MBF - Where have you gone?

It is with mixed emotions that I pass along new information regarding the state of the Microsoft Business Framework (MBF).  As reported by Mary Jo Foley, MBF is no longer going to be shipped as a framework in a future release of Visual Studio. 

The MBF Fargo team has been moved to the Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) group and is chartered to be the platform for future products under the Dynamics product line.  In many ways, our work has not changed.  Our team mission to “deliver a model driven environment for building line of business applications” has not changed.  In other ways, our work has changed.  For example, the scope of our target audience has changed due to the move to MBS.

It was a good two year run as part of the Developer Division (DevDiv).  The idea of being part of the Visual Studio box and the reach that provided was always a tantalizing one.  The message that I personally and indirectly heard from companies building business applications was that we were fulfilling strong needs in the marketplace.  Internally, those needs were also being targeted by other teams – some better than others.  And that was our ongoing challenge.  Ultimately, we helped drive new features into other technology areas and companies building business applications will benefit from this work.

As part of the DevDiv, I had the privilege to meet and work with a number of talented developers – both as part of MBF development and while evangelizing Scrum and the MBF engineering processes.  The opportunities to work with these people have been dramatically reduced, and I will miss them.

On the other hand, I’m excited about the opportunity to move back to MBS and help bring the Dynamics vision to the market.  It will give our team a strong focus and a near term ship vehicle.  It will also give us an opportunity to be the developer’s kit for a large number of ISV’s who are extending and augmenting the product line. 

So, all things considered, I see this as a positive move for us and for Microsoft.  I’ll keep you posted on our progress as I’m able to…

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• Anonymous
  April 04, 2006
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