Getting Started with BizTalk Services book review

Since the book came out, I had this task pending. I was fortunate to receive an e-copy of Getting Started with BizTalk Services, written by Karthik Bharathy (Lead Program Manager in the BizTalk product group) and Jon Fancey (Microsoft Integration MVP). However, I only recently found the time to read it.

Getting Started with BizTalk Services is a guidance book rather than a reference manual. It is well organized in 8 chapters and about 150 pages. The book covers the basic concepts of Microsoft Azure BizTalk Services, including Messages and Transforms, Bridges, EAI and B2B Integration, APIs, Tracking and Troubleshooting, and the process of moving from on-premises solutions to the cloud.

Book contents

• Chapter 1, “Hello BizTalk Services,” introduces BizTalk Services, its architecture, and how to create a service instance and deploy solutions.
• Chapter 2, Messages and Transforms, explains message processing and how to transform messages into different formats. Also, it explains how to use mapping operations to aggregate data, perform reference data lookups, and use custom code in transformations.
• Chapter 3, Bridges, gives a detailed look at bridges and explains how to enrich messages and route messages to different endpoints.
• Chapter 4, Enterprise Application Integration, explains sources and destinations, and how to connect BizTalk Services to enterprise applications and systems on-premises and in the cloud.
• Chapter 5, Business-to-business Integration, discusses B2B integration using industry-standard protocols such as EDIFACT, X12, and AS2. It also discusses how to create partners and agreements in BizTalk Services to connect with trading partners and how to utilize message batching and archiving.
• Chapter 6, API, discusses a rich API underpinning BizTalk Services. Also, it explains what it can do and how to use it across REST, PowerShell, and custom code.
• Chapter 7, Tracking and Troubleshooting, discusses how messages are tracked in BizTalk Services and how to find and resolve problems when they occur using the tools provided by BizTalk Services.
• Chapter 8, Moving to BizTalk Services, explains how to move from BizTalk Server to BizTalk Services, the differences between the two products, and future plans.

Who should read this book?

The book targets software developers, IT professionals, architects, and technical managers who want to understand the main concepts of BizTalk Services.

Although the authors state that knowledge of BizTalk Server is not required, I believe prior experience helps significantly. This book is not a step-by-step tutorial. It does not explain every implementation detail, such as creating schemas from scratch, because that is not its purpose.

However, the code samples included with the book help reinforce the core concepts and show how to apply them in practice.

What I liked most

My favorite chapter is the last one, “Moving to BizTalk Services.”
It clearly explains the challenges of migrating on-premises BizTalk Server solutions to BizTalk Services.

I had the pleasure of speaking at BizTalk Summit 2014 in London alongside Jon Fancey. He delivered an excellent presentation about moving to BizTalk Services. I recommend watching that session after reading this chapter.

Final thoughts

I have followed BizTalk Services since the beta version and have presented it in many technical sessions. Even so, I still learned new things from this book.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in BizTalk Services or integration technologies. Beginners should treat it as a conceptual guide and complement it with other learning sources. Experienced professionals will also find value in it.

This book is an excellent starting point for understanding BizTalk Services.

Congratulations, Karthik Bharathy and Jon Fancey — you did a great job!

Where can you order the book?

You can order the book and find the complete table of contents on the Packt Website or on Amazon.