Service Oriented Architecture For Dummies®

Chapter 24. Microsoft and SOA

In This Chapter

• Much ado about Microsoft

• MS SOA

• Meet Jack Henry

We think you know pretty darn well who Microsoft is, but in case you don't know all the details, Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The company's first product was a version of the popular computer language called BASIC for an early microcomputer called the Altair 8800. But the company really emerged out of the shadows in the 1980s when it was contracted by IBM to create a version of the DOS operating system for the original IBM Personal Computer.

Microsoft was able to use its market position to evolve its operating system franchise with the development of Microsoft Windows in 1983. It was a commercial success in 1990 with the release of Windows 3.0. Again, Microsoft used this successful launch to continue to add products to its portfolio. These products included Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access, all of which were eventually packaged as Microsoft Office.

Over time, Microsoft moved from the desktop and office focus to a focus on the enterprise. Over the years, it added products such as the Microsoft SQL Server database and various middleware platform technologies such as Microsoft.Net and the Microsoft Live Communications Server, with a focus on enterprise computing. In addition, Microsoft offers its Microsoft Dynamics suite, a series of packaged software offerings dealing with supply chain management, customer relationship management, ...