Momentum builds up around OBA

As a result of trade press meetings conducted throughout the week, momentum is building up around OBA.  Coverage has focused on the real world business results companies are seeing as a result of OBAs with either Skanska or Epicor referenced or quoted in the majority of articles.
Globally the tone of the comments is neutral to positive as you can check out for yourselves via the links below:

IDG News Service: Microsoft pushes OBAs to take Office to next level

InformationWeek: Can Microsoft Office Front-End Your Business Processes?

Tech Target: Microsoft pushing app development for Office 2007

InfoWorld: Microsoft boosts Office apps

Some key quotes:

· “[My] company is using an OBA it built that combines Office Excel and PerformancePoint to budget and forecast construction projects. Before, we had to do a lot of work to access the data." (Allen Emerick, Director at Skanska - IDG News Service)

· "You potentially have a lot more users accessing the back-end systems through these OBAs, so IT would have to make sure they have a robust enough back office to handle a big user load. High-end OBAs, where IT wants to optimize their whole back-end strategy -- that will take a hardware upgrade and an upgrade to Vista and Office 2007. That's a big cost." (Josh Greenbaum, Analyst at Enterprise Applications Consulting – InformationWeek)

· “The aim behind the reference applications, of which there are now six, is for Microsoft to start showing developers and organization how they could weave apps from companies like Oracle and SAP into everyday work. Future reference apps might focus on specific geographies where laws and processes differ. But don't doubt that there's more in store for OBAs.” (Nick Hoover – InformationWeek)

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