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2025 Microsoft Inclusion Changemaker Partner of the Year
Valorem Reply is proud to announce that we have been recognized as winner of 2025 Microsoft Inclusion Changemaker Partner of the Year Award
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Introduction
Microsoft BizTalk Server, widely adopted for enterprise integration, is approaching end-of-life, with mainstream support ending in April 2028. For decision-makers, transitioning from BizTalk is now strategically essential. Continuing with unsupported BizTalk infrastructure carries significant operational risks, higher costs, and technological obsolescence. Azure Integration Services (AIS) is Microsoft's modern, cloud-based integration suite designed as the natural successor to BizTalk, offering improved scalability, agility, and access to advanced innovations like artificial intelligence (AI).
Why Move Away from BizTalk?
End-of-Life Risks
- Exposure to security vulnerabilities due to the absence of software updates.
- Escalating costs associated with support and maintenance.
- Restricted access to contemporary functionalities, including cloud integration and real-time analytics.
Innovation Opportunity
Modernising your integration platform presents opportunities beyond risk mitigation, enabling your business to:
- Optimise Processes: Redesign workflows and business processes for increased agility, flexibility, and operational efficiency using contemporary integration patterns.
- Unlock Your Data: Establish standardised data models, enhancing data consistency, clarity, and ease of integration across the enterprise.
- Enhance Data Governance: Strengthen data quality, governance frameworks, and compliance capabilities as part of the migration process.
- Accelerate Innovation: Leverage Azure’s advanced analytics, AI, and automation capabilities to transform data into actionable insights and create smarter, more responsive business processes.
Strategic Advantages of Azure Integration Services
Azure Integration Services includes Azure Logic Apps, API Management, Azure Service Bus, and Event Grid, and offers several advantages over BizTalk:
- Scalability: Cloud infrastructure can manage varying workloads without the need for upfront infrastructure investment.
- Agility and Development Speed: Visual tools support rapid development and deployment of integration solutions.
- Cost Efficiency: Pay-as-you-go pricing reduces capital expenditure and aligns costs directly with usage.
- Cloud-Native, Serverless Architecture: Microsoft-managed infrastructure reduces operational burdens related to maintenance and patching.
- Extensive Connectivity: A wide array of pre-built connectors for commonly used SaaS applications and cloud services.
- Enhanced Monitoring: Built-in diagnostics through Azure Monitor and Application Insights provide proactive monitoring capabilities.
- Access to Innovation: Integration with advanced Azure services such as AI, analytics, automation, and IoT.
BizTalk vs Azure Integration Services: Quick Comparison
|
Feature |
BizTalk Server |
Azure Integration Services |
|
Deployment |
On-premises |
Cloud-native, managed |
|
Scalability |
Requires significant hardware investment and manual scaling processes |
Automatic, elastic scaling capabilities |
|
Cost Model |
Capital expenditure with substantial upfront costs |
Operational expenditure based on a pay-as-you-go model |
|
Development Ease |
Complex, requiring specialist skills |
User-friendly, supporting low-code/no-code development methodologies |
|
Connectivity |
Limited adapters necessitating custom development |
Extensive range of pre-built connectors |
|
Monitoring and Insights |
Limited monitoring requiring manual setup |
Advanced monitoring with built-in diagnostics |
|
Innovation |
Static feature set approaching end-of-life |
Continuous innovation with cloud-first capabilities |
Recommended Migration Approach: Iterative Phased Strategy
A structured, iterative migration is essential to ensure the continuous delivery of business value and mitigate risk:
- Wave-Based Migration: Execute integration migrations incrementally in manageable phases to minimise disruption.
- Hybrid Coexistence: Maintain temporary coexistence between BizTalk and Azure Integration Services to ensure operational continuity.
- Early Value Realisation: Prioritise migrations that yield immediate business benefits.
- Continuous Learning: Utilise iterative feedback to facilitate improvements throughout the migration process.
Building a Compelling Business Case
To secure organisational buy-in and investment:
- Quantify Costs and Risks: Highlight maintenance, licensing, security risks, and lost innovation opportunities with BizTalk.
- Demonstrate Financial Benefits: Show reduced infrastructure costs, increased productivity, and optimized operational expenditure.
- Strategic Alignment: Explain how migration supports broader business goals like agility, innovation, and competitive advantage.
- Risk Mitigation Strategy: Present the phased, iterative migration approach to mitigate project risks.
- Future-Proofing: Emphasise Azure Integration Services’ role in enabling continuous innovation and business resilience.
Next Steps and Our Experience
We have experience in managing BizTalk to Azure Integration Services migrations. Our approach includes:
- Comprehensive Assessment: Analysing current integrations, dependencies, and complexities.
- Pilot Migration Projects: Validating technical and business assumptions early on.
- Continuous Stakeholder Engagement: Ensuring alignment and transparency throughout the migration process.
- Expertise and Training: Providing your team with necessary Azure Integration Services skills and ongoing support.
Migrating from BizTalk to Azure Integration Services can help mitigate risks, reduce costs, and provide new technological opportunities. The migration process offers a chance to modernise enterprise integration capabilities, preparing business operations for future challenges and competitive changes.
Free One-Day Discovery Session
We offer a free one-day discovery session to help you:
- Audit your current BizTalk-Azure connections
- Identify and prioritise migration options
- Plan a risk-free path to AMQP and future-proof integrations
Get in touch to schedule your session and safeguard your BizTalk environment from SBMP’s looming end-of-life.
Our team has extensive experience in migrating from BizTalk and other integration platforms to Azure Integration Services, ensuring that the solution is right sized for your business needs.
contact us for more information.
Case Study: Modernising Integration for a Leading Auction House
Project Background
The client, a prominent global auction house, operated a highly complex integration landscape, which included a combination of bespoke point-to-point integrations, legacy Microsoft BizTalk Server, and other third-party middleware. Increasing licensing costs, operational inefficiencies, and escalating maintenance issues prompted the client to pursue a unified, modern, and agile integration solution.
Unified and Modernised Integration Platform
Our expert team collaborated closely with the client’s architects and stakeholders to evaluate existing integrations and define a clear roadmap towards Azure Integration Services. We leveraged Azure Logic Apps and related cloud-native tools to strategically migrate legacy integrations strategically, significantly reducing unnecessary rework by enabling artefact reuse (schemas, transformations).
The new Azure-based integration platform provided a foundational infrastructure to enhance enterprise agility, operational efficiency, and resilience. It streamlined integration across various key business systems, such as Siebel CRM, JD Edwards ERP, Workday, and numerous bespoke internal applications, achieving a cohesive digital transformation strategy.
Technologies and Applications Integrated
Key Azure Technologies Utilised:
- Logic Apps Standard
- Azure Functions
- API Management
- Azure Service Bus
- Azure Monitor and Log Analytics
- Azure DevOps and ARM Templates
- Azure SQL Database
Key Business Applications Integrated:
- Siebel CRM
- JD Edwards ERP
- Sitecore
- Workday
- Multiple Internal Bespoke Applications
This strategic migration has significantly enhanced the auction house's capacity to innovate rapidly, scale efficiently, and harness richer insights from their integrated data, positioning them firmly for sustained digital growth.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why is BizTalk approaching end-of-life?
Microsoft BizTalk Server, while widely adopted for enterprise integration, has reached the end of its support lifecycle. Mainstream support ends in April 2028. After this date, Microsoft will no longer provide security updates, bug fixes, or technical support, leaving organizations exposed to vulnerabilities and unable to access new capabilities.
What are the risks of continuing with unsupported BizTalk?
Three primary risks:
(1) Security vulnerabilities - without updates, you're exposed to threats with no security patches available.
(2) Escalating costs - maintenance and support become increasingly expensive.
(3) Technological obsolescence - you lose access to modern cloud integration capabilities, real-time analytics, and AI-driven innovations that competitors are adopting.
What does Azure Integration Services offer that BizTalk doesn't?
AIS (Logic Apps, API Management, Service Bus, Event Grid) provides cloud-native advantages: automatic elastic scaling without infrastructure investment, pay-as-you-go pricing instead of capital expenditure, extensive pre-built connectors instead of custom development, advanced monitoring with built-in diagnostics, and continuous access to Azure innovations like AI and automation. BizTalk requires manual scaling, upfront capital costs, limited adapters, and static feature sets.
Beyond risk mitigation, what business value does migration unlock?
Migration enables:
(1) Process optimization - redesign workflows for greater agility and efficiency using modern integration patterns.
(2) Data standardization - establish consistent data models improving clarity and integration across the enterprise.
(3) Enhanced governance - strengthen data quality and compliance frameworks.
(4) Innovation acceleration - leverage Azure's analytics, AI, and automation to transform data into actionable insights.
What's the recommended migration approach?
Use a structured, iterative, phased strategy:
(1) Wave-based migration - execute integrations incrementally in manageable phases to minimize disruption.
(2) Hybrid coexistence - maintain temporary coexistence between BizTalk and AIS to ensure operational continuity.
(3) Early value realization - prioritize migrations delivering immediate business benefits.
(4) Continuous learning - use iterative feedback for ongoing improvements.
How do we build a business case for migration?
Address four components:
(1) Quantify costs and risks - highlight maintenance costs, licensing expenses, security risks, and lost innovation opportunities.
(2) Demonstrate financial benefits - show reduced infrastructure costs, increased productivity, and optimized operational expenditure.
(3) Strategic alignment - explain how migration supports business goals like agility and competitive advantage.
(4) Risk mitigation - present the phased approach to mitigate project risks.
What should our next steps be?
First, assess your current BizTalk landscape, identify dependencies, and prioritize which integrations to migrate first. Valorem Reply offers a free one-day discovery session to audit your current BizTalk-Azure connections, identify migration priorities, and plan a risk-free migration path. Our team has extensive experience guiding organizations through this transition, ensuring solutions are right-sized for your business needs.
