Per my previous post on the two faces of business intelligence, I'd like to further my point by describing two "core" technologies from Microsoft: Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) and SharePoint Integration Services (SSIS). These two technologies in my opinion are "big" in the sense that that "orchestrate workflow". Let me explain.
Windows Workflow Foundation is a technology that allows a developer to "map out" a business process and wire in the user scenarios to capture--and then store--the data. The important part here is that we are going from nothing (the user's mind) to something (the database).
SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) is a technology that allows a developer to "map out" an in-memory data transformation process. The important part here is that we are going from the database *back* to the user's mind (typically in the form of reports or other data visualizations).
I think the interesting thing to note here is that these two technologies are *so* similar. They depend on tasks, create flows, etc., but are not really integrated in any real way. Is one a sub-set of the other? How do we think about these two different--yet very similar--technologies. Do they fit within the same developer toolkit or what?
As a solution architect you have to be aware of these things.
Interesting related reading and reference:
http://www.developer.com/db/article.php/3780676/Building-a-Windows-Workflow-SQL-Server-Integration-Services-Activity.htm
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