Well, after years of no blogging, I'm excited to be in a new role here at Microsoft that will give me plenty of opportunities to be involved in the community again, both blogging and with our local user groups. I'm now a Developer Solution Specialist -- or ‘DSS' as we're called internally -- and basically our charter is to sell application development tools (buy Visual Studio now!). I specifically work with customers in our Enterprise segment in the Southeast US, mostly Florida and Alabama.

However the role of the DSS is much more sophisticated than simply espousing how great new features of Visual Studio 2010 are, such as Control-Comma, and then taking everyone's order. As any software engineer who has lived through the Dot-Com explosion will tell you: today's software engineering team is very different from back then. Gone are the romantic days of the wild west where software was almost pure Art. Yes, there is still a lot of Art in software engineering, but the difference is that back then the bar was pretty low - if the software was brilliant, then the Business benefited; but if it wasn't, well, pretty much that meant Business-as-usual because no one was using the new software yet anyway, so a slip of a year or two wouldn't really matter in the big picture.

That was then. Today's software engineering teams are different in two fundamental ways:  (1) they are critical to the business.  If the software engineering team promises a certain set of functionality by a certain deployment date, and they don't deliver or worse they deliver sub-quality results, then business plans are severely disrupted and heads roll. And (2) they are way leaner. Not too long ago the typical software development project was 2-3 years long with a team size of 30-50 people total.  Today you are lucky to work on a project that has a 6 month-out promise date; more typical is 2-3 months. And the span of responsibility of any one person on the team is orders of magnitude larger.

It is this problem that your Developer Solution Specialist (DSS) is focused on: how to deal with the opposing forces of the Business (fewer resources, shorter schedule, lower risks, fewer defects) and the Art+Science that is software engineering (more expectations, more innovation, more dependencies on frameworks or technologies, more performance). This is not a simple problem. It forces a holistic assessment of not just Technology but People and Processes -- the entire Application Lifecycle Management. Your friendly neighborhood DSS has a wealth of resources to help here. Get them engaged with your company - your success means their success - so it's a win-win partnership that I encourage you to leverage.

Contact your Microsoft account team and they can put you in touch with your DSS.  Oh ... and go buy Visual Studio.  :-)

Once you get hooked on integrated search in Outlook 2007 and Vista, it's really frustrating to suddenly be confronted with this notice: "search results may be incomplete because items are still being indexed".  And for it to stay that way... for days.

After doing a little research, I finally found how to cure my ailment.  And, as is usually the case, it turned out to be something that I did.  Vista and Outlook did _exactly_ what I told them to do.  The source of my problem actually started with my laptop fan running continuously.  One day I found that frustrating as well, and after a little research on that topic, discovered that setting my laptop in Power Saver mode made the fan turn off.  Ahh... nice and quiet.  And since the laptop seemed to actually perform just as well for most of the things I do (mostly e-mail, I'm a little embarrassed to say), I decided to leave it that way.

What I didn't know was that the search indexer plays nice with your power settings.  You probably already know that the indexer only runs in the background while your computer is idle.  What was new to me is that the indexer stops running while you are in Power Saver mode!  After discovering this, it makes perfect sense to me.  In fact, I would probably complain if had been designed differently.  I put my laptop back into High Performance mode, and about an hour later, I was completely indexed.  It turns out that in order to index e-mail items you need to (1) not be in Power Saver mode, (2) have outlook running, and (3) make sure your computer is not going into Sleep state while idle (that is, the hard drive is still running).  Problem solved!

For the next release, I think two nice 'features' would be (1) a suggestion on the index status text that lets you know to check your Power Mode, and (2) a "force indexer to run now" task.  Hind sight is, of course, very clear in situations like this.

Sorry this took so long to post - the presentation from the March meeting of the South Florida Enterprise Arhcitect SIG are now (finally) available!  I have been waiting for the Architect Journal Issue 7 to be posted, which is now is. The slides give a high level overview of the article, and then go into more detail about a structure to map the theory/methodology to physical code.

Here are links to the slides and other relevant topics:

• Article by Avindra Sehmi and Beat Schwegler, on which the user group presentation was based:
  http://www.architecturejournal.net/2006/issue7/F7_Modeling1/default.aspx
• Podcast on Motion, the Business Architecture methodology:
  http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=179160#179160
• The slides from the March meeting of the SF ESA SIG
  http://www.quent.net/downloads/Service_Oriented_Modeling.ppt
• Many Microsoft speakers will be at the Enterprise Architect Summit at the Ritz-Carlton in Key Biscayne next week, including Chad Corniel, one of the Business Architects heavily involved in the authoring of the Motion process.
  http://www.ftponline.com/conferences/eas/2006/
• Information about the next Architect SIG meeting and other events:
  http://www.fladotnet.net/

Hello South Florida! This is a reminder about Tuesdays night's (3/21/2006) Enterprise & Strategy Architecture SIG meeting at the Microsoft Ft. Lauderdale office, on the topic of Service Oriented Modeling for Connected Systems.  You will also be able to read about this topic soon in the next issue of The Architect Journal.

I am also excited to announce details about upcoming meetings:

April: (no meeting)

May: 5/16/2006: ESB – Fact or Fiction?
In this session, we will take a realistic look at the latest industry buzz around the "Enterprise Service Bus", attempt to de-mystify the hype and assess the facts around this new paradigm.  We will also explore what ESB means in the world of SOA, and how the core functionality of an ESB can be implemented in the Enterprise.
Speaker: Jeff Barnes, Architect, Microsoft Developer & Platform Evangelism

June: 6/20/2006: Send speaker nominations to me

Keep architecting!

I am excited to announce that we have set a date for our first Architect SIG meeting!  We're still working on the details of logistics and branding and so forth, but that's not the important part.  What is important is when, where and what we'll be talking about:

When: Tuesday, March 21, 2006, 6pm to 8pm
Where: Microsoft Fort Lauderdale Office
Topic: Service Oriented Modeling of Connected Systems

Abstract: An essential part in planning a service-oriented architecture is about being able to conceptualize your business in the right way. By doing this you can arrive at solid, well-aligned services that map well onto the capabilities required by your business processes. Having identified the right services, you can go on and implement those services by using your choice of technologies such as those provided by the Microsoft Application Platform.  This session examines how poor conceptualization of service orientation may result in failures and generally poor levels of return on investment, and proposes a three-part model to help you achieve connected, service oriented systems in a way that promotes close alignment between the IT solution and the needs of the business.

While I'd love to claim the credit for this very intellectual sounding subject, I can't.  It's material that you will be able to read about soon on http://www.microsoft.com/architecture.  Stay tuned!

What a great weekend!  Saturday's Code Camp was a huge success in my observation.  Although the sessions and content was the "reason" for the event - the attendees and speakers was where the real value was.  I've been to many events in my career, and the South Florida attendees definitely win the award for "community".  I was particularly impressed by the level of dialog both during and between sessions. There was a very strong energy around not only learning, but sharing experiences, connecting with new friends, and a sincere desire to help each other grow.  Huge accolades to all the folks who produced and hosted the event - you know who you are.  But more importantly, a huge THANK YOU to each person who attended.  You, in my humble opinion, are the main reason this event and this community is so fantastic!

For those who attended my session, What's New in MSF Version v4.0, you can download the PowerPoint slides from here: http://www.quent.net/downloads/msf4.ppt

I also spoke with many many people who are very interesed in creating a special interest group (SIG) around the topic of "Architecture".  I think we'll get this started soon - announcments will be sent out via Florida .NET.

• Focus: Members seeking to pass Microsoft Certified Architect Program (link)
• Logistics:
• Third Tuesday of every month, 6pm-8pm
• Microsoft Ft. Lauderdale office (address)
• Membership managed by Florida .NET
• Agenda:
• 6-6:30 Networking and food
• 6:30-7 Announcements: SIG, Community, Microsoft, Industry
• 7-8 Speaker, local or guest
• Governance:
• Board of directors will set agenda, select speakers, manage budget, coordinate logistics
• The initial board will be the initial volunteers, but quickly be "approved" by members, for one-year terms

Your call to action:  Register with Florida .NET.  Send me any feedback you have on how to get this SIG started and successful.  Keep delighting your customers with .NET solutions!  :-)

I just submitted my application to speak at the South Florida .NET Code Camp on a subject I am very passionate about: Microsoft Solutions Framework version 4.0.  And what exactly is it that fuels my passion about MSF 4.0?  It's all about the thrill of applying your creative energies to impact really hard problems!  For all of you developers out there: you know exactly what I'm talking about.  Once you've experienced this there is no turning back from the software development profession - it's the most addicting reward there is.  Code and methodology are the paint and canvas that capture a developer's creativity.  Just as coding languages evolve over time (C to C++ to C#), so do methodologies (CASE to RUP to Agile).  MSF 4.0 is breakthrough (in my very humble opinion).  It finally bridges the gap between 'framework' and 'methodology' and codifies this in Visual Studio Team System.  Brilliant!

Join me for a Clift's Notes version of MSF 4.0 - the bare essentials - at the South Florida .NET Code Camp.  Here's my session description:

What’s New in Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) Version 4.0

It is exciting times for Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF).  With the Visual Studio team adopting MSF and creating Visual Studio 2005 Team System (VSTS), MSF now has an enhanced foundation (i.e., code-named MSFv4 Core) plus MSF is now embedded within VSTS enabling process automation and guidance.  This creates an opportunity to mature solution delivery capabilities throughout the market.

Not only does VSTS/MSFv4 extend MSFv3, but it also introduces two specializations: MSF for Agile Software Development and MSF for CMMI Process Improvement. This session will share with you an overview of MSFv4 Core and MSF Agile.

They should have my session posted soon at the Code Camp site: http://www.fladotnet.com/codecamp  There are still a few open slots for speakers - if I can do this, you can too!  Sign up!

According to my data, SQL Server usage has grown 58% since last year in South Florida.  WOW!  If you are a database administrator who is taking the time to learn SQL Server 2005, then you are making a good investment in your future - at least in South Florida.  This skill is definitely growing in demand!

I'm amazed at how many of my customers are taking advantage of the SQL Server 2005 migration promotion - SQL Server Enterprise licenses are HALF PRICE.  It seems like they were all waiting around for SQL Server 2005 to ship, and now that it has they are jumping on with the same zealousness that they did with buying hurricane shutters last season (trust me... that's very zealous).

For those that like to know what the fine print says, here are the three 'catches' to the program:

• This is for the "License" portion only - you must buy Software Assurance at your regular (probably volume discounted) price.
• Want more info on all the licensing mumbo-jumbo? Click here
• And why exactly might you want to buy Software Assurance?  One word: Katmai
• You must be migrating your data from a qualified competing database to Microsoft SQL Server 2005.  All the usual suspects are valid - if you don't see yours on the list, just ask.
• This discount is for Enterprise edition only.  Standard edition is discounted 'only' at 25%.

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 launch in South Florida will be at the Broward County Convention Center on March 7.  Register here.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is one of the fastest growing segments of the application platform business in the South Florida market.  Come find out what all the buzz is about!  If you're new MS CRM, read the product overview here.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006 8:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Broward County Convention Center
1950 Eisenhower Blvd
Conference Center Ft. Lauderdale Florida 33316
United States

http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/EventDetail.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032284833&EventCategory=1

http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/eventdetail.aspx?culture=en-US&eventid=1032288786&x=17&y=9

Saturday, February 04, 2006 8:00 AM - Saturday, February 04, 2006 5:45 PM (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Main event URL : http://www.fladotnet.com/codecamp

Want to see what CodeCamp is all about? Checkout the sessions, speaker, and agenda from the Tampa CodeCamp ( sessions, video ) or the Feb 2005 Codecamp in South Florida - http://www.fladotnet.com/codecamp/codecamp_2005/codecamp.wmv.

Hello South Florida!  I've recently relocated to Fort Lauderdale, Florida (from Atlanta, where I've been with Microsoft for 8 years) to serve enterprise customers here as an Application Platform Solution Specialist.  That means I'm accountable for making sure my customers are informed about and successful with Microsoft's application platform line of products.  (What else is there?!)  I'm very excited about making a difference here, and will use my blog to communicate local events and contacts of others who contribute to this discipline as well.

-- Quent

p.s. Yes, I have already experienced my first hurricane (Wilma)... it was a breeze (pun intended)