TechEd: Day 2, A "Platform" Kind of Day

It used to be that a "platform" was something that you dove off of into the lake, stuck in your shoes if you were vertically challenged, or used as a formal declaration of views by politicians in elections.

But that's before "platform" became a computer industry buzzword--and there was no letting up of buzzing around platforms at TechEd 2006, as Microsoft did its part to redefine what a platform is. For instance, the Microsoft Application Platform is:

a portfolio of technology capabilities, core products and best practice guidance, focused on helping IT and development departments to partner with the business to maximize opportunity -- the ability to drive the right efficiencies, customer connections and value added services for business growth.

That's perfectly clear, right?

Central to this message is that, according to Microsoft, data (and buzzwords?) is growing faster than users can interpret and harness it. (Okay, I go along with that.) So Microsoft says it is going beyond traditional data management with a data platform (there's that word again) that can support new and expanding data types while supporting the secure capture and management of anonymous data outside data center. Further, data management for Microsoft means supporting the new breed of dynamic apps--data-driven, highly mobile, and occasionally connected.

Process-based and service-oriented approaches are key to connected and adaptive applications. Microsoft recognizes the inherent complexities of connecting systems in heterogeneous environments (does that mean Linux and OS X?) and aligning core business activities and development teams. A flexible service-oriented approach helps customers manage change, streamline and automate business processes and interoperate with existing IT investments. (What happened to "platforms"?)

Collaborative development environments fuel business-driven software. (By that, more than a single person works on solving a problem. See "development teams" above.) Delivering software initiatives that drive business value on time and at desired quality (not "best" or "highest" quality?) requires aligning the right roles and teams across business and IT. Ensuring individual and team productivity requires the right level of visibility, collaboration and control within the software development process (thanks for mentioning that software developers develop software). Real-time data capture and customizable lightweight process and reporting are vital for compliance, project estimation, impact analysis, and repeatable success.

In any event, Microsoft went on to announce a Community Technology Preview (CTP) of SQL Server Everywhere, an offering for storage on clients of all types that provide a lightweight, compact, but rich subset of the capabilities found in other SQL Server editions. Beyond having rich local data management capabilities, SQL Server Everywhere Edition also includes support for seamlessly synchronizing with other SQL Server editions and provides features that promote building rich client applications that operate effectively in "occasionally connected" environments.

In short, Microsoft sees mobile devices that are sometimes connected to networks (wirelessly or not)and that require synchronization with host databases to be really important.

In this spirit, Microsoft also recently announced the Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals (listen to this Dr. Dobb's podcast. The Community Technology Preview (CTP) of the Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals includes tools that enable software development organizations to collaborate more effectively. Other announcements include BizTalk Server 2006 R2 builds on BizTalk Server 2006’s business process management capabilities by extending a company’s core process management technologies into supply-chain and trading partner scenarios. Lastly, developers familiarizing themselves with the Visual Studio Tools for Office Cypress plug-in for the 2007 Microsoft Office system, with the first CTP available now.

Actually, Cypress does appear to be useful and interesting. It is free add-on to Visual Studio 2005 which lets you build applications targeting Office 2007. It provides application-level add-ins for Office applications such as Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, InfoPath and Visio, and supports a programming model and runtime support for Ribbon, Custom Task Panes, and Outlook forms regions.

And no where is it referred to as a "platform."

Posted by Jon Erickson at 08:15 AM  Permalink