BizTalk 2009 has arrived

BizTalk 2009 has arrived offering many new and exciting features. Discover how upgrading to BizTalk 2009 can help your enterprise.

BizTalk Server is Microsoft's flag ship system integration software. It is designed to act as an integration layer between systems inside an organisation and between different organisations and is used by 90% of the Global 100 companies. For example: The Entertainment and Devices Division of XBOX use BizTalk to manage the coordination of repairs with external partners and for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).

So what has exactly changed in the latest release?

While much of BizTalk remains unchanged, most of the significant changes are technology driven and are designed to enable BizTalk developers and administrators to take advantage of new advances in other technology areas. These changes include:

• A new adaptor for Oracle eBusiness Suite
• A new adaptor for SQL Server
• Existing adaptors for Mainframe integration have been enhanced in particular for IBM WebSphere MQ, CICS and IMS
• Support for Windows 2008 and SQL Server 2008
• Improved support for deployment on virtualised servers using Microsoft Hyper-V virtualisation technology
• Support for easier deployment from the copies of hard drive images of other deployments using Microsoft's sysprep tool
• Support for Visual Studio 2008 SP1 which offers improved project, debugging and build options
• Support for Microsoft's Teams Foundation Services (TFS). In particular the ability to use its facilities for source control, project server, bug tracking, unit testing and build management
• Support for version 2.0 of the Enterprise System Bus Toolkit. An Enterprise System Bus (ESB) is a loosely coupled architecture through which business systems communicate. The new ESB toolkit provides a whole range of options that make the creation of ESB systems with BizTalk easier. These include for example the Resolver-Adapter Pack that enables dynamic resolution of the communication ports and translation requirements of individual systems connecting to the ESB
• Enhanced support for EDI including such features as "Configurable auto message resend" for EDI messages sent over AS2. AS2 stands for Applicability Statement 2 and is a standard for encrypted reliable transmission of EDI messages over the Internet
• BizTalk support for RFID (Radio-frequency identification) has been extended to include hand held and other mobile devices
• A new enhanced version of the BAM (Business Activity Monitoring) reporting facility

A few features have even been removed, including:

• Human Workflow System (HWS). This little use feature has now been replaced with Workflow Foundation support in SharePoint
• The MSMQT adaptor has been dropped. The MSMQ (Microsoft Message Queue) adaptor can be used instead
• Business Activity Services (BAS) has been dropped and is replaced by equivalent EDI functionality
• The Health and Activity Tracking (HAT) tool has been dropped and is replaced by a new web based message query facility

In summary, BizTalk 2009 is not a radical departure from its predecessor but instead offers a refresh with new features, adaptors, and improved support for administrators and developers.

The good news for existing users is that they will enjoy productivity gains while finding the upgrade relatively simple.

If you want to discuss how these enhances can help your enterprise please conatct us at andrew.chalmers@ballardchalmers.com or call 01342 410223.

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