Got sent this link of a $10,000(*) competition at TechEd Boston, so forwarding it on. Most architects I know would struggle their way out of a wet paper bag, so couldn't help but smile at the mental image of crossing an IronMan with IT.
http://blogs.msdn.com/ironarchitect/
Of course, the winning answer should be quite straightfoward. Something simple like:
Just use Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition to run Microsoft Biztalk Server 2006 Enterprise Edition with Microsoft Biztalk Server 2006 Adapters for Enterprise Applications to drive Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 forms connected with Microsoft Office Information Bridge Framework and Microsoft Office Business Scorecard Manager 2005 over a user interface of Microsoft Office Sharepoint Portal Server 2003 that link to Microsoft SQL Report Services on a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition RDBMS and Microsoft Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager Update via a backend of Microsoft Exchange 2003 Enterprise Server and Microsoft Internet Information Server ASP.NET together with Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Enterprise Edition over Microsoft ISA Server 2006 Enterprise Beta, deployed with Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 and monitored by Microsoft Operation Manager 2005, all running within Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2, complimented with a front-end spec of Microsoft XP Tablet PC Edition's installed with Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 (with the backend of Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 and Microsoft Speech Server R2 2004 Enterprise Edtion, together with Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager 2006).
Yes, it really is that simple.
My other advice would be not to go the Salesforce.com front-ended with Greasemonkey scripts angle, it might hurt your chances of winning.
- David
(*) Not actual money.