This quarter's ArcReady is coming quickly. This quarter we are talking about Software + Services (S+S). This is Ray Ozzie's vision of the future of the industry. It's a vision that encapsulates SOA, SaaS and Web 2.0 and really takes it to the next level. SOA can be how you compose, govern and control your services but it doesn't talk enough about delivery of the software to the user. SaaS is a great way to deliver software if your users are willing to rent the software. It A: doesn't work for every user base and B: doesn't address multi-headed clients where you might want a desktop client, web client and a mobile client. Web 2.0 is in the same boat. Web 2.0 can define the user's experience with RIA, collaboration, collective knowledge and more. These tenants of Web 2.0 that we discussed in the last quarter (See the video of the session posted on the ReMix07 Boston site) are engaging on a number of levels but it doesn't really address some of the enterprise concerns of security, accountability and more.

Software + Services really builds on top of all three of these ideas. Come learn more in a city near you.

For the full abstract - see http://www.arcready.com.

* means I'm speaking...
** means that we're actually doing a last quarter's Web 2.0 session followed by this quarter's Software + Services session. They go well together and I missed Louisville and Grand Rapids last quarter.

That's going to be a tough 2 weeks on the road there to be honest. 12/7 - come to my funeral as I die from Red Bull overdose. :)

Microsoft ArcReady - Downloads

I had a lot of fun with the Boston Remix session that I picked up. I did the Web 2.0 talk that we've did for the ArcReady sessions. It was an amazing operation to watch G. Andrew Duthie (aka DevHammer) and crew locked away in the media room working tirelessly to get the keynote and other select sessions on the web site. I'm honored to be one of the selected sessions that they put on the web site as there was a ton of great content at the conference.

The content was originally put together by Jon Rauschenberger, CTO of Clarity consulting. That being said - I have a very different delivery than Jon does so even if you saw him do it - take another look and see if you pick anything new. This is a discussion about what the tenants of Web 2.0 are and how they apply to your applications whether you are in the enterprise or consumer space.

It's cut up into 4 parts due to file size limitations on Channel9.

Web 2.0 and Beyond, Part 1

Web 2.0 and Beyond, Part 2

Web 2.0 and Beyond, Part 3

Web 2.0 and Beyond, Part 4

After watching my session, then I guess that you can check out the Brad Abrams keynote. :)

All of the REMIX07 VIDEOS

ArcReady is ramping up again for another quarter's worth of content. This quarter we have Jon Rauschenberger from Clarity Consulting putting together content on Web 2.0 based on his experience with creating the FaceBook Developers API and more.

Applying Lessons to Your Company

After Tim O’Reilly’s article “What is Web 2.0” in 2005, there has been considerable buzz around Web 2.0 technologies and the companies that use them. From the open platform Facebook to the rich user interfaces of web mail clients like Microsoft Exchange, the architecture of web applications is changing rapidly. While other companies have begun to see potential business value in Web 2.0 technologies, there is still uncertainty on how to integrate those technologies into corporate activities. How can you balance corporate security needs without negating the architecture of participation that is important in Web 2.0 applications? Where is the line between internal and external applications? What can we learn from the most successful public Web services and does it apply to our internal SOA?

In select cities, our guest speaker will be Jon Rauschenberger, CTO for Clarity Consulting. Together with the Central Region Architect Evangelists, we’ll discuss lessons learned and best practices around collaboration, rich user experiences, and data syndication from existing Web 2.0 application architectures. We’ll also provide guidance how current Microsoft platform technologies like AJAX for ASP.NET, SharePoint Server 2007, and WCF can be used to turn those lessons into a practical corporate Web 2.0 architecture. Finally we’ll take a look at the next generation of Microsoft technologies like Silverlight and Visual Studio 2008 and discuss how architects can design and deploy applications beyond the current Web 2.0 experience.

Hopefully I'll see you there...

I'm starting the ArcReady tour in the Heartland District (Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee) next week.

We are talking about architecting for the user exerience which includes the decisions that you have to make along the way to creating a great user expeience. We will also be covering some of the technologies that Microsoft is producing to create great UIs which is a big part of the overall user experience. These technologies include WPF, AJAX and Silverlight.

I'm on the road for two weeks with ArcReady course of the next month.

Nashville - 5/21/2007

Louisville - 5/22/2007

Cincinnati - 5/23/2007

Indianapolis - 05/24/07

Detroit - 5/25/2007

Then I take a break and hit TechEd. Hopefully I'll see you there. Come find me if you're there too.

Then I hit the road again.

Memphis - 6/11/2007

Cleveland - 06/13/07

Columbus - 06/14/07

Grand Rapids - 06/15/07

Link to the official Microsoft ArcReady site 

Larry Clarin (one of my fellow Architect Evangelists) has a great write-up of the ArcReady tour and a bit about the new one coming.

Larry Clarkin on the upcoming ArcReady events

From the ArcReady site:

Architecting the next generation of software. The why, the what and the how.

Microsoft’s journey towards creating new technology strategies, platforms, tools and practices is to drive the next generation of software for consumers and the enterprise. It’s not without irony that one of the most neglected and challenging components of the software design process is understanding how to identify, design and implement the ‘experience’ that an individual will have with an interface. Learn how Microsoft is elevating ‘user experience’ to a first-class citizen in the software design and development process. Understand why ‘user experience’ may be one of the most important parts of an Architect’s job in creating new software that will matter.

Our next ArcReady program is called “Architecting for the User Experience.” Our guest speaker will be Chris Bernard, UX Evangelist for Microsoft. Together with the Central Region Architect Evangelists, we’ll discuss the role of the ‘user experience’ in architectural design and provide hands-on, practical guidance for getting better results in your own projects. We’ll discuss WPF, WPF/e, XAML and the new Expressions suite of products that allow designers, architects and developers to build great ‘user experiences’ using the same base technologies. More importantly, we will discuss how architects can work with software design professionals in new and innovative ways to create the next generation of ‘experiences’ and products that will be demanded by consumers and the enterprise.

Session 1: "Why the User Experience Matters in Architecture"

Session 2: "Architecting for the User Experience"

Join Us for This Free Event.

Show Cities and Dates

• Houston - 05/07/07
• Dallas - 05/08/07
• St Louis - 05/09/07
• Kansas City - 05/11/07
• Austin - 05/15/07
• Downers Grove - 05/15/07
• Minneapolis - 05/16/07
• Des Moines - 05/18/07
• + Nashville - 05/21/07
• + Louisville - 05/22/07
• + Cincinnati - 05/23/07
• Indianapolis - 05/24/07
• + Detroit - 05/25/07
• * Memphis - 06/11/07
• Milwaukee - 06/12/07
• * Cleveland - 06/13/07
• * Columbus - 06/14/07
• * Grand Rapids - 06/15/07

The ones with the + are where Chris and I will be speaking together and the ones with the * are were I will be speaking by myself or with a partner such as Jeff Blankenburg.

Link to Larry Clarkin - Architecture meets User Experience at upcoming ArcReady events

Registration for the next round of ArcReady events - http://www.arcready.com

Thanks to all that came - feel free to follow up with me with any questions or comments.

Link to Microsoft ArcReady - Downloads

I'm in the middle of the ArcReady tour around the Heartland district (That's Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee). Tim Landgrave spoke in Detroit, MI yesterday and did a bangup job as always. It was fantastic to sit and soak in the knowledge that he has gained through the many years that he's been in business as a consultant on a tremendous number of different projects. He brings a lot of great stories and antidotes that we can all relate to from these varius projects. The only issue is that each of the presentation brings out slightly different sets of antidotes depending on the questions and audience reactions so really, I'd like to sit through all 11 of these rather than just 3 or 4 of them.

I got some questions about the presentation so I thought I'd answer some of them here. First, the names of the books that were referenced in the Patterns and Anti-Patterns section were:

Second question that I'm getting a lot is when and where can I get the presentation? We will be posting it on http://www.ArcReady.com as soon as the tour is over.

The question that I have for you is what topics/speakers would you like to see in the future for this series? Feel free to email me direct or leave answers in the comments.

Link to Microsoft ArcReady: Reinforcing the Foundations of Solutions Architecture