Misc. http://rickgaribay.net/category/7.aspx Misc. en-US Rick G. Garibay rickgaribay@hotmail.com Subtext Version 1.9.5.176 Is .NET a Great Disruptor of the Decade? http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2010/01/15/is-.net-a-great-disruptor-of-the-decade.aspx <p>The following article was recently brought to my attention. It asks if .NET should be considered a disruptor in the last decade: <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/service-oriented/?p=3921">http://blogs.zdnet.com/service-oriented/?p=3921</a></p> <p>I actually gave this a bit of thought and the best answer I was able to come up with was “Yes and No”. Here’s why…</p> <p>A technology can be "disruptive" when it gains wide spread attention but can fizzle out just as quickly or over an undetermined period of time. How deep into a revolution a technology can sink its teeth and still emerge a clear winner is a true long term measure that I believe earns the designation of "disruptor". </p> <p>A true market leader leverages (or themselves are responsible for) a revolutionary technology and both exploits it fully while surviving several aftershocks that typically follow.</p> <p>For example, I would argue that SOA was a revolutionary innovation that changed the mindset of an industry. In the process it displaced many traditional (and proprietary) approaches to distributed computing and a new market segment exploded. </p> <p>I think Microsoft capitalized on this with ASP.NET Web Services (ASMX) which at the time I would certainly consider disruptive- offering 1st generation commodity SOA to the masses- but had the innovation wave stopped there, Microsoft wouldn't have a SOA story today.</p> <p>Enter <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Communication_Foundation">WCF</a> . WCF is both an evolution over ASMX as well as a technology that has been successful in displacing many proprietary incumbents. However I think today what we have is a low-end disruption because it is evident that WCF overshot the market with performance and features. Incredibly, almost in perfect harmony with this market perception REST came into its own and disrupted our whole perspective on SOA and continues to challenge our values in the process (as all disruptive technologies do).</p> <p>WCF 3.5 and the REST Starter Kit answered this call cementing the fact that .NET (WCF) is deep enough to survive and subsume other distrubtions and at the same time, WCF 4 will attempt to democratize WCF for the masses, likely gaining both mindshare and market share in the process. </p> <p>So, while .NET has been disruptive, I don't know that we can claim it as disruptor just yet. </p> <p>One thing is for certain. <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Azure">Azure</a> has the potential to propel .NET to a more profitable market segment ushering with it new market disruption and establishing .NET in a clear lead position.</p> <p>But these are just my thoughts. What do you think?</p><img src="http://rickgaribay.net/aggbug/268.aspx" width="1" height="1" /> Rick G. Garibay http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2010/01/15/is-.net-a-great-disruptor-of-the-decade.aspx Sat, 16 Jan 2010 01:08:53 GMT http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2010/01/15/is-.net-a-great-disruptor-of-the-decade.aspx#feedback 1 http://rickgaribay.net/comments/commentRss/268.aspx http://rickgaribay.net/services/trackbacks/268.aspx AZ Give Camp Organizer's Meeting 10/15 http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/09/21/az-give-camp-organizers-meeting-1015.aspx <div class="panel_body"> <p><span>Give Camp is a growing nationwide effort for software professionals to give back to the community. On a given weekend, the development community comes together to partner with non-profits and charities, and over the course of one weekend developers take projects from idea to completion!</span> </p> <p>Your technical skills are important, but  what is needed most is dedication and energy. If you have an interest in having a big role in the success of Give Camp, please attend the AZ Give Camp organizers meeting on October 15<sup>th </sup>at Microsoft's downtown office from 6pm to 8pm.</p> <p>To learn more about Give Camp, you can visit <a href="http://www.givecamp.org">http://www.givecamp.org</a> and follow them on Twitter @AZGiveCamp or call them at 623.252.GIVE if you have questions. </p> </div><img src="http://rickgaribay.net/aggbug/260.aspx" width="1" height="1" /> Rick G. Garibay http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/09/21/az-give-camp-organizers-meeting-1015.aspx Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:39:20 GMT http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/09/21/az-give-camp-organizers-meeting-1015.aspx#feedback http://rickgaribay.net/comments/commentRss/260.aspx http://rickgaribay.net/services/trackbacks/260.aspx Driving Change from the Middle-Out http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/07/24/driving-change-from-the-middle-out.aspx <p>Two of the most common questions I am asked by customers is how to successfully implement Agile and SOA in their organization. While there is no silver bullet answer, the question is not really all that specific to SOA and/or Agile. The question is about how to drive change.</p> <p>Change is hard because of the unknowns involved which amounts to a certain degree of risk that must be undertaken when implementing change. In their excellent book "Fearless Change: Patterns for Introducing New Ideas”, Mary Lynn Manns and Linda Rising discuss the following personas that are involved in any kind of change process:</p> <ul> <li>This is new so it is cool. (Innovator)</li> <li>This is an interesting idea, but I want to hear more before making a decision. (Early Adopter)</li> <li>I want to see what other people think about the new idea before I make a decision. (Early Majority)</li> <li>I’ll accept the new idea when I have to. (Late Majority)</li> <li>It’s always been done this way … why do we have to introduce anything new? (Laggard)</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p>You can apply these personas or roles to any kind of organizational change. Regardless, there are two common ways that change begins and often fails: Top-Down and Bottom-Up.</p> <p>Let’s look at scenarios for each, which interestingly apply to both Agile and SOA.</p> <p><strong>Top-Down</strong></p> <p>CIO: I am sick and tired of getting beat up by the business because we are perceived as slow. OK, well maybe we are slow, but we have so many applications that we integrate with and they are so closely coupled to one another that when one application goes down, a domino effect ensues. This is why 70% of my resources are allocated on “production support”, but the reality is that we are a “code-and-fix” shop. This needs to change or I will be out of a job 18 months from now. </p> <p>If the technology organization knew any better, they would already be a business enabler, and I am tired of being berated every week at the CEO’s staff call. Morale is at an all-time low, my star developers are burnt out and ready to quit and we need to change, now. I am going to organize a town hall meeting and roll out plans for us to minimize waste, and become more flexible to business needs effective on Monday.</p> <p><strong>Analysis</strong></p> <p>Obviously, we have an Innovator on our hands. Aside from thinking about her job security, the CIO is convinced that there is a better way. Unfortunately, she is about to make what will likely be a grave mistake. She’s underestimated the time and effort it is going to take to win the Late Majority and to what extent the Laggards will do all they can to see to it that this new way of doing thing fails, and fails fast! </p> <p>Why? Because people need to feel involved. No, scratch that. People need to <em>be </em>involved in change. Otherwise, they will naturally resist due to fear. If they are not a part of the solution, then they must be a part of the problem. Early Adopters can certainly help, but as far as the Late Majority and Laggards are concerned, Early Adopters are safe because they are already aligned with the CIO and should therefore not be trusted. </p> <p>Sound familiar?</p> <p>Now lets look at a typical <strong>Bottom-Up</strong> approach.</p> <p>Dev-Lead: The business is out of touch with reality, but rather than complain about it, the best we can do is make sure that we are the best damn development shop in the company. How else are we ever going to be able to keep pace with the ever changing requirements and Rube Goldberg machine that is our so called enterprise architecture. In fact, if we apply the right techniques to our design and process, it will soon become visible that <em>we </em>are<em> </em>not the problem and the organization will finally recognize our brilliance and the error of their ways. </p> <p><strong>Analysis</strong></p> <p>While the dev-lead gets an A for effort, and will likely grow the skills of his team significantly by doing all the right things, the reality is that nobody in the organization cares about architecture, design patterns or methodology. If the organization is not bought in, it doesn’t matter how efficient or well oiled the development machine is, or how loosely coupled and perfectly factored the services they produce are. No one will use their services until they are sanctioned by the business, so at the end of the day, a mini-empire has been built but nobody outside of the group is aware of just how much value this team brings.</p> <p><strong>Middle-Out</strong></p> <p>Did you notice what persona has been lacking in both of these approaches? The <em>Early Majority</em>. This persona is the most critical to embracing change, even more so than the Early Adopter on one extreme and the Laggard on the other. Why? Because while the Early Adopter will undoubtedly help your cause, organizational capital is key to this person truly influencing the change. That is not to discredit the value or the impact of the Early Adopter (particularly for helping your confidence and providing you with much needed PR support), but these people are few and far between. The Laggard, on the other hand is either going to become a Late Adopter or will become irrelevant because he will leave the organization. Often, this is just the way the cookie crumbles.</p> <p>The key is to get the Early Majority engaged and supportive of your efforts. They will provide the swell that will eventually form a wave of success, but you have to start small and focus on how you can make them successful. So who are these people? Well, they typically aren’t executives because they are off running the business. We also know that focusing exclusively at the team level is not the answer either because they need visibility and buy in to ultimately succeed. </p> <p>The answer? Middle management. Middle management is the lifeblood of your organization that makes your organization thrive. These are the line-of-business managers responsible for the daily operation of their business unit, product managers who are focused on ensuring their products continue to be successful so they can get continued funding, and program managers who are navigating these armada of initiatives towards the strategic vision that your CIO’s boss is leading. Each of them have targets, goals and problems that need solving. Help <em>them</em> and they will in turn help you. Help enough of them, and you will have mini-snowballs growing across your organization that will result in an avalanche of success.</p> <p><strong>But How?</strong></p> <p>Identify what the business drivers are behind their goals and capture those as <em>your</em> requirements. Ask them to prioritize them and then pull a small team together and estimate them. Understand your resource realities and propose a small step forward. Something not so small that it will go unnoticed, but at the same time, not so big that it is doomed to fail. Execute on it and review your results. Now, repeat the process, iteratively learning from your mistakes.</p> <p>As you do, more and more will start to take notice. Moreover, they will be involved. Before you know it, each of these wins will gain you an Early Majority made up not only of people you have helped in the process, but share ownership because they are an active part of the solution.</p> <p><strong>What if I Fail?</strong></p> <p>The key to driving change from the middle-out is that the responsibility for success and failure doesn’t fall to one sole individual. Even if you do fail, it is better to fail early and small than late and big. This is why Top-Down change rarely works- by the time the organization realizes they’ve failed, the entire initiative is doomed. With a middle-out approach, failures are learning opportunities that can be refined and reapplied incrementally without risking organizational failure. This is the key to the middle-out approach.</p> <p>“If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary" -Jim Rohn</p><img src="http://rickgaribay.net/aggbug/251.aspx" width="1" height="1" /> Rick G. Garibay http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/07/24/driving-change-from-the-middle-out.aspx Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:31:57 GMT http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/07/24/driving-change-from-the-middle-out.aspx#feedback http://rickgaribay.net/comments/commentRss/251.aspx http://rickgaribay.net/services/trackbacks/251.aspx Book Review: The Art of Unit Testing by Roy Osherove http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/07/19/book-review-the-art-of-unit-testing-by-roy-o.aspx <p>In short, if you want a tactical book on unit testing that distills the passion and love of an expert practitioner into a very readable yet reference-friendly text on unit testing, this is it. <br /> <br /> If you are new to unit testing or TDD, this book will demystify the practices, tools and techniques that would otherwise take years and lots of frustration to get right. <br /> <br /> If you are an experienced practitioner of unit testing and TDD, and are already practicing SOLID, TOOD, and BDD not just as a flavor of the week but as a way of life, this book will provide unambiguous insight into different approaches that will help you refine your existing techniques or at a minimum, validate your approach which is always valuable to any developer who has an opportunity to review his/her techniques with a seasoned master. This book will afford you that opportunity. <br /> <br /> While the book cites excellent references for TDD and design patterns, if there is one thing that I thought was missing was a narrative- even if by way of an appendix- that ties all of the techniques covered together in an example of building the example Logger component using TDD. I understand that this book is not about TDD per se, but at the same time, that's like a book on scuba equipment that teaches you precisely how to pressurize your CO2 tank, keep your mask from fogging up and care and maintenance of your scuba suit not being about scuba diving. <br /> <br /> That said, knowing Roy, it must have been painful to resist a detailed examination on TDD, but, for this book to be effective, it had to be relatively short, to the point and most of all pragmatic for it to succeed at filling the void on the topic of unit testing techniques and practices. To that end, Roy hits the mark very elegantly without being pretentious, catering to those who test first, test last or don't (yet) test at all. While I would love for everyone to pick this book up and start doing TDD today, even if you aren't yet convinced on TDD, applying these techniques to writing code that is testable, and learning how to test the right things will be an instant asset to your product, your team and your organization.</p> <p>You can find the book on Amazon.com: <font face="Arial"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933988274">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933988274</a></font></p><img src="http://rickgaribay.net/aggbug/249.aspx" width="1" height="1" /> Rick G. Garibay http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/07/19/book-review-the-art-of-unit-testing-by-roy-o.aspx Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:54:53 GMT http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/07/19/book-review-the-art-of-unit-testing-by-roy-o.aspx#feedback http://rickgaribay.net/comments/commentRss/249.aspx http://rickgaribay.net/services/trackbacks/249.aspx Websphere on Windows Outperforms Websphere on AIX by 37%, Who Knew? http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/04/30/websphere-on-windows-outperforms-websphere-on-aix-by-37-who.aspx <p>In a conference call with Steven Martin yesterday, the head of the products division that includes .NET, Azure, IIS, ASP.NET, Dublin and Oslo shared some very impressive news.</p> <p>Led by <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/gregleak/">Greg Leake</a>, a team of researches in the Microsoft Connected Systems Division set up two rigs in the lab. One was  a 64-bit IBM WebSphere 7 Application Server running on an IBM Power 570 (IBM Power6/AIX 5.3 platform) and the other was a Hewlett Packard BladeSystem C7000 with Windows Server 2008 64-bit. Each were set up to run comparable versions of the Stock Trader reference application which has long been a reference standard for performance benchmarks. </p> <p>In his <a href="http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/8/6/486B4B4F-5A87-4B5C-BEEC-455290F83274/IBMPower570_WebSphere_7_%20NET_Benchmark_WinSrv2008.pdf">paper</a>, Greg compares the performance and price of these two IBM WebSphere platforms to the equivalent workloads developed using the Microsoft .NET Framework and deployed to the Hewlett Packard BladeSystem C7000 with Windows Server 2008 64-bit operating system.The results are astounding.</p> <p>Of course, as you would expect, the ported version of the application, for .NET outperformed the J2EE/Websphere version by 57%, because it is no surprise that .NET is leaner and meaner than the Java platform, especially when it comes to distributed communication and Service Orientation leveraging WCF. </p> <p>What is even more impressive, is that the IBM reference application, designed for Websphere runs 37% more efficiently on Websphere on Windows than Websphere on AIX! It gets better. The AIX rig, which Microsoft acquired on the regular market, retailed in at a total system cost of $215,000. This figure includes the IBM Power 570 hardware cost plus cost of <a href="http://rickgaribay.net/Images/CustomContent/WebsphereonWindowsOutperformsWebsphereon_692E/image_3.png"><img title="image" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px; border-right-width: 0px" height="178" alt="image" src="http://rickgaribay.net/Images/CustomContent/WebsphereonWindowsOutperformsWebsphereon_692E/image_thumb.png" width="244" align="right" border="0" /></a> Websphere middleware. </p> <p>The alternative? The platform that has long been regarded as inferior for large enterprise application scenario? The platform that has spanked the IBM equivalent by 57%? The Windows Server 2008 system, running HP BladeSystem C7000 has a total hardware cost of, wait for it… $50,161.That’s an 81% system cost savings for a configuration that outperforms the 6-figure-monster by 57%.</p> <p>Now of course, this would be news in itself. But it doesn’t stop there. Greg’s group found that the identical reference application, deployed for Websphere on Windows Sever 2008 outperforms the IBM/AIX rig by 37%, and all for a 66% cost saving. The savings of course is reduced from the 81%, because unlike the Windows Platform, Websphere, well, isn’t free. Tacking $37,000  on for Websphere middleware licensing costs brings the Websphere on Windows system cost up to $87,161. </p> <p>Now of course, the questions you have to ask, given this <a href="http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/8/6/486B4B4F-5A87-4B5C-BEEC-455290F83274/IBMPower570_WebSphere_7_%20NET_Benchmark_WinSrv2008.pdf">detailed information</a> are the following:</p> <ol> <li>Why would you choose an inferior platform to run you mission critical enterprise applications when it underperforms when compared to an equivalent hardware and middleware configuration, especially when the IBM/AIX configuration costs 81% more? </li> <li>If you are running Websphere, why would you not opt to save 66% of your total system costs by moving to the Windows platform, especially if doing so would result in over a third better total application performance? </li> </ol> <p>These are some big questions that Microsoft hopers Big Blue will attempt to answer.</p> <p>In fact, Microsoft has prepared a site dedicated to informing and educating the industry on its findings: <a title="http://www.websphereloveswindows.com/" href="http://www.websphereloveswindows.com/">http://www.websphereloveswindows.com/</a></p> <p>Now, while the performance benchmarks and cost savings speak for themselves, I have some breaking news. The report is flawed. Severely flawed. The report doesn’t speak to other costs such as administrative costs, maintenance or professional services. If you are an IBM/Websphere/AIX shop, you know too well how expensive keeping these systems running is. From tooling, to readiness, the Microsoft platform just has a far better story when it comes to administration and maintenance. And, if you’ve ever hired at Websphere consultant, you know what a bargain services from even a premier managed partner like Neudesic are.</p> <p>References:</p> <ul> <li><a title="http://blogs.msdn.com/stevemar/archive/2009/04/30/websphere-loves-windows-who-knew.aspx" href="http://blogs.msdn.com/stevemar/archive/2009/04/30/websphere-loves-windows-who-knew.aspx">http://blogs.msdn.com/stevemar/archive/2009/04/30/websphere-loves-windows-who-knew.aspx</a> </li> <li><a title="http://www.websphereloveswindows.com/" href="http://www.websphereloveswindows.com/">http://www.websphereloveswindows.com/</a> </li> <li><a title="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/mainframe/whoknew/default.aspx" href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/mainframe/whoknew/default.aspx">http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/mainframe/whoknew/default.aspx</a> </li> <li><a title="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/bb499684.aspx" href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/bb499684.aspx">http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/bb499684.aspx</a> </li> <li><a title="http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/8/6/486B4B4F-5A87-4B5C-BEEC-455290F83274/IBMPower570_WebSphere_7_%20NET_Benchmark_WinSrv2008.pdf" href="http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/8/6/486B4B4F-5A87-4B5C-BEEC-455290F83274/IBMPower570_WebSphere_7_%20NET_Benchmark_WinSrv2008.pdf">http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/8/6/486B4B4F-5A87-4B5C-BEEC-455290F83274/IBMPower570_WebSphere_7_%20NET_Benchmark_WinSrv2008.pdf</a> </li> </ul><img src="http://rickgaribay.net/aggbug/240.aspx" width="1" height="1" /> Rick G. Garibay http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/04/30/websphere-on-windows-outperforms-websphere-on-aix-by-37-who.aspx Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:39:17 GMT http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/04/30/websphere-on-windows-outperforms-websphere-on-aix-by-37-who.aspx#feedback http://rickgaribay.net/comments/commentRss/240.aspx http://rickgaribay.net/services/trackbacks/240.aspx Disabling Time Synchronization with Hyper-V http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/04/28/disabling-time-synchronization-with-hyper-v.aspx <p>Ben Armstrong has saved us all several agonizing hours with this great, simple <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2007/11/28/disabling-time-synchronization-under-virtual-pc-2007.aspx">blog post </a>about how to disable time synchronization in Virtual PC. In short, the process entails opening the .vmc file and updating the enabled flag to "false" within the host_time_sync element:</p> <p>&lt;host_time_sync&gt;  <br />       &lt;enabled type="boolean"&gt;false&lt;/enabled&gt;  <br /> &lt;/host_time_sync&gt; </p> <p>Fortunately, disabling time synchronization in Hyper-V is as simple as clearing a check box. Right click the VM in question, select Settings, and choose Integration Services under Management. Next, simply clear the "Time synchronization" feature and hit OK:</p> <p><a href="http://rickgaribay.net/Images/CustomContent/DisablingTimeSynchronizationwithHyperV_105A3/image.png"><img style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 5px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px" height="184" alt="image" width="198" align="left" border="0" src="http://rickgaribay.net/Images/CustomContent/DisablingTimeSynchronizationwithHyperV_105A3/image_thumb.png" /></a>  </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>When might you want to disable time synchronization? Ben's post got me out a bind once when doing a presentation on a VPC OS that was about to brick due to expiration lockout. <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/briankel/archive/2008/10/27/visual-studio-2010-ctp-vpc-dealing-with-activation-messages.aspx">Brian Keller</a>, Developer Evangelist at Microsoft points out some tips for beating CTP expirations <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/briankel/archive/2008/10/27/visual-studio-2010-ctp-vpc-dealing-with-activation-messages.aspx">here</a>. In my case, I converted the VS 2010 .NET 4.0 VPC to Hyper-V which Grant Holliday captures well <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/granth/archive/2008/11/03/converting-vs2010-ctp-to-hyper-v.aspx">here</a>. </p> <p>Of course, I do not recommend or advocate this as a means to cheat or steal, but it may come in handy should the process be sanctioned by the particular software vendor.</p> <p>Hope this helps!</p><img src="http://rickgaribay.net/aggbug/239.aspx" width="1" height="1" /> Rick G. Garibay http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/04/28/disabling-time-synchronization-with-hyper-v.aspx Wed, 29 Apr 2009 01:45:22 GMT http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/04/28/disabling-time-synchronization-with-hyper-v.aspx#feedback 1 http://rickgaribay.net/comments/commentRss/239.aspx http://rickgaribay.net/services/trackbacks/239.aspx Flight 1549 Landing In The Hudson http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/03/10/flight-1549-landing-in-the-hudson.aspx <p>I very rarely discuss non-technical/process topics here, but I just have to share this amazing re-creation of flight 1549 that was just posted today on YouTube.</p> <p>What an incredibly calm and collected professional hero Captain Sullivan is. Makes me realize how trivial my "emergencies" are compared to what a professional pilot has to be prepared to do in the blink of an eye.</p> <p>Unreal.</p> <p><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5RpDNTbSsI0&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0x006699&amp;color2=0x54abd6&amp;border=1" width="445" height="364" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" /></p><img src="http://rickgaribay.net/aggbug/229.aspx" width="1" height="1" /> Rick G. Garibay http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/03/10/flight-1549-landing-in-the-hudson.aspx Wed, 11 Mar 2009 05:35:12 GMT http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/03/10/flight-1549-landing-in-the-hudson.aspx#feedback http://rickgaribay.net/comments/commentRss/229.aspx http://rickgaribay.net/services/trackbacks/229.aspx Global MVP Summit 2009 http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/03/04/global-mvp-summit-2009.aspx <p>The 2009 Global MVP Summit is winding down.</p> <p>Day 1 kicked off with a welcome keynote from Toby Richards, General Manager of Microsoft Community Support Services along with Rich Kaplan, CVP Customer and Partner Advocacy. It was a very uplifting message around the impact that MVPs have, not only within the community but at Microsoft as well. It is just fantastic to be a part of a worldwide community of folks who care deeply about the technology and believe that technology can transcend all barriers. </p> <p>Day 2 included deep dives into modeling with “M”, new stuff coming out for WCF and REST and other WCF service enhancements, none of which I can talk about.</p> <p>Yesterday was all about WF 4.0 and Dublin and all I can say is the bits are getting baked.</p> <p>Today, we’ll meet with Steve Ballmer and get his perspective on the Microsoft ecosystem, as well as get an update on Windows 7 from Mike Nash and a recap of everything we’ve discussed from S. Somasegar.</p> <p>So, since there is not much I can talk about, I thought I’d share how fortunate I feel to be a part of this great group of people from all of the world. As one of 4,400 MVPs I feel privileged I feel to be an extension of an organization I am proud to represent. No, Microsoft is not perfect, and I’ve never worked for or with an organization that is, but when you get an opportunity to collaborate on a rich technical level with folks that are so passionately committed, you can’t help but be optimistic. I am not only talking about MVPs, but the product teams themselves.</p> <p>While this is now my second MVP Summit, and third time I’ve been on campus, I still marvel at how efficient things are run. From Microsoft Connect taxis that will shuttle you to any building you choose, to the extremely friendly and competent bus drivers and event coordinators that make the commute to and from Seattle run so smoothly. It was very cool to see the MVP Summit banners adorn the exterior walls of campus buildings including the Microsoft Convention Center and light posts along Microsoft Way.</p> <p>Of course, one of the biggest highlights is the opportunity to catch up with my Phoenix MVP friends like Dave Campbell, Lorin Thwaits and Scott Cate. We joked that we have to fly up to Redmond to hang out which we must definitely fix! In addition, I enjoyed catching up with fellow Connected Systems Developer MVPs  like Roman Kiss, Mick Bradan and Alan Smith and getting to know folks like Matt Milner whose work I’ve followed for quite some time- Brian Loesgen and Sam Gentile, you were definitely missed but I know someone has to work while we play :-)</p> <p>And, as with last year’s summit, the genuineness with which the product teams interact with MVPs, and the effort put forth my the MVP leads, and Customer Experience folks like Ed Hickey is just remarkable. These folks live and breath this stuff, and the chance to geek out and be speaking completely the same language on the same wave length is something that few technologists really get a chance to experience. What I mean is that so often, our dialog can easily become a victim of the impedance mismatch that is pervasive in engineering communication (for more information, please see pattern language). The opportunity to have deep, rich discussions with the very teams behind the technologies that I work with customers on every day is truly a privilege.</p> <p>So, again, while NDAs keep me from sharing any juicy details around all the tremendous vNext stuff emerging from buildings 42 and 43, I want to thank Toby and Rich for continuously building a case for the MVP program at the organizational level, Ed Hickey and Mark Clargett for making the CSD program what it is and putting forth the tremendous effort both every single day as well as in making this yearly event such a pleasure. I also want to thank members of the CSD team like Ed Pinto, Kenny Wolf, Matt Winkler, Don Box, Chris Sells, Richard Orr,  Kent Brown, Cliff Simpkins and Marjan Kantlar- to name just a few- that make it so easy for guys like me to do what I do.</p><img src="http://rickgaribay.net/aggbug/227.aspx" width="1" height="1" /> Rick G. Garibay http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/03/04/global-mvp-summit-2009.aspx Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:59:39 GMT http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/03/04/global-mvp-summit-2009.aspx#feedback http://rickgaribay.net/comments/commentRss/227.aspx http://rickgaribay.net/services/trackbacks/227.aspx WebDev Helper http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/01/08/webdev-helper.aspx <p>Nice tool that Rob Bagby brought to my attention for tracing REST requests from a browser (among other things): <a title="http://projects.nikhilk.net/WebDevHelper/" href="http://projects.nikhilk.net/WebDevHelper/">http://projects.nikhilk.net/WebDevHelper/</a></p><img src="http://rickgaribay.net/aggbug/222.aspx" width="1" height="1" /> Rick G. Garibay http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/01/08/webdev-helper.aspx Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:25:40 GMT http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/01/08/webdev-helper.aspx#feedback http://rickgaribay.net/comments/commentRss/222.aspx http://rickgaribay.net/services/trackbacks/222.aspx What's Your Value Add for 2009? http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/01/01/whats-your-value-add-for-2009.aspx <p>Between the mortgage and financial crisis and a U.S. car industry on the verge of nationalization, 2008 is turning out to be a pretty tough year on Wall Street. One of the most common gauges used to measure economic health is the Dow Jones Industrial Average. As of October 2008, the Dow was down 21%. To put this downturn in perspective, when the .com bubble burst in 2001, the Dow suffered a 34% depression. Even compared with the 89% plummet that ushered in the Great Depression, this is a significant loss that has only gotten worse. As of today, the DJIA is at 8,515, representing an alarmingly quick acceleration from the 13,930 number in October. The situation we are in is different and worse than the .com/911 bust because of the fact that real estate, one of the biggest assets that Americans invest in, has been jeopardized. This decline is particularly insidious because the value of our homes are historically supposed to increase, giving us virtual equity that allows us as consumer to have the peace of mind to make big ticket purchases, go on vacation or go to expensive dinners. Consumer spending is a primary driver of business in many sectors, and business is down on Main Street. Further, as the national unemployment rate approaches 7%, we are all bound to be affected by the economic downturn in 2009.</p> <p>In my fairly large suburb of Phoenix, I've noticed the impact on Main Street for the last 6 months or so. First, a large supermarket closed its doors in favor of a sporting goods store (strange). Next, Mervyn's went out of business followed by one of my family's favorite ice cream shops. Next, a relatively new Chipotle copycat restaurant closed, followed by the closing of El Paso BBQ and a new French bistro next door in one of our most popular shopping centers. Moving west just a couple miles, a mom and pop party supply store finally went under along with a small wine shop. These closings all happened within 6 months and all within the same zip code, and range from small family owned businesses to major retailers. </p> <p>With a depressed consumer base, companies have to make cuts to reduce operational expenses and maintain healthy margins. This means that you may notice less wait staff at your favorite restaurant, messy movie theatres or less selection at your grocery store. This behavior has already, and will continue to be felt throughout Main Street. This means that whether you are a consultant, a contractor, or full-time employee at a small, medium or Fortune 500 (or better) company, management is going to be evaluating your value add along with that of all employees to more efficiently manage the bottom line. My intention here is not to spark anxiety or worry, but to simply provide my thoughts and perspective for what, as responsible professional technologists we must do to make the best of what is proving to be a significant economic recession and only shows signs of worsening as we ring in the new year.</p> <p>As a result of this cost cutting, it is possible that a gradual dilution of talent- either as a result of eliminating more costly (and talented) employees, or substituting cheaper, more commoditized employees for skilled technologists- creates a virtually insurmountable management overhead. This unfortunate possibility represents a significant adverse impact to the industry that could be further reaching than mere layoffs and could take longer for organizations to recover from. It could result in a bigger mess being made as a result of under-qualified practitioners unwittingly being put in positions to fail. When this blows over in the next 18 to 24 months, there will be a big mess to clean up, and companies will find themselves clamoring to try to hire some of the quality of talent back that just months ago they let go.</p> <p>Having painted this picture of doom and gloom, what can we do to minimize the impact? I believe we each have a responsibility to do everything we can to help our employers be as profitable as possible, regardless of economic conditions, and to do that we will all need to be around to do everything we can to minimize the impact. Put another way, if you are to weather this storm, it is imperative that you communicate your value add to your organization, boss and customers. In addition, you should look at ways to do more with less, and last but not least, do all you can to better yourself in 2009.</p> <p><strong>Communicating your Value Add</strong></p> <p>Many of the clients I work with are running agile teams, which means that we actually report status individually once every day at a minimum within quick, 15 minute-or-less daily standup meetings. While this is a a great way to ensure your immediate team is up to date on what you are working on, most often, your boss is not a part of the daily standup. Making sure that both your team and your manager understand your individual contribution is key to ensuring that your value add is recognized.</p> <p>Do you submit regular status reports? Regardless of how your team is organized, keeping your management up to date on your work is critical. Relying solely on your project managers or ScrumMaster to get your message out is not enough, because the focus of the reporting at this level is project-focused, not you-focused. If your manager collects status reports either by collecting updates on your behalf, or merely aggregates individual updates, how seriously are you taking your update? At a minimum, you should try to establish a weekly rhythm with your immediate supervisor. A short but effective status report is an important way to ensure that you are documenting your accomplishments and successes, and also making sure that your supervisor is never surprised. Take your status report seriously, and if you currently do not submit a status report, start now. In fact, ask your manager for a bi-monthly 1:1 to review your updates. Meeting with your manager twice a month is a great way to make sure that if your manager is not reading your status reports, you can at least use them as talking points in a brief, 20 to 30 minute conversation. The key to making one-on-ones effective is to communicate what you are working on (if you are writing status reports, you already have your notes), your recent accomplishments, and most importantly seek feedback. </p> <p>Seeking feedback is an important tool for gaining reassurance that what you are doing is in fact pleasing your boss, or an opportunity to pick up subtle and not so subtle signals that you might need to make some adjustments. Establishing good communication and rapport with your manager is key to ensuring that he or she understands that you are on the same page and are here to help. After all, in addition to making your company more profitable, your secondary goal is to make your manager's job easier (you did know that, right?). Figure out what that means by talking to your boss often enough to keep a steady rhythm but no so much that you aren't getting your actual work done. Some tips for effective 1:1 meetings include a brief, but informative recap of what you've been working on (based on your status report), what you plan on working on in the next two weeks (again, straight from your status report), and last but not least, ask your manager what you can do to help him or her in the next two weeks. If you have a problem or a concern, voice it first before getting into your discussion. Managers are busy and meetings can end abruptly so use your time wisely.</p> <p><strong>Doing More with Less at Work</strong></p> <p>Whether it is teams being downsized or hardware infrastructure purchases being postponed, look for ways to help your organization do more with less. Adopting smart, effective application lifecycle management (ALM) practices is a great way to increase efficiency and effectiveness while reducing risk. ALM includes engineering practices like separating your development, integration, test and production environments and adopting test-driven-development and automated builds. If you are a Visual Studio 2005 or 2008 user, there is a great chance you already have much of what you need to get started. If a comprehensive ALM suite like Team Foundation Server is out of your reach, there are also several inexpensive or free solutions in the open source community that do a great job.</p> <p>Of equal or arguably greater importance to/than sound engineering practices, an important part of ALM is process enactment and adherence because it drives all other practices (including engineering practices), whether they are project management based or engineering focused. Think about the process you undergo today to go from idea to production. Is is straightforward? Do you know where your team's code is in every step of the process or does each project feel like you are stuck in a tar pit, grasping to get out and occasionally doing so due to the brave heroics of a few? Do you know how many bugs you have or what percentage of unit tests have passed along with their corresponding code coverage? How are you managing scope while keeping your customers happy? These are all part of adopting ALM, and ALM will be more important than ever as organizations seek to maximize value while minimizing risk and reducing waste.</p> <p>Before an organization even thinks about developing service-oriented applications or building an SOA enterprise, having the fundamentals in place is key. There is a close relationship between the flexibility and improved agility that SO and SOA bring and a solid ALM plan is a critical foundation to succeeding. All of the flexibility, loose coupling and business process automation in the world won't save your company any money if the process for getting these services out the door is fragile, brittle an unpredictable. </p> <p>ALM does not have to be a big bang effort. You can start small by adopting a process that is right for your team. Once you select a process, choose the right tools to help you be effective, and if you have any questions or need some guidance along the way, feel free to ping me.</p> <p><strong>Self Improvement</strong></p> <p>One of my favorite sayings, which I don't know where I picked up, is "The more I learn, the less I know". I have found this to be very true in my career. No matter how much I learn about a subject or technology, as I immerse myself deeper in it, I often realize just how much more I have to go. I find this to be true both on the technical front as well as on the softer side.</p> <p>Technically, this is a great time look the firehose coming out of Microsoft square in the face (make sure you wear goggles) and pick a technology or two in which to focus. 2009 and 2010 will be a big year for Microsoft technologies. We'll see significant changes in the .NET Framework, including the forthcoming .NET 4.0 which will include changes to the CLR, new versions of WCF 4.0 and WF 4.0. A new version of BizTalk Server will be released along with the second version of ESB Guidance. Oslo will continue to get wings and Azure will gain tremendous traction. All of this doesn't even include all the new stuff happening on the web front (I don't keep up with ASP.NET stuff as deeply as I once did, but they are doing so really cool stuff, especially around the MVC framework). Regardless of where you choose to focus, pick one to two technologies to get your feet wet with. This is a great way to not only be ahead of the curve when these technologies and products RTM, but it is also a responsible way to prepare your existing applications, projects and customers for what's coming. When the rest of the community is scrambling to figure this new stuff out when the gold rush hits, you'll be riding a nice knowledge wave that will allow you to sail comfortably ahead.</p> <p>Did I mention a"Gold Rush"?  Yes, indeed I did. Every 5 to 10 years, a new wave of technology hits the industry that results in a tremendous rush of interest to exploit, leverage and learn. Interestingly, Microsoft tends to time these waves during slower economic climates. The last major gold rush from Microsoft, of course, was in 2001. Just as the .com bubble burst and the nation and world were reeling from 9/11, one of the most important advancements in modern software engineering was born. The .NET Framework was released in February 2002. 2009 and 2010 will bring innovation on par with 2002, just wait and see.</p> <p>A great place to look to start deciding where to focus is <a href="http://channel9.msdn.com/pdc2008">http://channel9.msdn.com/pdc2008</a>. Don't worry if you feel a bit overwhelmed, as I said, most of this stuff won't RTM until late 2009 at the earliest :-)</p> <p>As you attain this knowledge, don't just horde it. Share it. Offer a brown bag lunch or lunch-and-learn session for your team when you have something interesting and worth sharing to present. These sessions are free (since they happen over lunch), require no catering (that's why its called a brown bag, because each attendee brings his/her own lunch) and are a great informal way to hone your technical speaking skills while making your contribution to your group visible.</p> <p>Speaking of speaking skills, why not sign up to speak at a local code camp or user group? Phoenix has a number of user groups who are always looking for speakers to share their knowledge with their community. For a list of .NET focused user groups in your area, just go to: <a title="http://ineta.org/UserGroups/FindUserGroups.aspx" href="http://ineta.org/UserGroups/FindUserGroups.aspx">http://ineta.org/UserGroups/FindUserGroups.aspx</a>. If you are in the Phoenix Metro area, <a href="http://www.AZGroups.org">www.AZGroups.org</a> has a great calendar of events that will help you find a user group either to join or present.  </p> <p>Lastly, don't look too far ahead without keeping your saw on currently shipping technologies sharp. While WCF, WF and WPF may seem passe because they are "sooo 2006",  this is a great time to ensure you have a solid foundation on which newer technologies will continue to build. If you haven't taken a certification exam in a while, why not knock one out? There are several newer certifications out there for technologies like WCF, WF, WPF, ASP.NET and .NET in general. Taking the time to get certified demonstrates discipline and a commitment to learning. While there are mixed thoughts on the value of certifications, every time I study for an exam on a topic I feel I know well, I am always surprised at how much I learn. Learn more at <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/learning">www.microsoft.com/learning</a>.</p> <p><strong>Building Soft Skills</strong></p> <p>As technologists, technical skills are certainly important, but too often, as engineers, we tend to overlook soft skills. Like any skill, soft skills need practice too. If you are a great developer, but rarely talk to your team (or your boss!), and instead stay heads down in your cubicle or workspace with headphones on 8 hours a day be warned: your job is at risk. As painful as it may be, learning to communicate well with others is key to your continued success. Going back to my earlier tips about having 1:1s with your manager, and the value of feedback, ask your manager what you can do to improve your soft skills if you think they need honing. Your manager will likely be surprised and impressed that you have such self-awareness as to ask, which in and of itself shows strong interpersonal skills.</p> <p>To this end, a great book that I'd like to recommend is "What Got You Here Won't Get You There" by Marshall Goldsmith. It is a long read but a very good one. While it is focused on executives, all leaders and even individual contributors stand much to learn from this gem. It turns out there are up to 20 things that we do that derail our interpersonal effectiveness. Focusing on the two or three top "flaws" is a guaranteed way to improve your soft skills.</p> <p><strong>Happy New Year!</strong></p> <p>I realize that there are folks outside of America that read this blog, but at the expense of sounding nationalistic, if there is one thing that we do as Americans when the going gets tough is get going. 2009 may not be the best year to find that new dream job, and your 401K may continue to look deathly ill, but one thing is for certain: We will get through this and what does not kill us only makes us stronger. So make sure you are doing everything you can to be the best you can be, communicate your value add to those who matter and make 2009 a great personal success- the rest will ride itself out before you know it.</p><img src="http://rickgaribay.net/aggbug/221.aspx" width="1" height="1" /> Rick G. Garibay http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/01/01/whats-your-value-add-for-2009.aspx Thu, 01 Jan 2009 14:00:25 GMT http://rickgaribay.net/archive/2009/01/01/whats-your-value-add-for-2009.aspx#feedback 2 http://rickgaribay.net/comments/commentRss/221.aspx http://rickgaribay.net/services/trackbacks/221.aspx