelist is a member of the successful Developer and Platform Evangelism (DPE) team for the Western Region whose overall mission is to secure platform adoption and revenue growth through evangelism, community engagement, relationship marketing and a vibrant solutions ecosystem.

The mission of the Architect Evangelist (AE) is to demonstrate the value of new innovative Microsoft platform technologies by engaging with senior technical decision makers (TDMs) at both customers and partners. The AE is also responsible for general platform evangelism towards the technical audience. In summary, DPE is committed to broad platform adoption and a vibrant ecosystem of customers, partners and developers. Through evangelism, marketing and sales, DPE helps secure the Microsoft platform, now and in the future.

DPE focuses on promotion and adoption of Microsoft platform technologies which leads to current and future revenue. Responsibilities include:

Driving highly visible design wins in enterprise accounts that lead to compelling evidence and customer references; this includes scaling design wins on the Microsoft platform enabling services partners to architect and win business-critical applications based on the Microsoft platform.
Driving Broad Customer Connection across the Developer, Architect and IT Pro audiences through an integrated approach to evangelism, communities and intelligent audience marketing
Marketing of the broad Microsoft platform and developer tools
Engaging ISVs through depth and breadth technical evangelism activities and providing strategic leadership on ISVs across the subsidiary/district
Selling developer tools to enterprise accounts, partners and through the channel
Engaging students and faculty in universities and high schools in order to win mindshare of nascent developers

QUALIFICATIONS: Able to discuss architecture at a conceptual level, with meaningful reference to existing industry-accepted principles such as the Zachmann framework and Services-Oriented Architecture. Well-versed in the way in which these conceptual ideas can be mapped to the problems on encounters in this space, so-called ‘logical architecture’, or architectural patterns, and then how they can be implemented at a physical level using techniques such as design patterns. Excellent knowledge and experience of the competitive platforms, products, companies and philosophies, and ideally will have similar background of Microsoft experience and expertise in large scale design and implementation.

Build and maintain deep understanding of:

Architectural concepts, issues and trends.
Microsoft architectural vision and roadmap
Developer life cycle, Microsoft enterprise developer tools strategy, including VS.NET, .NET frameworks.
Integration of Microsoft enterprise products, technologies, and solutions into heterogeneous environments.
Maintain knowledge of competitor’s strategies and technologies and provide feedback to Microsoft Corp. These include J2EE, JEE, IBM Websphere, BEA Weblogic, Open Source, Sun and Oracle.

10+ Years of experience with Bachelor’s Degree (B.S./B.A.) required, Masters or Ph.D. preferred. Travel time 30-40% depending on home location.

We have a Platform Strategy Advisor position open in the Seattle area as well!

-Scott