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BizTalk Server 2013 Beta Released

By Rob Callaway

It’s finally happened!! Microsoft has officially opened a public beta for BizTalk Server 2013. The beta bits can be downloaded here.

Here are my personal top 5 new features of BizTalk Server 2013. I know that many of my customers have been asking for some of these features for a while.

  1. Too many new adapters to keep up with
    • Integration with RESTful services – new BizTalk adapters provide CRUD operations using REST endpoints.
    • New and Improved SharePoint adapter – Previous SharePoint versions did not support client-side API calls so the BizTalk Adapter required installing a special web service on the SharePoint front-end server(s). SharePoint 2010 and the soon-to-be-released SharePoint 2013 both support client-side API calls. The new BizTalk Adapter for SharePoint takes advantage of these client-side APIs to provide an easier, more seamless integration experience.
    • Azure Service Bus integration – adapters to connect to Azure Service Bus endpoints
    • SFTP adapter – If I had a dime for every time someone asked about an SFTP adapter…
  2. ESB Toolkit 2.2 – while the internals of the ESB Toolkit is largely untouched, the latest release boasts a better configuration experience, and full-fledged support.
  3. Dynamic send port configuration – You can now specify which adapter handler your dynamic send port will use rather than being stuck with the default handler.
  4. Artifact Dependency Tracking – The BizTalk Server Administration console provides better explanation of dependencies among artifacts (for example, orchestration X requires: schemas Y and Z).
  5. General Performance Improvements – Significant changes under the covers has improved the performance of send port when using ordered delivery as well as the mapping engine

Although not available yet, I’m also excited that a new Azure VM with the BizTalk Server 2013 Beta is on its way.

I’m also pleased to announce that QuickLearn Training is diligently working on new versions of all of our Developer and Administrator BizTalk Server courses designed for BizTalk Server 2013.

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BizTalk Server 2010 Released – Developer Edition Now Free

By Nick Hauenstein

Microsoft has just released BizTalk Server 2010, and it is now generally available! Along with this release comes an updated licensing structure that will be a relief for consultants, and companies managing multiple BizTalk environments. While the cost of the Enterprise edition has increased, the cost of the Developer edition has been eliminated. The Developer edition includes the full capabilities of the Enterprise edition, with the limitation being only that you cannot use it in production.

The pricing and licensing page sums this up saying:

Note: Many customers who deploy BizTalk Server implement separate development, testing, and production environments for their BizTalk Server 2010 solution. For the development and testing environments, you can use the free download of the BizTalk Server Developer Edition.

For the production environment, you need a valid processor license of BizTalk Server 2010 Enterprise, Standard, or Branch Edition for each processor on which you install an edition of BizTalk Server 2010.

I applaud this move by Microsoft, as it could encourage a new generation of developers to download and experiment with this powerful platform. This is a move that could drive adoption while at the same time potentially lower the TCO for those organizations managing multiple environments. Given the nature of BizTalk Server, I trust that this will not result in an equivalent of Eternal September for the BizTalk community, but don’t quote me on that remark.

To further help out developers that are new to BizTalk Server in general, we are offering a major discount on our BizTalk Developer Fundamentals online course. Simply use promo code BT2010 when you register, and you will receive $295 off a self-paced registration. This offer expires at the end of September, so act fast!

Finally, go and get BizTalk Server 2010 while it’s still cached at a CDN server near you!