"Ugly Betty" the Sequel... "Stupid Dave"

Interesting thing happened on my way back from lunch yesterday.

They're filming "Ugly Betty" downstairs and as I walked by the trailer, I noticed a door that said "Please Knock." So, I walked up the stairs and knocked. The door opened and the conversation was weird for both of us...

DB: "Hi"
Guy: "What do you want?"
DB: "Nothing. I was just knocking."
Guy with confused look: "Huh?"
DB: "Yeah, the sign said to knock, so I knocked."

You'd have to know me to believe this story. Enough to say that when the mood strikes (and when doesn't it?!?!), I'm a cat and the world is my rubber mouse.

SOA What does this have to do with anything?

Well, there was a policy posted to "please knock." Obviously, there was some context assumed by the policy creator. Perhaps they assumed I wanted to come in, or even that I belonged there, and if so, I should knock on the door. But, the policy only said "please knock." And, so I did.

This is a really important problem in SOA Policy Management. Without the right context, without tying "intent" to policy, we could end up with some strange behaviors. Imagine if everyone that walked by that trailer knocked on that door? Fortunately for us, while there may be many Ugly Betty's, there's only one "stupid Dave."

I think with Software AG's announcement, OEM-ing Progress Actional to tie together development-time and run-time governance, perhaps some of this confusion will be avoided in the future. Let's hope so.