MSFT/BPM/SOA Session 6

The sixth session I attended was entitled "Next Generation Business Applications" and was presented by Mike Walker of the Architecture Strategy Team (MSFT).

This presentation dove-tailed nicely with the one I had attended earlier that day on the human aspects of SOA/BPM. The real gist of this session was to challenge the user to reconsider the requirement to write distinct user interfaces for each of the applications he/she is tasked to build. In much the same vein as the earlier talk, he was encouraging us to think of ways to expose the user-facing aspects of our applications in the context of applications that the user is already familiar with, such as using the OBA approach and embedding the application in a common productivity tool such as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. The point being, that the less you force you user to "learn" in order to use your application, the more likely they are to use it. Further, the user doesn't really give a hoot if your application is fully SOA compliant and uses your best-of-breed enterprise service bus, and blah, blah, blah... They care about, does it work. What do I have to do in order to do my job. Tell me that, let me do that, and then leave me alone. and... that's not altogether a bad view of things.

The point is not that OBAs, or "Composite applications" are the only way to go, but rather that it should definitely be on our "radar" and should be considered (at least) prior to beginning to build a full UI.  Another take-away from this session was the fact that the more consistency you can drive in your applications (or, more importantly across your applications), the better off you are. Building a "unique" or "fully custom" user experience is not likely a good thing.