BizTalk 2004 and Microsoft position on ESB and Indigo

Below is some discussion about Microsofts definition on what is or isn't an ESB, and how that relates to BizTalk 2004. Included are some comments from Don Box on Indigo, and how Indigo fits in with the SOA model. Scott Woodgate then pitches in on the BizTalk strategy to leverage the underlying platform. And how this will continue in the future with the support of Indigo adapters for cross enterprise connectivity.

This thread appeared (although its not there now) on microsofts public forums microsoft.public.windows.developer.winfx.indigo and first reported by winfx247.com

Question/
Will this still be a function of BizTalk and if so how will you guys reposition BizTalk from EAI to ESB. As I understand it Indigo will serve as a message bus, I think it will be important for you guys to soon make it clear what you plans are in this area.

Answer/
Don Box [MSFT] (VIP)
I'm not sure what ESB is, but here's the Indigo/BTS story.

Indigo can work with existing BTS implementations in that they both support SOAP and WSDL.

The version of BTS after Jupiter will use Indigo directly. This brings Indigo's security, RM, and TX stack to BTS.

DB

----- Marlon Smith wrote: -----

Will this still be a function of BizTalk and if so how will you guys reposition BizTalk from EAI to ESB. As I understand it Indigo will serve as a message bus, I think it will be important for you guys to soon make it clear what you plans are in this area.

Christian Weyer
I guess by ESB he means Enterprise Service Bus ... just like adding a new
word to the SOA buzzword bingo :-)
http://www.cbdiforum.com/public/news/index.php3?id=1326

Cheers,
--
Christian Weyer
[Microsoft Regional Director, Germany]
[MVP ASP.NET & XML Web Services]

** XML Web Services: http://www.xmlwebservices.cc/
** Weblog: http://weblogs.asp.net/cweyer/

"Don Box [MSFT]" wrote in message
news:52D46B5F-B004-4BE6-BB3F-63168434F7F5@microsoft.com...
[Original message clipped]

a message bus, I think it will be important for you guys to soon make it
clear what you plans are in this area.

--
Christian Weyer
[Microsoft Regional Director, Germany]
[MVP ASP.NET & XML Web Services]

** XML Web Services: http://www.xmlwebservices.cc/
** Weblog: http://weblogs.asp.net/cweyer/
--
Scott Woodgate \(MS\)
--
I'll jump into this thread as the BizTalk guy. What Don says is correct but
I'd like to break it down for everyone:

- Indigo provides support for secure, reliable, transacted "web" services
which is obviously pretty important :)

- Indigo unifies ASP.NET, DCOM, COM+ etc. This point is important because
today BizTalk Server 2004 uses ASP.NET ASMX APIs under the covers for its
web services support (we didn't build our own WS stack we leveraged the one
in the platform and provided value add infrastructure around it for
transformations, graphical point and click etc.) and tommorrow we will
transition those APIs to Indigo

- Indigo is a transport in the terminology of BizTalk Server (just as MSMQ,
MQSeries, Web Services)

- Because Indigo is a transport and BizTalk Server has an extensible adapter
framework for transports (application or technology) I demonstrated a
prototype at PDC an "Indigo" adapter (cf. the Web Service adapter we use
today). Adapter is probably a funny word to use its just the generic point
in the architecture to plugin transport support the support will be native
in the next generation in the "Longhorn" timeframe when Indigo ships.

- Adding to that Indigo is an API (not a set of tools). One of the cool
things BTS2004 provides even in an all "web services" environment is super
rich tracking infrastructure and a variety of design/management tools.

- BTS2004 will continue to support heterogeneous "messaging" <- which is an
overloaded word in case you didn't notice microsoft message queuing does
messaging biztalk server does "messaging" they are different but related
things, same thing with indigo which provides the migration path from msmq
and biztalk server, and of course orchestration/workflow moving further
forward (and a bunch of other innovations :))

- BizTalk Server will continue to support EAI, I'll dodge the ESB point
because there are various analyst interpretations there, and SOA as it
does in 2004 in the future obviously enhanced with the underlying platform
that Indigo provides.

My PDC presentation for those who are interested is at
http://blogs.gotdotnet.com/scottwoo. I'll probably put up a video of the
demo in the next few days. The important thing here is that both BizTalk
Server and Indigo are innovating together to move forward the platform and
the server in the "Longhorn" timeframe and your investment in BizTalk Server
2004 is a strong investment to move forward.

Cheers,
Scott.


--
Scott Woodgate \(MS\) (VIP)
--
From a BizTalk Server perspective we are all about leveraging what is in the
platform and then adding value on top of it. As these lower level management
features/functionalities become available in the platform we will leverage
(and actually in some cases enhance them directly) and continue to innovate
on top of them.

Cheers,
Scott.