Busy With BizTalk
BizTalk Server doesn't have the sex appeal of other tools such as Windows, Office and what not. What am I saying? These don't really have sex appeal -- that is reserved for the high-end sports cars Microsoft millionaires park in campus lots.
BizTalk is middleware that connects Microsoft tools (such as SQL Server) to other apps and data sources (such as IBM DB2, ERP apps like SAP and SharePoint).
Microsoft is working on an R2 version of BizTalk Server 2010, expected out a half a year or so after the release of Windows Server 8.
IDC thinks Windows Server 8 will be out late in the first half of next year. That sounds aggressive to me but let's assume the analyst firm is correct. That means you'll have a new BizTalk Server in time for December festivities.
R2 will be a better player with cloud apps and will integrate with the latest Redmond wares such as Windows Server 8, Visual Studio 11 and SQL Server 2012.
These names listed together show just how inconsistent Microsoft branding is. Some products have version numbers, others on the relative year of release (some ship earlier and some later than the year indicates) and others, like Zune, are just made up words.
Is BizTalk running in your shop? Let me know at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 12/12/2011 at 1:18 PM