Julie Lerman recently told me that I do not blog enough about the effect that the weather has on my job. I am constantly looking to the weather channel and other sites for the latest on the next “Big One”. Well unfortunately last week Charley decided to become that storm. This is where the true sould of the organization I work for, the American Red Cross really shows through. I was on “vacation” in lovely Annapolis, MD, celebrating my 7th wedding anniversary when the call to action came in. “Donations are spiking, we need to make sure all is well”.
We are currently developing the next generation of the Online Donation Site for ARC. This is the type of project that I think developers live for. High profile, new technology applications serving the people of the world...and I get paid to do it!
Just like everyone, you always second guess the job you have and if you should continue to do it. Working at a non-profit always puts you at risk technically. “What if they don't use the latest and greatest”? That is a term that should never be used in that order. Latest is not always greatest. As long as an organization is committed to creating the best possible solutions using the resources available, that is all you can ask. The American Red Cross is definitely committed.
I am glad that I get a chance every day to do something that will help the lives of people affected by those storms that I watch so much.
Rich Turner recently warned us about the danger of calling everything SOA. I have to state that I have witnessed this first hand. In some of more “recent” posts, I mentioned the processes of deciding to use Sonic Software vs. BizTalk Server 2004. During this process it was very clear that the Architects on our teams and the Architects from Microsoft were talking to different languages but delivering the same message. They couldn't agree on terms for the same concepts.
For example, in BizTalk 2004 orchestrations are key. They are the glue that binds “Steps” together. In Sonic, Processes or Itineraries are the glue that binds. They tie Services together. Who's right? Well, when you are trying to speak “SOA”, the apparantly the guy with “Services” in the description seemed to have the leg up. Was this because the BizTalk team got it all wrong by referring to the “flow of a message through a series of services” as an Orchestration? No. The two sides should have just sat down with a glossery of terms and built a cross-reference.
I am sure that in time this will work itself out, but just as the term Web Services has been hijacked to describe everything from XML over HTTP to WSE, it will be a while before the consistency is king.