ratlong,
Interesting post. I have a couple of things to add.
the problem with research/think tanks is that with all of their brillant ideas and people, they seem to continually miss one key item- TIME TO MARKET. Look at PARC, SRI and other "incubators."
As I understand it, MBA will not be a "research/think tank." It will be a technology developer. PSFT will contract with MBA for the development of practical, working software components, with technical specifications and delivery dates worked out in advance.
Your analogy with PARC is interesting. As I recall, PARC did not fail due to time-to-market issues but, rather, due to we-choose-not-to-market issues. The executives at Xerox (PARC's parent company) were handed fantastic technology that they misunderstood and ignored. PSFT will not repeat that mistake.
Baan and others were looking at repackaging their products based on very small components that could interoperate across any environment/network. Take something from Baan, something from PSFT, something from SAP and pick and choose your products.
Sounds like you are referring to the initial hype surrounding object-oriented programming. I remember similar talk about how a single installation might snap together an Oracle Purchase Order object with a PeopleSoft Payment Invoice object and a SAP Inventory object, etc, etc. Today this Lego block idea is considered a pipe dream within the ERP apps themselves. However, the concept of "messaging" between distinct but related apps is alive and well, and is considered the future of e-commerce. e.g., Customer A's inventory module sends a message via the internet to Supplier B's order entry module for a Just-In-Time shipment of new raw materials. This is the type of software that MBA will develop.
Tom |
