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Migrate from BizTalk · Art2link ESB

The cloud-native BizTalk successor. Built by the original architects.

Art2link ESB carries your BizTalk message flows, maps, and routing patterns forward into Azure-native runtime - without rewriting them. The Windows fleet, Visual Studio toolchain, and per-message licensing don’t come with you.

  • Built by original BizTalk Server architects
  • Microsoft Solutions Partner · Azure-native ESB
BizTalk Server 2020 is the final version. Microsoft support ends April 2030 - end of life. Microsoft has confirmed no further releases. Logic Apps was offered as the cloud path forward, but it was never designed to absorb the governance, transaction tracking, and operational rigor that ESB workloads demand. Art2link ESB was - built by the team that wrote BizTalk in the first place, and engineered to run the same workloads on Azure-native foundations.
Start an assessment
2020
BizTalk 2020 · last release
Apr 2030
Microsoft support ends - end of life
The shift

Where your team operates today - and where they operate after.

Hover any row on the left to see its paired equivalent on the right. The five shifts below are not theoretical - they show up in every BizTalk-to-Art2link migration we run.

BizTalk today

Where your integration team operates now

  • BizTalk Server 2020 - the final version, no successor planned
  • Dedicated Windows fleet to patch, scale, and audit
  • Visual Studio + compiled releases for any change
  • HAT and BAM for tracking, plus custom dashboards on top
  • Scarce, expensive talent pool that’s actively retiring
After migration · Art2link ESB

Where your team operates after

  • Configuration-driven integrations, hot-swapped at runtime - no version lock
  • Serverless on Azure App Service - nothing to patch
  • Web console only - no Visual Studio, no compiled releases
  • End-to-end transaction tracking out of the box
  • Azure-native talent pool, broad and supplied by the market
What carries forward

A migration, not a rewrite.

Two decades of BizTalk work does not need to be thrown away. The intent and the patterns translate. What changes is the runtime they execute on.

Maps and transformation intent

BizTalk maps translate to Art2link XSLT 3.0 transforms. Functoid logic is preserved; complex maps run through a guided conversion path. Test data exercised against both engines during pilot.

Integration patterns

Receive-validate-transform-route-deliver pipelines map directly to Art2link itineraries. Send port groups, exception flows, retry policies, and dead-letter handling all have first-class equivalents.

Adapters

SAP, Oracle, mainframe, HL7, EDI, and AS2 all have Art2link equivalents. Partner agreements, trading relationships, and adapter configurations transfer through a structured import path.

The approach

Four phases. Parallel run from week one. Cutover when you decide.

The migration follows a wave model. BizTalk keeps running production traffic until each integration has been validated on Art2link, parallel-run for a defined window, and signed off by your team. No big-bang cutover. No outage windows. No betting the company.

Phase 01
Discover
1–2 weeks
  • BizTalk artifact inventory: orchestrations, pipelines, schemas, maps
  • Custom component and .NET adapter audit
  • Trading-partner and integration-topology mapping
  • Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) & end-to-end visibility baseline defined
  • Risk & complexity scoring per integration
Phase 02
Build
2–4 weeks
  • Translate BizTalk artifacts to Art2link itineraries and XSLT 3.0 maps
  • Custom-component re-implementation plan
  • Test-data sets for each integration pattern
  • Migration wave plan with priority order
Phase 03
POC
4–6 weeks
  • Implement 2–3 representative integrations on Art2link
  • Parallel run alongside BizTalk - both receive production traffic
  • Operational handover dry-run with your team
  • Audit & compliance verification before wider rollout
Phase 04
Cutover
Wave-based, 4–8 weeks
  • Migrate remaining integrations in waves - you set the order
  • BizTalk retirement on a wave-by-wave basis
  • Knowledge transfer and production-support handover
  • Post-migration optimization & cost review

Total elapsed time depends on scope - faster for narrow scope, longer for heavily customized BizTalk estates. The Discover phase produces the exact estimate before the rest of the work begins.

Migration patterns

What our migrations look like in practice.

Ranges below reflect the shape of mid-complexity BizTalk estates we have moved to Art2link - not a single engagement. The Discover phase produces specific numbers for your environment.

Regulated environments typically retire 10–20 BizTalk Server hosts and 50–100 orchestrations over a 6–9 month migration window - with zero production outages and a 2–4 week parallel-run validation before each wave cuts over.

Healthcare · Pharma · Financial services · Audited workloads

Trading-partner-heavy estates typically replace 4–8 BizTalk hosts with a single multi-region Art2link deployment - infrastructure spend drops 50–70% in year one while EDI throughput headroom roughly doubles.

Logistics · Manufacturing · Retail · 24×7 EDI workloads
Migration sizing

Estimate your migration timeline and ROI.

Move the sliders to match your BizTalk estate. The model uses the same coefficients we apply during a real Discover phase. The result is directional - the written assessment replaces it with engineered numbers.

60
5400+
8
140+
25
0300+

Directional model. Coefficients drawn from our migration practice; your written assessment produces engineered values for cost, time, and risk.

Estimated migration timeline
22 weeks elapsed
18–26 weeks across Discover, Map, Pilot, and wave-based Cutover.
Year-one infrastructure savings
$186K USD
Versus current Windows-fleet hosting, Visual Studio toolchain, and operational overhead. Conservative midpoint.
58%
Hosting cost reduction
34 wks
FTE-time recovered / year
42%
Lower compute footprint
Validate these numbers with a real assessment
Free migration assessment

Tell us about your organization’s BizTalk experience.

What you get

A written modernization roadmap, tailored to your environment.

An Art2link senior architect reviews your BizTalk inventory and returns a written assessment: complexity score per integration, recommended migration wave order, indicative timeline, and infrastructure-cost comparison. No sales call required to receive the document.

  • Written assessment within 5 business days of intake
  • Reviewed by an original BizTalk-era architect - not a generalist
  • No cost. No purchase obligation. NDA on file before any inventory review.
  • Result is yours to keep - share it with internal stakeholders freely
We reply within one business day to confirm intake.
Frequently asked

What integration teams ask.

Microsoft says Logic Apps is the BizTalk successor. What does Art2link ESB give me?

Art2link ESB gives you the governance, end-to-end transaction tracking, exception-routing, and operational rigor that ESB workloads demand - on the same Azure foundation as Logic Apps. Logic Apps is excellent for new cloud-first workflows, but it was never designed to absorb that discipline. Neither path is “outside Microsoft” - the difference is whether the platform you adopt matches the workload you’re moving, and whether your BizTalk maps, flows, and patterns carry forward instead of being rewritten.

How much of my custom pipeline components translate to Art2link ESB?

Most of it. Custom adapters and pipeline components are inventoried during the Discover phase. The majority translate to Art2link custom function packages (deployable as .NET assemblies); a small minority require re-implementation. The Build phase produces an exact list of which components fall into which category before any work starts.

Can we run BizTalk and Art2link in parallel during the migration?

Yes - parallel run is built into the methodology. From Phase 03 onward, Art2link receives production traffic alongside BizTalk for a defined window per integration (typically 2–4 weeks). Both produce output, both are observed, and cutover happens only after your team signs off. BizTalk continues running until its last integration moves.

How long does deploying a new Art2link ESB server take?

About an hour. A new Art2link ESB environment provisions into your Azure subscription from Azure Marketplace as a managed, Azure-native runtime - no Windows servers to build, no cumulative-update projects. Migrating your existing BizTalk integrations onto it is a separate, scoped effort that follows the four-phase approach above; the Discover phase produces a concrete estimate before that work is committed to.

Does Art2link ESB support multi-region deployments?

Yes. Art2link ESB deploys across multiple Azure regions for high availability and data residency. A single multi-region deployment can consolidate several regional BizTalk hosts, with routing and failover handled at the Azure-native layer - the resources still run entirely inside your subscription.

What does the assessment cost?

Nothing. The Migration Assessment is free, no obligation, and the written deliverable is yours to keep regardless of whether you proceed with Art2link. We have found that the assessment itself often surfaces value the integration team can act on independently - gaps in trading-partner agreements, redundant orchestrations, audit-coverage holes.

How often does Art2link ESB release patches and enhancements?

Continuously. Art2link ESB ships security patches and feature enhancements on a regular release cadence, delivered as managed updates to your Azure-native runtime - no Windows fleet to patch, no cumulative-update projects to schedule. Security fixes are prioritized and applied without downtime. Because the platform runs inside your subscription, your data and IP never leave your tenant.

Not ready for an assessment?

Try the Starter Plan in your Azure subscription, free.

Install the free Starter Plan from Azure Marketplace - free license - and run a non-production integration through it before scoping the real migration. No sales call required.

Note: Azure consumption still applies - minimum infrastructure cost about $100/month.