Today, the Connected Systems Division signed an agreement to acquire the IP for Covast’s advanced B2B capabilities. This will be incorporated into a new "BizTalk Advanced B2B Pack" which will be available as part of Software Assurance benefits to customers who license BizTalk ServerR3 .

Why is this important? It builds on the most recent B2B improvements in BizTalk Server.  Some highlights include:

·         New standards for specific retail segments such as warehousing, grocery, energy, automotive and air freight

·         B2B metadata management for EDI ‘super’ interchanges, deeper integration with SQL Server repository/Visual Studio (EDI Explorer) and new reporting capabilities

·         Advanced B2B transports include new file adapters and transports and VAN connectivity

·         B2B operations monitor that enables role-based viewing, end-to-end tracking/tracing and automatic archiving

Please visit Steven Martin’s blog post for additional information.

Microsoft’s Management Summit is going strong in Las Vegas this week.  During Day 2, Microsoft announced details around the product roadmaps for specific tools within the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) for Software Assurance. (View the Day 2 keynote webcast).  By announcing these updates, Microsoft customers can feel assured that Microsoft is committed to improving the MDOP suite and rolling out new updates in real time. Details are below:

• Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 Release Candidate 1
• Available via Microsoft Connect in June 2008
• Asset Inventory Service (AIS) 1.5
• Released to the web in Q3 2008
• Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM) 3.0
• Available for all customers in Q3 2008
• MDOP languages availability
• Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT) 6.0 and Desktop Error Monitoring (DEM) 3.0 SP1
• Released in localized versions in ten languages in Q3 2008
• AGPM and Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5
• Released in localized versions in ten languages towards the end of Q3 2008

For additional information on this news please visit the Windows Vista Team Blog at http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/default.aspx

Today Microsoft announced findings from a couple surveys conducted by KRC Research, an independent research firm based in Washington, D.C.  The “Virtualization in Banking Survey” found that banking institutions in the U.S. and UK are using a number of virtualization technologies as a means to help centralize deployment and management of applications, simplify IT infrastructure and improve overall business continuity of IT systems. The survey also showed that the majority (58 percent) of large, tier-one banks are already implementing virtualization across multiple aspects of their IT infrastructures, including application (61 percent), networking (54 percent), machine operating systems (48 percent) and presentation (27 percent). Full survey results are available at http://www.microsoft.com/financialservices

Microsoft also noted key trends in the retail industry.  As reported in the “Virtualization in Retail Survey” close to three quarters (71 percent) of U.S. retailers are turning to a broad set of virtualization solutions as a means to save costs, maximize space and generally gain better control of their IT infrastructures. Specifically the survey found that nearly half of the participating retailers (49 percent) are employing one form of virtualization within their store locations based on cost savings, while 46 percent are seeking to better respond to issues and failures of applications and systems, and 43 percent chose virtualization solutions to help them save space. Full survey results are available at http://www.microsoft.com/retail.

Microsoft provides a broad set of solutions for small, midmarket and large customers to virtualize desktops, consolidate servers in the datacenter and establish more cost-effective business continuity plans via virtualization. Customers can optimize their desktop infrastructure with Microsoft software, allowing them to unbind different computing resources, virtualize desktops or applications, streamline deployments, centralize management and ease application compatibility issues. Microsoft offers infrastructure virtualization software as part of the Windows platform, such as Hyper-V and Terminal Services available within Windows Server 2008, along with a comprehensive management platform, Microsoft System Center, to manage both virtual and physical infrastructure and applications. To learn more, visit http://www.microsoft.com/virtualization

On the heels of this latest platform wave with Windows Server 2008, .NET Framework 3.5, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008- the Connect Systems Division wants to take advantage of the innovations in these products and align BizTalk Server to the most recent versions.  Once SQL Server 2008 (the final of the three to be released) becomes generally available, an updated version of BizTalk Server will follow taking full advantage of the platform’s latest improvements including: scalability for mission-critical workloads, improved support for next-generation web and service oriented applications, improved virtualization support and better business insight through Office. This release will build on existing bits, and therefore the name of this release will be BizTalk Server 2006 R3. Refreshing the bits (instead of applying a large Service Pack) provides for the best update experience and features for customers. 

The Division is taking this opportunity to release additional features with this product update including:

• New web service registry capabilities with support for UDDI (Universal Description Discovery and Integration) version 3.0
• Enhanced service enablement of applications (through new and enhanced adapters for LOB applications, databases, and legacy/host systems)
• Enhanced service enablement of “edge” devices through BizTalk RFID Mobile
• Enhanced interoperability and connectivity support for B2B protocols (like SWIFT, EDI, etc)
• SOA patterns and best practices guidance to assist our customer’s implementations
• More features disclosure to come……

You should expect to see a CTP of BizTalk Server 2006 R3 later this year (with an RTM planned in H1 CY09). Please visit Steven Martin’s blog post from yesterday evening for additional information.

Starting tomorrow in Dallas the channel partners who work as IT pros for small and medium-sized businesses gather at the SMB Summit for training and knowledge sharing about Windows Home Server and the Windows Essential Server Solutions family, including Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Windows Essential Business Server 2008.  

Many of these partners have been test driving these products and are able to share their initial learnings.  These partners are also attending to talk about the business opportunities available by meeting the needs of SMBs and helping these organizations with the issues they face.  Microsoft representatives will be in attendance and blogging from the show at the Official SBS Blog, the Essential Business Server Team Blog and the Windows Server Division blog. 

Partners and Microsoft representatives will be at the show and available to speak with journalists.

This week Greg Leake, Director in the Connected Systems Division, will begin a three-city developer community and press tour (San Francisco on Apr 16-17, and New York City/Boston on April 21-24) to discuss his newly updated .NET StockTrader 2.0 reference application, which illustrates that the .NET Framework is a proven foundation for enterprise mission-critical applications. One of the key new features of this reference application is the Configuration Services, which gives developers a faster, more visual way of connecting services with an application built on the .NET Framework 3.5. It also lets customers plug in data regarding their system and achieve a price per transaction number as well as simplifying the management of their apps.

Find more information, visit Greg Leake’s Blog.