by stephen-w-thomas | Apr 28, 2012 | Stephen's BizTalk and Integration Blog
For those of you who do not know, one of the features of BizTalkGurus.com is the aggregate blog feed. This feed goes back over 8 years and has over 8,000 posts.
Since I started the BizTalk feed, I have expanded the aggregate feeds to include App Fabric and Windows Workflow.
About once a year, I review Google to see if I am missing any BizTalk Blogs that should be included in the aggregate feed. It is that time of year again but this time I would like some help.
In doing so, I’ll be giving away a copy of Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010 Patters book by Dan Rosanova published by Packt Publishing. This book is available from Packt and Amazon.
As a 2nd place prize, I will be giving away a copy of Pro Business Activity monitoring in BizTalk 2009 signed by BOTH authors!
To enter, just post a link to a BizTalk related blog not currently included in my aggregate feed. If you do not want to post a comment, just send me an email with the link. Just make sure I can contact you if you win . Take a look at the current blogs below included in the feed to see who is not included.
I will be picking two winners at random after Sunday May 6th.
Good Luck!
List of BizTalk blogs currently featured on BizTalkGurus.com
http://abdulrafaysbiztalk.wordpress.com/feed/
http://biztalkmessages.vansplunteren.net/feed/
http://blog.eliasen.dk/SyndicationService.asmx/GetRss
http://bloggingabout.net/blogs/wellink/rss.aspx
http://blogs.breezetraining.com.au/mickb/SyndicationService.asmx/GetRss
http://fehlberg.wordpress.com/feed/
http://msinnovations.wordpress.com/feed/
http://sandroaspbiztalkblog.wordpress.com/feed/
http://santoshbenjamin.wordpress.com/feed/
http://seroter.wordpress.com/feed
http://soa-thoughts.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss
http://weblogs.asp.net/gsusx/rss.aspx
http://weblogs.asp.net/woutercrooy/rss.aspx
http://www.bizbert.com/bizbert/SyndicationService.asmx/GetRss
http://www.blogbiztalk.com/?feed=rss2
http://www.masteringbiztalk.com/blogs/jon/SyndicationService.asmx/GetRss
http://consultingblogs.emc.com/matthall/rss.aspx
http://biztalkbill.com/Rss.aspx
http://www.kriegermartin.de/wordpress/feed/en
http://blog.sabratech.co.uk/feeds/posts/default
http://www.quicklearn.com/blog/syndication.axd
http://blog.cnext.eu/feed/
http://feeds.feedburner.com/modhul/eSXP
http://feeds.feedburner.com/Bizknowledge/rss
http://feeds.feedburner.com/BeLogical-WritingsByJohanHedberg
http://feeds.feedburner.com/Bia-TheBiztalkIntelligenceAgency
http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/bencops
http://feeds.feedburner.com/danielberg?format=xml
http://feeds.feedburner.com/dotrichard
http://feeds.feedburner.com/KentWearesBiztalkBlog
http://feeds.feedburner.com/modhul/eSXP
http://feeds.feedburner.com/SaravanaKumar
http://feeds.feedburner.com/TimRayburnsBlog
http://feeds.feedburner.com/wmmihaa
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/Commonality
http://geekswithblogs.net/cyoung/Rss.aspx
http://geekswithblogs.net/andym/Rss.aspx
http://geekswithblogs.net/paulp/rss.aspx
http://geekswithblogs.net/asmith/Rss.aspx
http://geekswithblogs.net/leonidganeline/rss.aspx
http://geekswithblogs.net/michaelstephenson/Rss.aspx
http://geekswithblogs.net/EltonStoneman/Rss.aspx
http://blogs.technet.com/b/jpierauc/rss.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/adapters/rss.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/gzunino/rss.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/neilth/rss.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/nabeelp/rss.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/skaufman/rss.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/biztalk_server_team_blog/rss.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/cvidotto/rss.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ewanf/rss.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/biztalkcpr/rss.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/pkelcey/rss.xml
http://services.social.microsoft.com/feeds/feed/BizTalkServerTopDownloads
http://services.social.microsoft.com/feeds/feed/TechNetWikiArticles
http://services.social.microsoft.com/feeds/feed/BizTalkFeaturedContent
by stephen-w-thomas | Feb 15, 2012 | Stephen's BizTalk and Integration Blog
The results are in!
Out of a total of 12 blog post comments, the winner of the Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010 Patters Book published by Packet Publishing is Comment #8 – Mitch Vanhelden
As a 2nd place winner, I am also giving away a copy of Pro BAM in BizTalk Server 2009.
The winner of this book is .. Comment #10 – Eric Beyer
If you did not win this time, watch for a new contest in just a few days.
by stephen-w-thomas | Jan 31, 2012 | Stephen's BizTalk and Integration Blog
It is amazing how time flies! It seems like just yesterday my book on Applied Architecture Patterns hit the shelves, but that was almost a year and a half ago now.
A few months ago, a new BizTalk patterns book written by fellow BizTalk MVP Dan Rosanova has been released. It is called Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010 Patterns published by Packet Publishing.
What separates this book from other BizTalk books is it covers both BizTalk Basics & Patterns and a detailed overview of a real-life BizTalk Solution.
This book is available from Packet and Amazon. Currently, the Amazon Kindle version is available for around $18. This will be the best $18 you spend toward bettering your BizTalk knowledge!
Thanks to Packet Publishing I have a few copies of the book to give away!
This week I am going to give away a copy to a random comment on this blog post. Simply post a comment below (make sure you are a registered BizTalkGurus.com user or you include your email address so I can contact you if you win) about a BizTalk Pattern you use today or about Why You Need To Learn About BizTalk Patterns. I will pick a random winner from all comments received before the end of the day on Wednesday February 8th Central Time.
I will cover shipping of the book to any address the USPS delivers to worldwide.
If you do not win this time, watch for more upcoming ways to win!
by stephen-w-thomas | Sep 2, 2011 | Stephen's BizTalk and Integration Blog
Congratulations to Brett Tyrrell from Australia via Facebook and Mike Koerner (@michaelskoerner) from USA via Twitter for winning the BizTalk 2010 Line of Business Systems Integration books from Packet Publishing.
Watch for more great opportunities from BizTalkGurus.com in the new future.
by stephen-w-thomas | Aug 21, 2011 | Stephen's BizTalk and Integration Blog
Like I have done with many of the other new BizTalk books I have two copies of the new BizTalk 2010: Line of Business Systems Integration book by Kent Weare et al. published by Packt to give away. Not to worry, I will cover all shipping costs.
To enter: Either LIKE BizTalkGurus on Facebook or FOLLOW BizTalkGurus on Twitter. I will pick one winner from each site to win a free copy of the book. If you already like or follow us you are automatically entered to win! You must enter by end of day August 26th, 2011.
Read more about this book here on Packt’s website and do not forget to download the free sample chapter here.
Buy now from Amazon.com: Microsoft BizTalk 2010: Line of Business Systems Integration . Also available for the Kindle.
by stephen-w-thomas | Aug 15, 2011 | Stephen's BizTalk and Integration Blog
I’m back in the action again working on a large BizTalk Healthcare project after some time off.
This is the first time I’ve worked with HIPAA transactions like 270, 271, and others and so far I have learned a lot.
Like other projects I have worked on in the past, one of the first things I do is create projects and namespaces for the new code we have to build. This is usually something you did not have to put much thought into. But with transactions like 270 I went to make a namespace like BizTalk.270. This is all great until you deploy your code. Visual Studios will add an “_” into the namespace like BizTalk._270 and never tells you it did this. This is because .net namespaces cannot start with a number. This extends to anything following the “.” In the namespace as well.
Then, I figured I would try BizTalk.X12-270. But nope, hyphens are not allowed in namespaces as well.
I ended up at BizTalk.X12_270 but in the meantime I had to update all the projects twice to end up there. Next time, I will test things out on one project before I go and update 50 projects with a specific namespace format.
by stephen-w-thomas | Aug 10, 2011 | Stephen's BizTalk and Integration Blog
After starting off strong for the first part of 2011 with a major site upgrade to BizTalkGurus.com, blogging more frequently, and sending out new editions of The BizTalker, I have really dropped the ball for the past 6 months.
But let me explain. In the past 6 months my life has changed. We had our first baby on 2-9-11. His name is Westin. While a new baby in itself takes a lot of work Westin is very special. A few weeks after birth we noticed Westin just was not eating enough to put on any weight and that is when things started to get more complex.
To summarize what my past 6 months have been like: 29 nights in the hospital (5 separate stays), 11 days in the ICU, 3 MRI’s, 2 surgeries, 12 different doctors covering almost every part of the body, so many x-rays and ultrasounds I have lost count, and countless doctor appointments with as many as 8 in a week. Then Westin was finally diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called Costello Syndrome. They estimate less than 300 people in the world have this disorder. You can read more about Westin and his life with Costello Syndrome on his blog.
That said, we are hoping the hard part of not knowing what is wrong and not knowing what to expect is over so I am starting to get back into the swing of things. I’ve been back to work for a few months now, traveling again, and life is starting to look a little more normal. I have some upcoming blog posts and even new sample code almost ready and also have some more free BizTalk related books to give away.
Be on the lookout for more to come from me in the near future.
by stephen-w-thomas | Mar 10, 2011 | Stephen's BizTalk and Integration Blog
In the recent edition of The BizTalker Newsletter I featured the below article about BizTalk Adapters. Read the article below or join the newsletter to have it delivered directly to your email. I welcome any comments. feedback, or thoughts on this subject.
BizTalk contains many built-in adapters for communication with external systems. When those built-in adapters do not meet the needs of your project, some hard decisions need to be made such as whether to buy an adapter, build an adapter using the framework, or use an adapter from CodePlex (i.e. open source). This article will take a look at the pros and cons of each approach.
Buy an Adapter: While this option would require an outlay of cash up front, it can be advantageous in terms of support and speed of implementation.
Pros:
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Support is provided by the adapter vendor which can be rapid and 24×7.
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Adapter vendor provides a simple, legal licensing model.
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Purchased adapters are usually buy now, install tomorrow so there is no lag time to get up and running.
Cons:
Build an Adapter: While this can seem like the obvious answer for a software or consulting company, usually this is a large undertaking. I talked with the writers of the famous SFTP Adapter on CodePlex. They said it took 300 to 400 hours of effort to build that adapter. Out of this time, it took about 200 hours just to learn the adapter framework and the rest to implement the protocol-specific logic. Even at a conservative rate of $100 per hour, this is between $30,000 and $40,000.
Pros:
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There could potentially be additional services revenue for the company and they may maintain Intellectual Property (IP) rights.
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You have the complete flexibility to build what you want and how you want it.
Cons:
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The company that builds the adapter will have to do the maintenance and support.
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The building company may not be a subject matter expert in either the BizTalk Adapters Framework or the implementation protocol.
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It could take a significant amount of time to complete, test, and deploy.
Use a CodePlex Adapter: CodePlex is a large open source software community. It hosts many different BizTalk Adapters. Some of the most popular are the SFTP Adapter and the Scheduled Task Adapter. Sometimes 3rd party support is available, but in general support is through community forums.
Pros:
Cons:
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There is no support for things that do not work as expected.
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There are gray areas in terms of licensing and the impact of customizations.
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When a new release is available, customizations need to be reapplied.
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Company legal policies might restrict or prohibit the use of open source code.
In my experience we have both bought an adapter and used CodePlex – both times with the SFTP Adapter. I have never built a custom adapter.
Lets take a deeper look at the decisions that impacted my situations.
Case 1 – Bought /n software SFTP Adapter. This was for a large Fortune 500 client. It was simple; the service contract with the client did not allow the use of any open source software due to license and support concerns. I am unsure of the cost of the SFTP Adapter, but using it was simple and we had no issues.
Case 2 – Used CodePlex SFTP Adapter. This was also for a large Fortune 500 client. While the adapter was free, it took about 40 hours over 3 weeks for legal to review the license and approve the use of the adapter. Also, we ran into a few situations that required customization of the adapter. This resulted in an additional 80 hours of development and testing effort. Total costs to us for the free adapter was at least 120 hours and this consulting firm charges much more than $100 per hour.
In conclusion, it is important to remember the trade-offs with each adapter choice. Remember that free does not always mean free and that even the best custom adapter could end up resulting in months (if not years) of support calls down the road.
by stephen-w-thomas | Feb 21, 2011 | Stephen's BizTalk and Integration Blog
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I had the honor of being the Technical Reviewer on the BizTalk 2006 Recipes book.
One of the authors, Mark Beckner, has updated the book for BizTalk 2010.
It is currently available on Amazon.com at 38% off list price.
This book covers the following topics:
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What’s New in BizTalk Server 2010
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Schemas
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Mapping
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Messaging and Pipelines
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Orchestrations
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Adapters
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Business Rules Framework
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EDI Solutions
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Deployment
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Administration and Operations
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Business Activity Monitoring
I would highly recommend this book for anyone new to BizTalk Server or wanting to brush up on BizTalk 2010 skills.
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by stephen-w-thomas | Feb 17, 2011 | Stephen's BizTalk and Integration Blog
Our book, Applied Architecture Patterns on the Microsoft Platform: An In-Depth Scenario-Driven Approach to Architecting Systems using Microsoft Technologies, is now available in India at a significant discount for orders placed and delivered in India! This type of discount is common with most technology books due to the difference in costs and wages in India vs. US and Europe.
Computer Bookshop is offering our book for 400 Rs (20% the normal price of 500 Rs). The direct link is: http://www.cb-india.com/Detail.aspx?prodId=16113&catid=777 Shipping varies by destination.
If you live in India, this is a great chance to get a copy of our book.
If you live in the US, our book is still available on Amazon.com using the link below.
Do not forget that anyone can download all the sample code for the book here: http://www.biztalkgurus.com/media/p/30260.aspx
