Recently I spent quite a bit of time preparing for Microsoft Exam 70-100 - Analyzing
Requirements and Defining Solution Architectures. As part of that process I read
the Microsoft book - should you?
The book is really two parts, consisting of a case
study that you read a portion of in each chapter followed by more technical
information that supports the case study. The case study itself covers a
corporation that has decided to use the Microsoft
Solution Framework (MSF) to build a new software solution.
The MSF is part of the material you're required to know
for the exam. Being a DBA and not a developer, this was my first exposure to the
MSF. From what I can see it's not a bad methodology. It breaks development up
into different roles, separating project management from development from
deployment and training. The case study did an excellent job of describing the
framework, why it exists, how it enhances development efforts, even how to
overcome common objections to using it. I can't say it strongly enough - the
case study is definitely worth reading!
As for the rest of the book? It's ok is about the best
I can say. The book focuses more on MSF than it does on the exam itself. I
learned a lot about MSF from reading it and it's maybe the best source of info
on that, but I think for other portions of the exam you'll want to explore other
books. At a suggested retail of $69.99 it's not a cheap book!
You can take a look at the table of contents, index,
and even a sample chapter at this link.
