I don't think there is an exact definition for those terms. Here is my take on them, though:

Back Office: the software used to support the rest of the office. In the case of MS BackOffice, I think it encompasses things like SQL Server, Exchange Server and some other sever products that the end-users don't really "see" but that they depend on without really knowing it.

Front Office: the software used by the end-users. In the case of MS Office, this will include Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint and so forth.

Middle Office: this is harder to define. I don't think there is a piece of software in MS products that fits in here (perhaps BizTalk, but I am not even sure.) The Middle Office could be a series of software components that receive information from the Front Office, massage it and pass it to the back office. This components are usually the pieces of software that programmers develop to fit specific requirements for a client. If you develop COM components to process information from your applications and pass it back to the server (or vice versa), then those are your middle office components.

>Hi,
>What do the terms "Front Office", "Middle Office" and "Back Office" mean with reference to the software development?
>Thank.