I would like to thank Mark Beckner for asking me to write a book on BAM, and for his and Jon Hassell’s incredible amounts of patience during the writing process. Thank you both for sticking by us and for ensuring that the first book focused purely on BAM wouldn’t be a mediocre one. I want to thank the team at Apress, especially Sofia, Ami, and Candace. The publishing industry, as with many industries, is going through some very tough times. While many companies are just throwing content out there to see what sticks, I’m proud to be associated with one that takes the opposite approach of releasing only the highest quality material at the right time. What you, dear reader, see before you is the result of over ten months of brainstorming, collaboration, constant refinement, fact-checking, and updating to ensure that your money is well spent and that the high standards of writing, editing, and production are maintained.

Thanks to our official technical reviewer, David Rodriguez, for his technical validation and for keeping the writing focused. Thanks, too, to our unofficial technical reviewer, Bryan Corazza, for bringing his BAM experience and suggestions to the project.

Thanks to Geoff Snowman, without whom this book would have never happened. Geoff and I worked together previously in consulting roles and knew one another from our involvement in local users groups. While I had done some BizTalk work before, it was Geoff’s demos of a “$30,000 file copy tool” that piqued my interest in BizTalk and BAM. I knew that fighting to bring Geoff onboard this project would bring it not only increased credibility, but also a deep experience base with BAM. During the course of this book, collectively we’ve both experienced major occupation transitions, two unfortunate losses, a new life on the way, and numerous personal and professional obstacles that stole many hours of writing time. Through it all, having someone to rely on whom I could trust to keep the original intent of the book intact made overcoming those obstacles all the easier. I eagerly look forward to our next project together.

I would be remiss not to mention the many people who have helped to shape this book, either directly or indirectly. To Kevin O’Riordan, Rudi Rihani, Ken Serauskis, and Douglas Johnston of Avanade, thanks for the encouragement, support, and words of wisdom on work/life balance. To Gary Gentry and Rajeev Ramesh of Avanade, thank you for pushing me further beyond what I thought possible. To Stephen Thomas of BizTalkGurus.com and Larry Beck of Avanade, thanks for the open doors, IM conversations, and fervent interest in SOA. I wouldn’t have considered writing were it not for Dan Kahler, who has always encouraged me to go further. Words cannot express the gratitude to the many who have given me sage-like mentor-ship through the years, especially Ron Baldwin, Steve Samuelson, Steve Bridges, Brian Birsa, Shawn Ward, Scott Bolden, Bill Price, and Randy Wilson. Thanks to bloggers like Jesus Rodriguez, Dion Hinchcliffe, Keith Lim, and Andy Shen, who helped turn five-minute breaks into fifteen-minute ones. Thank you to Microsoft, especially the Connected Systems Division, for continuing to put out solid products and investing in improving them through the years.

Personally, I would like to thank Dick Gawlik (miss you, man) and Rick Lobo for keeping a watchful eye, and my family and friends for understanding. Most of all, however, I have to thank my wife, Lisa Sanders, for her support and love, and for being able to patiently read many a book while I wrote mine. Lisa, you’ve always inspired me.

Jeff Sanders

I would like to start by thanking the entire team at Apress for their support during the writing of this book. Without Sofia Marchant, our project manager, this book would not have happened. She has been the glue that held the project together. Our editors, Jon Hassell and Mark Beckner, provided constant support and encouragement. If you can understand the book, it’s thanks to Ami Knox, our copy editor, who turned our scribbling into English. Candace English led the production effort and turned our Word docs into the book you hold in your hand. In addition, I thank all the other team members at Apress whose names I don’t know but without whom the book would not exist. Thanks also to Dave Rodriguez for his diligent review of the entire book.

Thanks to Jeff Sanders, who brought me in to the project and has constantly pushed to make this the best book we could write. I’ve enjoyed working with you. What are we going to write about next?

I owe thanks to several people at Microsoft. I’ll start with the Connected Systems Division, who created a great product and are a source of genuine innovation. Bashar Badawi, Dave Ateek, Scott Zimmerman, and Alex Starykh were wonderful colleagues who taught me many things. Thanks also to Cesar Larrea, D. P. Brightful, and the entire Mid Atlantic States application platform team. Thanks to all my friends with Developer and Platform Evangelism, too numerous to mention by name. Gary Hughes, a legend within Microsoft Consulting Services, is a wonderful manager and great friend who encouraged me to get started on the project. Thanks to all the Microsoft customers who forced me to go deep by giving me challenging problems to work on. I would also like to thank John Callaway of QuickLearn, whose BizTalk Server Deep Dive is the best technical training I have ever attended.

On a personal note, I would like to thank Dr. Bob Hehir for his friendship and advice. Thanks to Mark Frederiksen, my MICSUG co-conspirator. Thanks to Vishwas Lele and Scott McHugh of Applied Information Sciences. Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Susan Snowman, for her constant support and encouragement. Without her I would be nothing.

Geoff Snowman