Server and Tools Business News Bytes blog : BizTalk Server

General Availability of BizTalk Server 2009

mdingle — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:16:00 GMT

Today, Microsoft announced the general availability of BizTalk Server 2009. BizTalk Server 2009 is available now to Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) customers and will be made available broadly in nine languages — Chinese simplified, Chinese traditional, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Spanish — on May 1. With this release, Microsoft has made substantial investments in BizTalk Server to enhance integration and connectivity to make it easier for customers to efficiently bring together data and personnel within their organization and across organizational boundaries.

With upfront costs that are often less than offers from other vendors, BizTalk Server 2009 empowers customers to use industry standards and line-of-business adapters to more efficiently link partner as well as internal information systems across various domains. To see how early adopters including Sempra, Bankdata and Xbox are already using BizTalk Server check out these new case studies:

http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk/en/us/case-studies.aspx

Other key improvements in the BizTalk Server 2009 release include new and enhanced capabilities that provide customers with:

· Simple, cost-effective service-oriented architecture (SOA) connectivity.

· Increased developer productivity.

· Better visibility into data and activities.

· The ability to take advantage of the benefits of virtualization.

· Simple RFID solutions.

· Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) made easier.

Additionally, BizTalk Server 2009 expands support for the latest Microsoft application platform technologies, including Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008. With the expanded platform support in BizTalk Server 2009, customers can now deliver connected systems that are more flexible and manageable, as well as more cost effective to develop and maintain.

BizTalk Server 2009 is again offered in four editions: Enterprise, Standard, Branch, and Developer. There will be no price increase over previous versions, and customers interested in upgrading to BizTalk Server 2009 can access complete pricing and licensing information on May 1 for all versions of BizTalk Server 2009 at http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk/en/us/default.aspx.

For additional information and to access the BizTalk Server 2009 press release, please visit the Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009 Virtual Press Kit here.

Microsoft Announces General Availability of BizTalk Server 2009 Beta and RFID Mobile

grantkd — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Today at the Gartner Application Architecture, Development and Integration (AADI) Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada, Microsoft announced the general availability of BizTalk RFID Mobile and BizTalk RFID Standards Pack, as well as the first public beta of BizTalk Server 2009 for download.

Together, these releases demonstrate Microsoft’s continued commitment to the BizTalk Server product family, which enables customers to achieve enhanced end-to-end enterprise connectivity across the business and provides them with a clear, accurate view into their day to day operations. With the public beta release of BizTalk Server 2009, Microsoft is delivering the first customer preview of the multi-release roadmap first announced in September 2008. BizTalk Server 2009 supports the latest Microsoft application platform technologies, delivers expanded new connectivity options, and provides updated platform support.

Connected Systems Division Announces Features for BizTalk Server 2009 and Future Releases

grantkd — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:40:00 GMT

Today, the Connected Systems Division announced features for BizTalk Server 2009 and future releases plans, to provide customers and partners with further clarification about what to expect.

1. BizTalk Server 2009:

o Naming Change: Microsoft updated the name of the next release from BizTalk Server 2006 R3 to “BizTalk Server 2009”.

o BizTalk Server 2009 Timing: We will deliver a public CTP by the end of this calendar year. Additionally, BizTalk Server 2009 is on track for availability in the first half of calendar year 2009.

o Features: Five core feature areas of the 2009 release include platform support, SOA & web services, business to business integration, device connectivity and developer and team productivity.

2. Future Plans:

o Ship Rhythm: Microsoft’s commitment to maintain a rhythm of releases roughly every 2 years.

o High-Level Themes: Microsoft’s priorities for the next couple of releases include:

§ Developer productivity enhancements (e.g. complex mapping);

§ Enhanced B2B support (e.g. complex trading partner management, expanded industry standards and schemas);

§ Low-latency messaging enhancements and ESB Guidance;

§ Enhanced device support for cross-enterprise asset tracking, enterprise manageability of devices, and key industry standards;

§ Real-time business event visibility through BI / BAM Enhancements; and

§ Integration with the latest new platform capabilities (to take advantage of the latest advances in the .NET Framework, Visual Studio, and Windows Server).

For more information on the BizTalk Server roadmap announcement, please visit the BizTalk roadmap page and PressPass Q & A with Oliver Sharp.

Gartner positions Microsoft in Leaders Quadrant in the Magic Quadrant for B2B Gateway Providers

katek — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 01:08:00 GMT

See Gartner’s newly released Magic Quadrant for B2B Gateway Providers (Gartner, June 3, 2008). The report outlines how service-oriented architecture, cloud computing, international e-commerce, proliferating business-to-business projects and changing user requirements are driving vendor innovation and consolidation in the B2B gateway software market.

TechEd 2008 Developers: News from the frontlines

grantkd — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:30:00 GMT

Today, at Tech Ed 2008 Developers in Orlando, FL Bill Gates delivered a keynote address in which he reflected on the company’s 33-year history with developers and shared his predictions for the future of application development. He also made several product-related announcements that build on Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5, and demonstrate how the company’s integrated toolset and platform help developers build rich, interactive applications from the Web to the desktop, work in heterogeneous environments and much more. The announcements include the following:

· Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) beta 2 will be available this August in 20 languages worldwide.

· Availability this week of Silverlight 2 beta 2, with a commercial Go Live license

· IBM and Microsoft have agreed to work together to integrate IBM DB2 database access with Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition.

· Multiple partner wins and the latest community technology preview (CTP) of the Microsoft Sync Framework.

· The first CTP of the Microsoft project code-named “Velocity,” a distributed, in-memory application cache platform.

· Ongoing momentum for Microsoft code-name “Oslo.”

· A new version of Visual Studio 2008 extensions for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 v1.2.

To read the press release, view the full Bill Gates keynote, and get more information about the event, visit the Tech Ed 2008 Virtual Press Room at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/teched/default.mspx

More information on today’s announcements can be found on these blogs:

S. Somasegar, Senior Vice President, Developer Division, Microsoft: http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar/

Scott Guthrie, Corporate Vice President, Developer Division, Microsoft: http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/

The Data Platform Insider: http://blogs.technet.com/dataplatforminsider/

Steven Martin, Director of Product Management, Connected Systems Division: http://blogs.msdn.com/stevemar/default.aspx

Visit TechEd Online for more on the 2008 Developers Conference.

Connected Systems Division Acquires Covast's Technology

Brittany M. — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:00:00 GMT

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.

BizTalk Server Gets Updates and a New Name

Brittany M. — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:00:00 GMT

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.

Microsoft Unveils Vision and Road Map to Simplify SOA, Bridge Software Plus Services and Take Composite Applications Mainstream

Brittany M. — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 10:30:00 GMT

On Tuesday, October 30^th, at the fifth annual Microsoft SOA & Business Process Conference, Microsoft shared its vision and road map to simplify the effort required to design, build, deploy and manage composite applications within and across organizations. Microsoft announced “Oslo,” the code name for the set of technical investments that help customers realize this vision.

This multiyear, multiproduct effort utilizes the company’s top engineering talent to build on the model-driven and service-enabled principles of Microsoft Dynamic IT and extend the benefits of service-oriented architecture (SOA) beyond the firewall. The “Oslo” technology innovations further Microsoft software-plus-services efforts by providing extensions to the application platform to help developers bridge between on-premise and off-premise projects. As part of a technical road map, Microsoft made available new tools and guidance to help organizations take advantage of “real-world SOA” today, including new SOA resources from Microsoft and a host of industry partners.

Full press release is available online here: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/oct07/10-30OsloPR.mspx

EPC Connection 2007 and RFID

grantkd — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 12:56:00 GMT

On October 2nd in Chicago, Kevin Turner keynoted EPC Connection 2007, one of the largest Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) events. Kevin’s roles as COO of Microsoft and formerly as CIO of Wal-Mart Stores have given him a unique perspective on the business impact of RFID and how it can transform organizations. His keynote highlighted why the right time for RFID is now and how users can unleash its potential with new solutions that leverage physical data to drive real-time competitive advantage. Additionally, Microsoft participated in a Q & A session with HP, Intel and customer Blue C Sushi, in which HP announced the HP Connector Solution for use with SAP® applications and Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 R2.

ESB Guidance and BizTalk Server Adapter Pack

grantkd — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:07:00 GMT

In addition to the release of BizTalk Server 2006 R2, we have two other exciting announcements which demonstrate Microsoft’s continued investment in interoperability and the ability of customers to choose how they want to connect their applications.

· ESB Guidance: Microsoft is releasing its “Microsoft’s ESB Guidance,” which provides architectural guidance, patterns, practices, and a set of BizTalk Server and .NET Framework components to simplify the development of an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) on the Microsoft platform. This helps remove the mystery and confusion around developing a ESB- and the best part it is free now on CodePlex! You can download the ESB Guidance here.

· BizTalk Server Adapter Pack: In addition, we are delivering the BizTalk Adapter Pack Beta 2. Available in H1CY08- it will include adapters for SAP, Siebel, and Oracle DB, as well as ADO.NET Data Providers for SAP and Siebel. The BizTalk Adapter Pack allows you to connect to your data from any .NET Framework application. After it becomes available – the Adapter Pack will be included in BizTalk Server 2006 R2.

You can find additional information on today’s announcements by visiting our virtual press room, reading the press release, diving into the fact sheets (BizTalk Server 2006 R2, RFID, EDI, ESB Guidance) and white papers (Real-World SOA, RFID Business Value, BizTalk RFID, Supply Chain).

Availability of BizTalk Server 2006 R2

grantkd — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:58:00 GMT

Today in Taiwan, Microsoft announced the availability of BizTalk Server 2006 R2, along with releasing new ESB Guidance and the BizTalk Adapter Pack Beta 2. This product includes advancements for radio frequency identification (RFID) and electronic data interchange (EDI), and extended interoperability such as Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) Guidance and Line of Business Adapters. Together, these capabilities make it easier for companies to “extend the connected enterprise.”

The following quote from Microsoft’s Steven Martin summarizes the value BizTalk Server 2006 R2 will bring to customers:

“For customers to successfully extend their core business processes to reach across applications, partners and platforms, they need a way to connect their existing systems regardless of vendor, age, platform, protocol, and geography,” said Steven Martin, director of the Connected Systems Product Management at Microsoft. “With BizTalk Server 2006 R2, customers choose how they want to connect applications, platforms and people — we provide them with the tools to do it.”

Enterprise Proven

More than 7,000 organizations rely on BizTalk Server to connect infrastructure, implement human-centric processes and automate systems globally. The introduction of BizTalk Server 2006 R2 enables customers of all sizes to connect core business processes across application, platforms and partners. More than 7,000 customers rely on BizTalk Server as their business process server, including:

· 23 of 27 EU member governments use Microsoft BizTalk to provide more efficient services

· 90 percent of the Global 100

· 12 of the 15 largest Retailers in the World run Microsoft BizTalk

· 9 of 10 largest U.S. Telecommunications Companies use Microsoft BizTalk

· 9 of the 10 largest Aerospace and Defense Companies in the U.S. run Microsoft BizTalk