The Strategic Potential Of Microsoft's Oslo

Microsoft recently announced Oslo, a strategic direction for several service-oriented architecture (SOA) and related technologies. Oslo has important near-term aims that will benefit Microsoft developers, but the long-term trajectory of Oslo is more critically important to understand — for enterprise architects of both Microsoft and non-Microsoft shops. While Microsoft must still prove its ability to deliver on the promises, Oslo embodies critical trends that move Microsoft's platform toward the focus on business design that is the future center of IT architecture. As envisioned by the Business Metadata Core of Forrester's Digital Business Architecture, Oslo's active metadata and unified modeling will increase Microsoft's ability to capture an executable model of the business itself. Architects must understand the significance of the industry trends behind Oslo — and similar initiatives by other vendors — so they can lead their organizations toward the business agility enabled by an architecture that is centered on business design and business metadata.