Last week BizTalk360 announced a new one-click installation process that works great for BizTalk running in Windows Azure Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). 

This can be used to set up a stand-alone single server BizTalk environment in a short amount of time.  One of the key features of BizTalk360 is the ability to send alert emails based on criteria you specify.  Sending emails on a isolated environment in Azure may be a challenge due to no SMTP Server. 

Never fail!  SendGrid has a super easy and free solution to this problem.  Just sign up for the free account as an Add-On inside the Windows Azure Management Portal.

SendGrid’s current offer is for 25,000 free email per month!  This should last you a while.  SendGrid offer the ability to easily send email via SMTP, .Net, or even a REST API – all using their SMTP server. 

Once you have your account details and have installed BizTalk360, simply go to Settings.  Under Monitoring and Notification – SMTP Settings simply enter your SendGrid account details. 

Click the Verify button to have a test email sent to your account.  It is that easy.

Using SendGrid with any Windows Azure application looks to be a great solution for sending email.