Before we get into this week's topic I am going to offer a few links for anyone who doesn't know what BPMN is. Last semester I decided to write this blog so that anyone who might stumble across it could read it and have some idea of what I was talking about. Since I'm going to make a comparison I need to explain what it is first.
BPMN stands for Business Process Modeling Notation and is used to describe business processes via a graphical flowchart. It was created so that people at every level of an organization could read and understand what a process is supposed to do and accomplish before it is implemented. (That flowchart at the end of week one's post is an example.)
BPMN is the standard for describing business processes.
Wikipedia page for BPMN
FAQ page by the Business Processes Managment Initiative
Which brings us to this week's topic, Microsoft Oslo.
Turns out that "Oslo" is a codename for what Microsoft is currently calling SQL Server Modeling CTP (Community Technology Preview) and is part of a larger project called Dynamic IT. SQL Server Modeling will be included in the next edition of SQL Server. (ZDNet article about the Oslo announcement in November 2009 for the name change and it's inclusion in SQL Server)
Olso started as a larger project but is now comprised of a visual tool, code named Quadrant, for specifying views of the data, a language, code named M, for modeling data, and SQL Server Modeling Services, a database for shared, common domain models.
So while both BPMN and Olso are about modeling and have the same goal of speeding up development, Olso is about the data not the process. I'm not clear on whether they want all levels of an organization to be able to use the M language or not.
Here's three videos of SQL Server Modeling being used by Rockford Lhotka. In the first video he creates the object 'Customer' and uses the file describing that object to generate a form. The titles of the other two are good descriptions of what they're about but anyone who just wants to know what SQL Server Modeling should watch the first one.
This is kind of an aside but I question the neutrality of the Wikipedia article on Olso. It shouldn't say, "set of tools that make it easier", it should say, "set of tools intended to make it easier". Even if you put aside the need for neutrality they don't have any numbers to back that statement up with because it isn't available to the general public yet.
Showing posts with label Microsoft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Microsoft. Show all posts
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
6th Week of Class: Paper will become obsolete...any minute now
I've blogged about a few social and/or entertaining things the Internet has to offer: Twitter, Hulu, & Wikipedia. But what about work? Not business but the regular 9 to 5 stuff.
Companies have begun offering online versions of desktop software, also known as Software as a Service. Google and Zoho currently have several things available while Microsoft will have a product online next year.
Google
My group decided to use Google Docs to edit the PowerPoint for our presentation. Google doesn't call it PowerPoint but it did start off as a PowerPoint file. That users will be able to import and export these files in MS Office formats will hurt Microsoft's chances at dominating the market when it launches the online version of Office.
You can create text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and forms with the free version. While you can't do as much as you could in the desktop version of Office (no WordArt for the PowerPoint for example) I was surprised to see how much you could do.
Google does have a business, standard, and academic versions that you can pay for but they practically hid this. There's no option to 'upgrade' while you're logged into your Google account. When you're not logged in you have to click on 'New Features' before you see a link for 'For Work or School'. They explain the business benefits of Google Docs but don't do a free vs paid comparison. Frankly, I find this baffling.
Zoho
I hadn't heard of Zoho before but I was impressed by how much they make available. Right on their home page you can see a list of Productivity/Collaboration Apps and Business Apps. In addition to the types of applications you can get with Google Docs for free you can get CRM and create database apps. (Some of the things Zoho has Google also offers, just not as part of Google Docs.) There's also a marketplace where you can buy apps or post what kind of app you need created.
Zoho doesn't hide that there is a version that you pay for (most of the business apps list the limit on the number of free users it can have) but they do hide the demo. I didn't see it mentioned until I was reading the Privacy Policy and there's no link to it there.
Microsoft
I didn't find anything about Microsoft Office 2010 being online directly from Microsoft but there are articles and opinions on it. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote will the programs that will be available online.
Companies have begun offering online versions of desktop software, also known as Software as a Service. Google and Zoho currently have several things available while Microsoft will have a product online next year.
My group decided to use Google Docs to edit the PowerPoint for our presentation. Google doesn't call it PowerPoint but it did start off as a PowerPoint file. That users will be able to import and export these files in MS Office formats will hurt Microsoft's chances at dominating the market when it launches the online version of Office.
You can create text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and forms with the free version. While you can't do as much as you could in the desktop version of Office (no WordArt for the PowerPoint for example) I was surprised to see how much you could do.
Google does have a business, standard, and academic versions that you can pay for but they practically hid this. There's no option to 'upgrade' while you're logged into your Google account. When you're not logged in you have to click on 'New Features' before you see a link for 'For Work or School'. They explain the business benefits of Google Docs but don't do a free vs paid comparison. Frankly, I find this baffling.
Zoho
I hadn't heard of Zoho before but I was impressed by how much they make available. Right on their home page you can see a list of Productivity/Collaboration Apps and Business Apps. In addition to the types of applications you can get with Google Docs for free you can get CRM and create database apps. (Some of the things Zoho has Google also offers, just not as part of Google Docs.) There's also a marketplace where you can buy apps or post what kind of app you need created.
Zoho doesn't hide that there is a version that you pay for (most of the business apps list the limit on the number of free users it can have) but they do hide the demo. I didn't see it mentioned until I was reading the Privacy Policy and there's no link to it there.
Microsoft
I didn't find anything about Microsoft Office 2010 being online directly from Microsoft but there are articles and opinions on it. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote will the programs that will be available online.
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