BizTalk Server Anti-Patterns

Eric provides some interesting food for thought around anti-patterns for BizTalk Server, starting with a kitchen sink analogy applied to maps.
http://blogs.msdn.com/ebattalio/archive/tags/BizTalk+Anti-Patterns/default.aspx

Ami vora left MS :(

When I started my research on WCF way back, the one of the first few names I went through (read articles and webcasts) was Ami vora. Since then I have been a fan of hers and followed her events all around the world and followed her blog. It’s sad for me to see just a gr8 person leaving MS. I wish her good luck for her future

Event @ FAST-NU Lahore

On 25th November Lahore National University held a seminar. I was invited as a speaker on Microsoft technologies. Event went pretty well. GEO was there for the coverage of ending ceremony. I talked about Imagine Cup and few project Ideas, Then shifted to WCF presentation. As I explained WinFX people showed interest in WWF also, so I went into the details of WWF also. Event was arranged by NUCES media group

Visual Studio Code Named "Orcas" October CTP is now available

Check out the various new advancements including ADO.NET 3.0, LINQ over XML, Multi-targeting etc with the "Orcas" October CTP now!

Event @ Behriya University

I was invited by Behriya University to speak on Vista and upcoming .Net v3 technologies. The event went very well. There were people from Java background so we had very good discussions on comparison on .Net v3 with few of the java technologies.

Two great articles on biztalk performance

I Found two great articles on biztalk team blog site discussing biztalk performance

Managing a successful performance lab with BizTalk Server 2006
Get help deploying BizTalk Server with the Best Practices Analyzer (BPA)

must read.

RC of .NET Framework v3.0 is available !!!

The .Net Framework v3.0 release candidate (RC1) is now available for download:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=19E21845-F5E3-4387-95FF-66788825C1AF&displaylang=en

Web Service Factory

Few colleagues of mine came to me and they were discussing about using web services in their project so I introduced them to web service factory. They were amazed by the functionality it was providing to the users and the easy ways to use that is just awesome. SoI thought I should share it with you guys also

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnpag2/html/servicefactory.asp

great to use.

Software As a Service (SaaS) Architect Guidance

Software As a Service or in other words (SaaS) architecture guidance site on msdn has been published. You can visit it by clicking here

Creation of Enterprise Architecture Group (EAG) in Kalsoft

A very good initiative is taken by the management of my company to create a separate department for the architects; I think this will make Kalsoft the first and only software house in Pakistan to have such a department. I was asked to join this department as Lead Architect and I accepted this offer gladly. I hope that this department proves a very important change in Kalsoft and bring more quality to the organization

Increase in C# book sale

I saw an article on oreilly site and was pleased by the trends it showed

"A few high-level observations:
C# book sales continues to gain on Java, with a 49% unit sales increase compared to Java's 10% decrease.
Ruby continues its momentum, and is the fastest-growing programming language in terms of book sales.
Microsoft's new release of SQL Server has continued to drive significant book sales, with that market up 86%. ASP.Net is also on a roll, with book sales up 61%."

For complete article click here

WCF Adapter to ship with R2

Here are some of the supported use cases for the WCF adapters:

Exposing BizTalk orchestrations as a WCF web service
Exposing BizTalk Content Based Routing applications as a WCF web service
Consuming a WCF service from BizTalk orchestrations
Consuming a WCF service from Content Based Routing applications
Transactional message receive
Transactional message send
Using WS-* headers for routing and message processing
Using custom headers for routing and message processing
Using custom binding elements
Using custom bindings
Using BizTalk dynamic send ports
Using BizTalk as SOAP intermediary

The WCF adapters will support the following WCF transports:

HTTP / HTTPS
SOAP
MTOM
TCP
MSMQ
Named Pipes

Beyond SOA : Software Architecture of the future

read it here on msdn

Today, new social movements, advances in technology, and forces within business are colliding to create a landscape overflowing with challenges and opportunities. In many cases, these forces have driven the deployment of new technologies and the adoption of new behaviors, adding multiple layers to an already complex set of issues that must be navigated. Architects are searching for a solution to manage this complexity. SOA, ESB, Software as a Service, Web 2.0, and Edge are all elements of the solution, but are they the complete picture? Are they a sufficient answer to the issues? Can they be used together in a productive and efficient fashion? We have the opportunity now to think about what the software architecture of the future looks like; for software architects to take a step back and to forecast what lies over the horizon. To move beyond SOA we must find a way to connect the user edge of software development to the existing services infrastructure of the enterprise; to reconnect the people to the platform. This keynote examines these issues and discusses Microsoft’s vision for the future.

Pakistan Developers Conference 2006

It was one of the greatest experiences in my life to speak at PDC 2006 and to interact with other speakers. I gave my presentation on WCF which i'll upload soon with the source Code.

Microsoft SOA & Business Process Conference Request for Session Proposals

Call For Sessions
Microsoft’s SOA & Business Process Conference is the event for our customers and partners to learn about new and updated information on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Business Process Management (BPM), and Microsoft’s own Connected Systems infrastructure. Over 4 days, attendees will learn about the strategies and technologies that Microsoft is delivering over the next year, such as BizTalk Server, .NET Framework 3.0, and Office 2007. Three technical tracks will provide depth and detail into best practices for building BPM solutions, guidance for advancing your SOA, and using the latest development tools and technologies for connecting people, processes and information. A fourth track will focus on the business value of SOA and BPM for both customers looking to optimize their application infrastructure/business processes and for partners looking to expand their SOA & BPM practices. Whether you need to get up to speed fast, or are ready to dive deep, this is the event for technical training, networking, and business development for partners and customers interested in Microsoft’s view of SOA, BPM, and Connected Systems.
We are now accepting session submissions for each of the four conference tracks listed below. Sessions are 1 hour in length and should include time for Q&A. Technical track sessions should have a target level of 300 or higher. Non-Microsoft speakers will receive a $1000 stipend. Please send your session submissions to btstpm@microsoft.com including proposed session title, abstract, speaker, and associated track. Session submission will close on July 21st.
Conference ContentEach session at the Microsoft SOA & Business Process Conference should be designed to expand attendees knowledge of key emerging technologies, demonstrate proven strategies for implementing solutions, explain Microsoft’s long-term strategy and roadmap, and/or add value to their organization’s service oriented and business process solution portfolio.
Service Oriented ArchitectureIT organizations of all sizes are increasingly looking at ‘Software as a Service’ as the paradigm through which they will deliver value to the business. Services are becoming increasingly important to internal IT and business customers as well as across organizational boundaries to trading partners and compliance organizations. The SOA track will provide clear guidance on how to apply expertise from Microsoft and its partners to this emerging application portfolio strategy.
Some of the challenges to be explored include exposing IT assets as services, composing services into business processes, and consuming services within new user experiences. Technologies and topics covered will include: Host Integration, Windows Communication Foundation (Microsoft’s WS-* implementation), Windows Workflow Foundation, BizTalk Server 2006, process methodology, Microsoft Operations Manager, AJAX, Microsoft Office 2007, and Windows Server 2003.
Business Process ManagementThe challenges of aligning cross-functional processes, improving organizational effectiveness, and enhancing customer relationships have made business process management a top priority of both business and IT alike. By attending the Business Process Management track you will learn about the state of the BPM market, how to make the business case for BPM, best practices and technology strategies for enabling process improvements, and understanding the partner opportunities for targeting BPM solutions on the Microsoft platform. Microsoft will present our vision and roadmap for our “People-ready Process” strategy, enabled by upcoming technology innovation across the next 12 months such as BizTalk Sever 2006 R2, Office SharePoint Server 2007, Office InfoPath 2007, Office Visio 2007, Office SharePoint Designer 2007, and Windows Workflow Foundation.
Connected Systems Technology and ProductsUnder the Connected Systems Technologies and Products track you’ll find deep, technical sessions with practical guidance on building applications using the latest developer tools and frameworks from Microsoft. From low level foundational technologies such as Windows Communication Foundation, Windows Workflow Foundation, Windows Presentation Foundation and CardSpace up to the enterprise class server BizTalk Server 2006, these sessions will treat your inner developer to best practices learned from the pros.
Business ValueThe Business Value track will focus on the business opportunities of Service Oriented Architecture and Business Process Management for both customers looking to optimize their processes and for partners looking to expand their practices. Whether you are focused on SOA and BPM within your own organization or in the broader marketplace, this track will demonstrate proven strategies for identifying opportunities and maximizing the return on your investments.
Sponsors & ExhibitorsSponsorship and exhibition opportunities are also available to partners to showcase their latest solutions and technologies demonstrate their newest innovations, allowing attendees to test-drive key technologies and receive one-on-one, informed answers to questions. If you are interested in sponsorship, please contact Robert Bannerman at robann@microsoft.com.
For general event information or to register as an attendee, visit the event web site at www.impactevents.com/biztalkconference.

I have been Awarded Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Award

It’s a great honor for me that Microsoft has selected me for this esteemed award. As a MVP I feel really proud. To be honest I don’t have words to explain the feeling I'm going through.

BizTalk Server Best Practices Analyzer

This is very helpful and handy for consultants and Developers who are working on BizTalk.

From the blog of luke nyswonger, lead programmer writer, BizTalk

"The Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 Best Practices Analyzer examines a BizTalk Server 2006 deployment and generates a list of best practices issues it discovers. The Best Practices Analyzer is intended for use in BizTalk Server 2006 production and staging environments.

The Best Practices Analyzer performs configuration level verification, by reading and reporting only. For example, the Best Practices Analyzer gathers data from Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) classes, Microsoft SQL Server databases, registry entries, and other parts of your deployment, and uses the gathered data to determine whether best practices are being followed. The Best Practices Analyzer does not modify any system settings, and is therefore not a self-tuning tool."

Download Now!

Bill Gates Bowing Out

News Conference
Redmond, Washington
June 15, 2006

Bill Gates:
"I have decided that two years from today, starting July 2008, I will reorder my personal priorities. Today I am working full-time for Microsoft and part-time for the Gates Foundation. Starting two years from now, I will shift, work full-time at the Foundation, part-time at Microsoft as Chairman and as a senior technical adviser. "

Read the full article

Judging Software Competition "Open House" @ FAST-NU

It seems like judging Software in a competition has become a regular activity for me in last 2 months I have been called in competitions involving more than 50 projects and few of them from neighboring countries also. On 7th June I received a letter from FAST-NU that I have to be a judge at Open House (a Software competition for the graduating batch to show their final project). The entries involved software ranging from call center and HRMS to research projects so it was nice to have such diversity in the projects to judge. To conclude it was a well organized Event.

Conducting Second & Third Phase Evaluation For Microsoft Imagine Cup Software Design Competition 2006

29th May 2006:
I have been really busy so wasn't able to update my blog there have been 2 main event regarding Imagine cup. The final 2 rounds were held at IBA and the selected entries from previous round were competing in it. The judges panel included Waqar Khamisani (Microsoft ISV Manager Pakistan), Dr. Saeed Ghani (Chairman CS and MIS, IBA), Dr. Shahid Shameem, Dr. Amir Raza, Rehan Ghayor (Sr. Manager MIS, IBA), Talha Mahmood and My self. In the 2nd round there were 5 projects and after going through the demos and the Presentation we were hardly able to separate the top 2. So we decided to go to the third round with only 2 projects.

6th June 2006:
Final round was held to select 1 project from the top 2. Again both the projects were very impressive and had made some improvements in the last week to brighten their chances. Eventually after a long debate and demo/presentation 1 was selected to represent Pakistan in Imagine cup 2006.

Microsoft Application Security Seminar @ NED Postponed

Due to the strike in Karachi the event @ NED University on 27th May has been postponed to 1st June. It would have been great if it was on 27th because it was Saturday and the attendance would have been very good.

Conducting the Preliminary Round for Imagine Cup 2006 Pakistan

On 20th May the preliminary round for Projects entries for Imagine cup was completed. The judges panel included Waqar Khamisani (Microsoft ISV Manager Pakistan), Dr. Saeed Ghani(Chairman CS and MIS,IBA) , Rehan Ghayor(Sr. Manager MIS ,IBA), Talha Mahmood and My self. We went through many projects, discussing the projects detail and marking them. Finally we select 5 projects to be forwarded to the final round, before sending them to India. The final assessment Round will be held on 29th May 2006.

WCF Architecture

WCF architecture consists of 4 main sections

I have talk about Contracts in one of my previous entry. Let’s examine the other parts of this framework

Service Runtime

The service runtime layer contains the behaviors that occur only during the actual operation of the service, that is, the runtime behaviors of the service. E.g. Instancing, throttling, error handling etc.

Messaging

The messaging layer shows the formats and exchange patterns of the data. WS Security enables security at the message layer while WS Reliable Messaging channel enables the guarantee of message delivery. The encoders present a range of encodings that can be used to suit the needs of the message.

Activation and Hosting

This is the part where service is started by analyzing its activation options. Services can be either self-hosted or hosted in the context of another application.

From .NET Remoting to the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)

I personally tried to convert my project from Web services to WCF and I’m still trying but in the mean while found 1 great Article on Microsoft Site.

Click here to view the Article

Assessing Projects For Imagine Cup 2006 from Pakistan

I received a mail from Vaqar Khamisani (ISV manager, Microsoft Pakistan) that I'll be part of Judging Committee for the Imagine cup 2006 project evaluation in Pakistan. I have been helping many students to improve their projects for Imagine Cup and resolve their issues for last 2 months or so. Now this is the time to actually see that they have done and there are many entries from students which I have not help/assisted. I feel it will be very interesting to evaluate them. Hopefully their will be very good entries and they perform very well in India.

Microsoft Application Security Seminar @ Karachi University

It was my first event in KU and 2nd the series of Seminars on Application Security. I was accompanied by Razi bin Rais (Snr. Software Eng, Kalsoft). I spoke on WinFX, WCF and Security in WCF. There were some interesting questions about WCF as the students were trying to understand the core concept, later on I showed them a Demo. Razi started with the core concept of Web Applications and moved on to ASP.NET and then to new login/roles/users related controls in ASP.NET2. After the event I Introduced Imagine cup and distributed the CDs which were provided by Microsoft.

Seminar On Application Security In Fast-NU

Today I went to Fast-NU with Wajahat (MVP ASP.NET) for the Application security. I talked about indigo and the Security options in it. Wajahat took on Writing Secure code. It went pretty well the guys looked very impressed with WCF. As I was talking about message passing between applications a question about Application integration gave me chance to discuss BizTalk Server

Documentation Update for Windows Communication Foundation

Microsoft has updated the Documentation for Windows Communication Foundation
WCF Documentation CTP (15 Apr 2006)

Judging a programming Competition @ ProCom 2006

I received a Call from Fast-NU and was asked to judge a programming competition at their Annual All Pakistan Programming and Software Competition. To judge something which you have done all your life seems not a big issue but considering the fact that the programs will be coming from the best students from all over Pakistan and few from neighboring countries makes it really interesting.

BizTalk Server 2006 RTM is Released

Microsoft has finally unvieled BizTalk Server 2006 RTM on March 27th, 2006. This RTM version of BizTalk Server 2006 is available for download for MSDN Subscribers. Check out the following link for more information:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/biztalk/

Speaking at Microsoft Developers Days 2006

Speaking at MSDD 2006 felt real existed plus I feel proud that I was given a change to speak at such an event. The main objective was to update the current IT mainstream about the latest cutting edge tools and techniques that improve security during project life cycle using Microsoft technologies and thereby enabling them to practice better developing methodologies in an industry where security is an ever growing concern. I spoke at Indigo and its security. The event was a big hit and the feedback from the General Public was great

Gulf Developers Conference 2006

GDC 2006 is an event that provides a comprehensive technical overview as well as more insight on the latest (both recently released and upcoming) Microsoft development and platform technologies. During the GDC 2006 event, there will be many sessions that would demonstrate the latest advanced features that were introduced in Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005, BizTalk Server 2006, Windows Vista and how all these technologies can be used to build reliable, secure, high performance applications that can connect people, information, processes and systems together. More than 1700 technology professionals from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region are expected to join this event and get the opportunity to meet and interact with top technology experts in the industry and Microsoft team for the duration of the event.

Hosting Indigo service in IIS

Today I hosted services in IIS for the first time. It is pretty easy (my first expression was that it will be really hard to run in IIS). It very simple and the benefits of deploying service in IIS are too many to have not explored this option so I tried it and it worked :))

New papers on Biztalk Server 2006

Understanding BizTalk Server 2006

Learn about key features and improvements in BizTalk Server 2006, such as significantly simpler installation; better support for deploying, monitoring, and managing applications; and improved capabilities for Business Activity Monitoring.

BizTalk Server 2006 Adapter Enhancements

This white paper discusses both the new built-in adapters and enhancements to the existing built-in adapters that will ship with BizTalk Server 2006.

BizTalk Server 2006 Application Deployment and Management

This white paper describes two new key features of BizTalk Server 2006—the capability to manage BizTalk artifacts as a single application, and the ability to monitor a group of artifacts through the use of the BizTalk Server Administration Console, which makes BizTalk Server less time-consuming to manage.

BizTalk Server 2006 Business Activity Monitoring

This paper provides a detailed description of two new Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) features in BizTalk Sever 2006—the BizTalk Server BAM Portal, and Alerts and Notification Support—and it discusses enhancements to the BAM features in BizTalk Server 2004.

BizTalk Server 2006 Developer Tools Improvements

This white paper describes some key product enhancements in BizTalk Server 2006 that are of interest to developers, in particular the Flat File Wizard.

BizTalk Server 2006 Runtime Improvements

This white paper reviews the improvements that have been made to message processing as part of the core engine enhancements for BizTalk Server 2006.

BizTalk Server 2006 Setup and Migration

Included in this white paper is a high-level overview of the BizTalk Sever 2006 setup process and how it differs with the BizTalk Server 2004 install process.

Understanding the Hub and Spoke Deployment Model for BizTalk Server 2006

Read this article to understand how the BizTalk Server 2006 hub and spoke model supports administrators who want to install and deploy the associated bits of a BizTalk Server solution from one central server and multiple remote servers.

The Business Value of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

This white paper examines the opportunities and benefits of RFID and how this technology will revolutionize supply chain management.

Preparing for Microsoft Developers Days 2006

Today I was told that I’ll be speaking and presenting some topic @ Microsoft Developers Days 2006. Plus I’ll be part of the organizing Committee for the event my responsibility is to look at the technical side i.e. speakers and their topics. Topics were decided 1 month earlier so my job was to prepare the speakers plus my own presentation. Also had a meeting with Microsoft ISV manager Waqar Khamisani for the approval of topics and presenters.

Free Microsoft re-Exams

If you are planning to do any Microsoft exam do it ASAP. Microsoft offers a free re-exam voucher when you fail one exam. Take this chance for a limited time. Find the details here.

The offer is valid till June 30, 2006.

VS2005 Launch Event @ UIT

Naseem siddiqui shareing his thoughts

INETA Launch Team Members Mr. Nasim Siddiqui (Software Architect, Kalsoft) and Myself. delivered presentations on “Visual Studio.Net 2005, SQL Server 2005” highlighting the new features of the products and to help the audience to understand how Microsoft’s latest easy to use technologies can help us to increase productivity by focusing on business logic instead of coding during the development process. Three things were discussed mainly Vs2005 and SQL server but Biztalk was also included in the discussion.

The presentations were followed by a Q/A session. The event formally with the distribution of Microsoft bags among the audience on referral draw.

Below: me :)

VS2005 Launch Event @ CBM

Event @ CBM went Excellent. I was accompanied by Wajahat (MVP ASP.NET). We Introduced INETA followed By Imagine Cup Videos. I was first to speak and I spoke on Click once deployment and New Data Controls in Vs2005 plus a brief on VSTO. Wajahat Spoke on SQL Server 2005 and how it’ll be helping the Developers and making their life easier. He also spoke at the Scalability issues.

Types of Contracts

There are 3 types of Contacts in indigo but I feel that we as developers will be using only the above 2 from the list below
1- Service Contract
2- Data Contract
3- Message Contract

Service contract defines the operations (functions) to be exposed to the outside world. Data contract define the data members to be sent and Message Contract defines what part of Data will be in the header and what part will be in the Body of the Message.

Q/A for BTS

Stephen Thomas has published a set of interview questions on BizTalk Server and Gustavo has provided his answers to those questions

BizTalk Server and "Indigo"

Scott Woodgate shows a glimpse into the future with a working prototype demo illustrating BizTalk Server and "Indigo" working together.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdntv/episode.aspx?xml=episodes/en/20050428biztalksw/manifest.xml