After starting out and designing this book, I asked a number of my colleagues, all of whom I have great respect for, to contribute to the writing of this book. I was very pleased when all of them accepted the difficult challenge of contributing to the book—for it is a sometimes cumbersome journey to get one’s experience and knowledge on paper. They all bring different, unique, and erudite perspectives to this book, and I hope this is reflected in each of the chapters. So, to Rob Barker, Paul Stubbs, Erika Ehrli Cabral, and Joanna Bichsel I thank you very much for your efforts. I’d also like to thank Carol Vu and the editing team for their tireless review of the content and Ben Ryan and Devon Musgrave for their overall management of the project.

For you, the reader, I hope you enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed the creation process. OBAs are a growing development area, and many organizations are taking note. And to speak for the team, our goal is that you not only have an understanding of what OBAs are by the end of this book, but you also understand the different technologies you can use to build them.