Air Force tests Web services

The Standard Systems Group Joint Development Program is awaiting approval to begin user testing in Microsoft's .Net environment

The Air Force Standard Systems Group Joint Development Program (SSG-JDP) with Microsoft Corp. is awaiting approval to begin user testing in Microsoft's .Net environment, according to officials from both organizations.

The Air Force uses Windows 2000 and Active Directory server forests, but the SSG-JDP has five .Net servers in production and is waiting for approval to start using a .Net server forest, said David Horton, Microsoft's program manager for government requirements, during an Aug. 27 seminar at the Air Force Information Technology Conference in Montgomery, Ala.

Microsoft describes the .Net platform as a framework for driving the next generation of distributed computing, one that will take the Internet toward a truly collaborative, interactive environment. At its core is Extensible Markup Language.

Barry Hartmann, the Air Force's SSG-JDP program manager, said officials were scheduled to meet Aug. 29 with the major stakeholders, including leadership from the Air Force Materiel Command, of which SSG is a part, and he hoped that approval to launch the .Net forest would come then.