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Blog  /  Field notes

Field notes from the integration frontier.

Practical writing from the team behind Art2link. HL7 and FHIR in production. EDI without the headaches. API gateways, orchestration, exception handling — and the long quiet arc from BizTalk to a cloud-native ESB.

Showing 98 of 98 posts
BTS Sep 14, 2018

BizTalk 2016 Feature Pack Updates

All you need to know about BizTalk 2016 Feature Pack Updates   September 2018 Update   What are BizTalk 2016 Feature Pack Updates? As…

BizTalk 5 min
BTS Aug 23, 2018

BizTalk 2016 R2

Where is BizTalk 2016 R2? Over the past 18 years we’ve received our dose of BizTalk versions, however, suddenly it is 2018 and there is…

BizTalk 3 min
BTS Aug 15, 2018

BizTalk Product Roadmap, 2018 – Official from Microsoft.

The Future of BizTalk – BizTalk Product Roadmap, 2018 – Microsoft’s official position We are Microsoft Gold Partners that offer BizTalk services, and many of…

Azure 2 min
BTS Jul 5, 2018

Cumulative Update 5 Microsoft BizTalk Server 2016

A fresh Cumulative Update 5 Microsoft BizTalk Server 2016, just for you! This update applies to: BizTalk Server 2016 Branch, BizTalk Server 2016 Developer, BizTalk…

BizTalk 10 min
BTS Jun 14, 2018

BizTalk 2016 – Consuming RESTful API Hosted on Azure API Management Service – GET Request – Part 1

BizTalk 2016 – Consuming RESTful API Hosted on Azure API Management Service – GET Request Part 1 Recently I was given the task (using JSON)…

Azure 7 min
BTS Jun 8, 2018

Your advantage. CU Package 6 – BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013

CU Package 6 – BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013 This Update applies to BizTalk Server 2013 Branch, BizTalk Server 2013 Developer, BizTalk Server 2013 Enterprise,…

BizTalk 3 min
BTS Jun 1, 2018

Following BizTalk Server 2013 CU 7

BizTalk Server 2013 CU 7 Because we, the geeks at Art2link are interested that all BizTalk Server users get the most of the latest…

BizTalk 3 min
BTS May 10, 2018

HL7 messages – All you need to know to impress your boss

If you are working in the Health Care industry you may have already heard about the HL7 standards or HL7 messages. If you are…

Research 3 min
BTS May 4, 2018

CU Package 8 – BizTalk Server 2013 R2. Improved for you.

CU Package 8 – BizTalk Server 2013 R2 To those of you who have been faithful to BizTalk Server 2013, I have great news!…

BizTalk 3 min
BTS Mar 20, 2018

Microsoft Power BI Leader in Analytics & Business Intelligence Platforms

Microsoft Power BI Leader in Analytics & Business Intelligence Platforms. Have you thought about a business intelligence platform, that can actually help boost your…

General 3 min
BTS Feb 27, 2018

BizTalk 2016 – Creating Hybrid Integration Solutions

Are you delivering the value to your customers you’d like to be? Many clients come to Art2link to discuss supplier issues. Their suppliers demand…

Azure 3 min
BTS Feb 7, 2018

Cumulative Update 4 Microsoft BizTalk Server 2016

New Release: Cumulative Update 4 for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2016 As a Microsoft Partner, and in the best interest of our clients; Art2link Corporation stays…

BizTalk 8 min
BTS Nov 13, 2017

BizTalk and SQL HA Multi-Server Environment on Azure

How to build a Highly Available BizTalk and SQL HA Multi-Server Environment on Azure Resource Manager In this article we will talk about how…

Azure 16 min
BTS Oct 20, 2017

Enable Multiple Login Sessions in Windows Server

Enable Multiple Login Sessions in Windows Server – Beginning to End. You might need to enable multiple login sessions in windows server for many…

General 4 min
BTS Oct 16, 2017

Cumulative Update package 7 for BizTalk Server 2013 R2

CU Package 7 BizTalk Server 2013 R2 This cumulative update package for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2013 R2 contains hotfixes for the BizTalk Server 2013…

BizTalk Server 2013 R2 4 min
BTS Sep 19, 2017

Cumulative Update 3 for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2016 Released

Before we dig in to talk about the Cumulative Update 3 for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2016, it’s important to remember to thank the Microsoft…

BizTalk 2 min
BTS Aug 27, 2017

Cumulative update package 5 for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013

CU Package 5 BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013 This cumulative update for Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013 contains hotfixes for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013 issues…

BizTalk Server 2013 Adapter Pack 4 min
BTS Aug 5, 2017

Cumulative Update 6 for BizTalk Server 2013

CU 6 BizTalk Server 2013 This cumulative update package for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2013 Cumulative Update 6 (CU6) contains hotfixes for the BizTalk Server…

BizTalk Server 2013 4 min
BTS Jul 31, 2017

Microsoft Gold Competency in Cloud Platform & Data Analytics

  Unlocking the Microsoft Gold  Competency in Cloud Platform & Data Analytics – Achieved!   It isn’t often we like to toot our own horns,…

Azure 2 min
BTS Jul 3, 2017

Microsoft BizTalk Server 2016 CU2

Good news, Microsoft BizTalk Server 2016 CU2 is here and it’s ready to be of use. Microsoft has released the CU2 for BizTalk Server…

BizTalk 3 min
BTS May 13, 2017

Cumulative Update package 6 for BizTalk Server 2013 R2

CU Package 6 BizTalk Server 2013 R2 This cumulative update package for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2013 R2 contains hotfixes for the BizTalk Server 2013…

BizTalk Server 2013 R2 5 min
BTS Apr 28, 2017

BizTalk 2016 Feature Pack 1

In need of more feature?  Download the BizTalk 2016 Feature Pack 1 We are used to the Cumulative Updates for BizTalk products, but a…

BizTalk 2 min
BTS Mar 8, 2017

BizTalk Debatching for dorks (part 1)

A dude’s guide to BizTalk debatching: Flat File, SQL, Oracle and other transactions Are you going to a BizTalk Debatching party and want to…

BizTalk 3 min
BTS Feb 2, 2017

BizTalk 2016 CU1 – Download it here

  Microsoft has made available the BizTalk 2016 CU1, their popular integration engine. It’s loaded with several fixes for SAP, HTTP, MQSAgent and POP3. You…

BizTalk 4 min
BTS Dec 29, 2016

How to create your first Azure API App – Step by Step

We’ve been talking about Azure API App and its implications for a while, how it can help your integration project, the connectivity with BizTalk…

Azure 2 min
BTS Dec 15, 2016

Logic Apps and Azure API Integration

The Azure API Integration process. As we know Logic Apps is excellent to visually create business process and workflows, automate EAI/B2B and connect to…

Azure 2 min
BTS Dec 2, 2016

BizTalk 2016 with SQL Server 2016 AlwaysOn

As BizTalk Server 2016 was released into the wild, we had all been waiting for the big splash for the AlwaysOn support, so naturally…

BizTalk 4 min
BTS Nov 22, 2016

Why Azure API Apps?

We can interpret integration as a communication between different systems or applications. One of the easiest ways to do this is through an API.…

Azure 4 min
BTS Nov 18, 2016

Cumulative Update package 5 for BizTalk Server 2013 R2

This cumulative update package for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2013 R2 contains hotfixes for the BizTalk Server 2013 R2 issues that were resolved after the…

BizTalk Server 2013 R2 6 min
BTS Nov 10, 2016

BizTalk 2016 Release

Microsoft has announced the release of BizTalk Server 2016. This is the 10th major release of their integration server and comes packed with very…

Azure 5 min
BTS Oct 20, 2016

Power your Enterprise with Microsoft BizTalk 2013 CU5

Some of you might be wondering why Microsoft BizTalk 2013 CU5 now, right? Well, let me tell you that even though many of you…

BizTalk 2 min
BTS Oct 18, 2016

Cumulative update package 4 for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013

CU Package 4  BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013 This cumulative update for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013 contains hotfixes for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013 issues that…

BizTalk Server 2013 Adapter Pack 3 min
BTS Sep 30, 2016

Office 365 SMTP Adapter Configuration for BizTalk Server

During the Integration process, many of our clients ask us to send automated email responses at different stages of the message life cycle. Regardless…

Azure 3 min
BTS Sep 7, 2016

Integration Partner Alternatives – All you need to consider

Most of the major EAI platforms and the vendors associated with those platforms will have established partner networks in your area.  These partner alternatives will be…

Management 2 min
BTS Sep 2, 2016

Cloud vs On-Premises vs Hybrid

Increasingly this question has more and more to do with the particular line of business in which a firm is engaged, the politics of…

Management 3 min
BTS Aug 9, 2016

Vendor Alternatives

here are a number of vendor alternatives available to enterprises that are considering the implementation of an enterprise application integration engine.  While many of the…

Management 3 min
BTS Aug 4, 2016

Cloud Computing according to Gartner

This information related to Microsoft’s cloud computing position in IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS according to Gartner recently came to our attention. We thought it…

Azure 1 min
BTS Aug 1, 2016

Cumulative Update 4 for BizTalk Server 2013 R2

Last July 26th Microsoft has announced their Cumulative Update 4 for BizTalk Server 2013 R2 that covers the issues with the SAP adapter that…

BizTalk Server 2013 R2 6 min
BTS Jul 27, 2016

GOALS – What are my short and long term goals for the Integration Engine?

As we go further with this Integration Engine Alternatives series it is important to establish what your short term goals and long term goals are…

Management 3 min
BTS Jul 13, 2016

Integration Engine Alternatives

Advantages, drawbacks, and a structured selection process of integration engine alternatives As software and computing, in general, continues to evolve, there are continually more…

Management 5 min
BTS Jun 23, 2016

Divide and conquer – The Microservice approach

If there’s a phrase that has being always present and reinventing itself in the programming world, that phrase is “Divide and conquer”. In the…

Research 6 min
BTS May 26, 2016

New Cumulative Update 3 for BizTalk Server 2013 R2

[su_row][su_column size=”1/3″][/su_column][su_column size=”2/3″] This New Cumulative Update 3 includes the following fixes: [/su_column][/su_row] BizTalk Server adapters FIX: All files in the Archive folder are picked…

BizTalk Server 2013 R2 2 min
BTS May 17, 2016

BizTalk Queue – What happens if we don’t Handle Exceptions?

BizTalk Server is a persistent system. Meaning that messages, while residing in BizTalk, are never lost, especially if they fail. Whether it is a…

Research 2 min
BTS May 5, 2016

Why do I need integration?

Research 1 min
BTS Apr 25, 2016

Cumulative update package 4 for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2013

CU package 4 BizTalk Server 2013 This cumulative update package for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2013 contains hotfixes for the issues that were resolved after…

BizTalk Server 2013 4 min
BTS Apr 25, 2016

Cumulative Update 2 for BizTalk Server 2013 R2

The Microsoft Integration Team has announced their cumulative update 2 for BizTalk 2013 R2. This new package will allow you to apply some fixes and…

BizTalk Server 2013 R2 4 min
BTS Apr 24, 2016

Cumulative update package 3 for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013

CU Package 3 for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013 This cumulative update for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013 contains hotfixes for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013 issues…

BizTalk Server 2013 Adapter Pack 3 min
BTS Apr 13, 2016

Exceptions in BizTalk Server

Exceptions in BizTalk Server’s Server’s execution model are somewhat similar to the Windows Application that we recently blogged about. Generally, an integration transaction starts from…

Research 3 min
BTS Mar 8, 2016

What is Exception Handling?

The general concept around exception handling is to not let the system handle exceptions, but instead to do something about them. Conventional programming languages…

Research 2 min
BTS Mar 3, 2016

Cumulative Update 2 for BizTalk Server Accelerator for SWIFT Message Pack 2015

CU 2 for BizTalk Server Accelerator for SWIFT Message Pack 2015 This cumulative update contains hotfixes for issues that were resolved after the final,…

BizTalk Server 2010 2 min
BTS Feb 26, 2016

Introduction to BizTalk Exception Handling

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Research 2 min
BTS Feb 9, 2016

Cumulative update package 9 for BizTalk Server 2010

CU Package 9 BizTalk Server 2010 This cumulative update package for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010 contains hotfixes for the BizTalk Server 2010 issues that…

BizTalk Server 2010 5 min
BTS Jan 28, 2016

3 Orchestration Tips

Technical 1 min
BTS Jan 10, 2016

Cumulative Update 1 for BizTalk Server Accelerator for SWIFT Message Pack 2015

This cumulative update contains hotfixes for issues that were resolved after the final, production release of Microsoft BizTalk Accelerator for SWIFT Message Pack 2015.…

BizTalk Server 2010 2 min
BTS Dec 11, 2015

New Azure SDK release

Last November 30th Microsoft announced their last release of the Azure SDK for .Net. [edsanimate animation=”fadeInLeft” infinite_animation=”no” animate_on=”” ] [/edsanimate]This new Azure SDK is…

Research 2 min
BTS Dec 7, 2015

Technical & Business Experience & Price

How can you tell if your prospective Integration consultant knows what he’s doing? Or:  “but the sales rep TOLD me that he would be…

Blog 2 min
BTS Nov 11, 2015

Is your data Secure?

There are many factors that should be considered when selecting a middleware or integration tool. Reliability, latency, time to install and configure, maintenance, etc.…

Management 4 min
BTS Nov 5, 2015

Reduce your IT Budget with Azure

[edsanimate animation=”fadeInLeft” infinite_animation=”no” animate_on=”” ] [/edsanimate] Planning next year’s IT budget is a consistent challenge for IT leadership.  Your budget needs to cover all…

Management 3 min
BTS Oct 20, 2015

Cumulative update package 3 for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2013

CU package 3 BizTalk Server 2013 This cumulative update package for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2013 CU3 contains hotfixes for the BizTalk Server 2013 issues…

BizTalk Server 2013 9 min
BTS Oct 20, 2015

Cumulative Update Package 2 for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013

CU Package 2  BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013 This cumulative update for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013 contains hotfixes for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013 issues that…

BizTalk Server 2013 Adapter Pack 3 min
BTS Oct 15, 2015

Top 4 reasons for EDI Integration

EDI or Electronic Data Interchange is a computer to computer communication method used by companies for more than 30 years to exchange business information…

General 3 min
BTS Sep 4, 2015

Selecting the Right IT Approach for your Business

BizTalk Services, Azure BizTalk VM and On Premises BizTalk There are three completely different approaches to locating your Microsoft BizTalk integration engines, to face…

Management 7 min
BTS Aug 27, 2015

Cumulative update package 8 for BizTalk Server 2010

CU Package 8 BizTalk Server 2010 This cumulative update package for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010 contains hotfixes for the issues that were resolved after…

BizTalk Server 2010 5 min
BTS Aug 18, 2015

Integration Services: BizTalk Services vs Azure BizTalk VM vs On Premises

Selecting the Right Approach for your Business In today’s fast-paced business environment, companies are always looking for ways to increase efficiency, and decrease costs…

General 3 min
BTS Aug 12, 2015

Windows Azure – How I changed my mind

[edsanimate animation=”fadeIn” infinite_animation=”no” animate_on=”Scroll” ] [/edsanimate] We’ve been hearing about Azure for the past few years now. The reaction most of us have is…

Blog 3 min
BTS Jul 31, 2015

Fit with Your Internal Team & How is their Corporate Team?

How can you tell if your prospective Integration consultant knows what he’s doing? Or:  “but the sales rep TOLD me that he would be…

Blog 2 min
BTS Jul 20, 2015

Political Skills & Training and Certification

How can you tell if your prospective Integration consultant knows what he’s doing? Or:  “but the sales rep TOLD me that he would be…

Blog 2 min
BTS Jul 6, 2015

Cumulative Update Package 1 for BizTalk Server 2013 R2

Cumulative Update Package 1 for BizTalk Server 2013 R2 The Microsoft Integration Team has announced the first cumulative update for BizTalk 2013 R2.  …

BizTalk Server 2013 R2 2 min
BTS Jun 24, 2015

Communication Skills & Understanding Your Unique Business Needs

Post 2/5 How can you tell if your prospective Integration consultant knows what he’s doing? Or:  “but the sales rep TOLD me that he…

Blog 2 min
BTS Jun 16, 2015

Emulating SMTP mail messages for BizTalk Testing environments

For some projects here at Art2link we’ve found that installing a tool to emulate the SMTP Mail Server is much better than use the…

Research 2 min
BTS Jun 4, 2015

Selecting a Good Consultant

How can you tell if your prospective Integration consultant knows what he’s doing? Post 1/5 [edsanimate animation=”fadeInLeft” infinite_animation=”no” animate_on=””] [/edsanimate]Or:  “but the sales rep…

General 3 min
BTS Mar 28, 2015

Cumulative update package 7 for BizTalk Server 2010

CU package 7 BizTalk Server 2010 This cumulative update package for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010 contains hotfixes for the BizTalk Server 2010 issues that…

BizTalk Server 2010 6 min
BTS Feb 27, 2015

Integrate SQL server databases using BizTalk

BizTalk has always provided native methods to integrate SQL Server databases. Since the first version we are able to query the database using the…

Blog 2 min
BTS Feb 27, 2015

BizTalk as ESB

BizTalk as ESB definition If we go to the strict definition of what BizTalk is, we find that it is put under the category…

Blog 4 min
BTS Dec 17, 2014

Financial Implications of EAI on-Premises vs Cloud based Integrations

Overall capabilities of cloud-based Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) offerings continue to expand.  While this is occurring, the overall cost basis of provisioning those capabilities…

Blog 3 min
BTS Dec 9, 2014

Updates from the INTEGRATE 2014 summit

We just returned from Redmond, and the INTEGRATE 2014 summit, and there are several important alterations to the overall direction of BizTalk and Integration in…

Blog 2 min
BTS Dec 8, 2014

Remove Empty Nodes in BizTalk by Using XSLT

If you have ever had a map which begins to look unmanageable with tons of value mappings or extra functoids to simply manage empty…

Blog 2 min
BTS Nov 27, 2014

2014 Cumulative Update – Final CU for BizTalk 2006

Microsoft will be releasing the 2014 Cumulative Update for BizTalk Server in mid-December 2014. These updates combine all of the patches and hotfixes released for…

Blog 2 min
BTS Nov 19, 2014

How to Get Your Data Out of Your Old EMR System

Many physician practices are changing EMR systems. Doctors feel pressured by government regulations, peer groups, and incentive programs from Medicare and Medicaid to implement…

Blog 3 min
BTS Oct 9, 2014

Validating Schemas from an Orchestration Without Affecting Global Configuration

By default, BizTalk Server does not validate XML against a Schema. This is because the Validating Schemas function is assumed to be performed in the Receive…

Blog 2 min
BTS Oct 9, 2014

Calling a Send Pipeline from an Orchestration

Generally speaking, as part of the integration process, sending a new pipeline from an orchestration is not an appropriate way to handle data transfer.…

Blog 2 min
BTS Sep 18, 2014

How to Send EDI Messages From a Batched Orchestration

EDI messages consist of an envelope and a hierarchical series of structural elements. The envelope contains a set of headers and trailers, each set…

Blog 2 min
BTS Sep 18, 2014

Using C# Static Variables in XSL Maps: Mapping HL7 to Flat File Example

When doing complex maps that can’t be resolved using the map designer and you need to do a custom map with xsl, sometimes you…

Blog 2 min
BTS Nov 10, 2013

Cumulative update package 1 for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013

CU Package 1 for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013 This cumulative update for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013 contains hotfixes for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2013 issues…

BizTalk Server 2013 Adapter Pack 3 min
BTS Nov 7, 2013

Cumulative update package 2 for BizTalk Server 2013

CU Package 2 BizTalk Server 2013 Cumulative update package 2 for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2013 contains hotfixes for the BizTalk Server 2013 issues that…

BizTalk Server 2013 7 min
BTS Jul 18, 2013

Cumulative update package 6 for BizTalk Server 2010

CU Package 6 BizTalk Server 2010 This cumulative update package for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010 contains hotfixes for the BizTalk Server 2010 issues that…

BizTalk Server 2010 6 min
BTS Jul 18, 2013

Cumulative update package 3 for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2010

CU Package 3 BizTalk Adapter Pack 2010 This cumulative update for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2010 contains hotfixes for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2010 issues that…

BizTalk Server 2010 Adapter Pack 5 min
BTS Apr 23, 2013

Cumulative update package 1 for BizTalk Server 2013

CU Package 1 BizTalk Server 2013 Cumulative update package 1 for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2013 contains hotfixes for the BizTalk Server 2013 issues that…

BizTalk Server 2013 4 min
BTS Jun 27, 2012

Cumulative update package 5 for BizTalk Server 2010

CU Package 5 BizTalk Server 2010 This cumulative update package for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010 contains hotfixes for the BizTalk Server 2010 issues that…

BizTalk Server 2010 9 min
BTS Mar 7, 2012

Cumulative update package 4 for BizTalk Server 2010

CU Package 4 BizTalk Server 2010 This cumulative update package for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010 contains hotfixes for the BizTalk Server 2010 issues that…

BizTalk Server 2010 9 min
BTS Dec 5, 2011

Cumulative update package 3 for BizTalk Server 2010

CU Package 3 BizTalk Server 2010 This cumulative update package for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010 contains hotfixes for the BizTalk Server 2010 issues that…

BizTalk Server 2010 9 min
BTS Sep 8, 2011

Cumulative update package 2 for BizTalk Server 2010

CU Package 2 BizTalk Server 2010 This cumulative update package for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010 contains hotfixes for the BizTalk Server 2010 issues that…

BizTalk Server 2010 9 min
BTS Sep 6, 2011

Cumulative update package 2 for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2010

CU Package 2 BizTalk Adapter Pack 2010 This cumulative update for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2010 contains hotfixes for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2010 issues that…

BizTalk Server 2010 Adapter Pack 6 min
BTS May 29, 2011

Cumulative update package 1 for BizTalk Server 2010

CU Package 1 BizTalk Server 2010 This cumulative update package for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010 contains hotfixes for the BizTalk Server 2010 issues that…

BizTalk Server 2010 10 min
BTS May 13, 2011

Cumulative update package 1 for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2010

CU Package 1 BizTalk Adapter Pack 2010 This cumulative update for Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack 2010 contains hotfixes for Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack 2010…

BizTalk Server 2010 Adapter Pack 7 min

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