Navigating the Dilemma: Migration from BizTalk Server to Azure Integration Services

Since 2004, many organizations have heavily invested in building their integration platforms using BizTalk Server to meet their business needs. Microsoft has continuously improved BizTalk Server by adding more enterprise integration capabilities, and organizations have easily upgraded to newer versions. However, in recent years, with the advent of cloud technologies, organizations are now considering their migration plans for the future.

As Microsoft promotes Azure Integration Services as an alternative to BizTalk Server, organizations currently using BizTalk Server version 2016 or 2013 are facing a dilemma. With the end-of-life support for BizTalk Server 2016 and 2013 approaching, organizations must discuss and decide on a migration plan.

The purpose of this blog is to provide guidance on the available migration paths, helping organizations to make informed decisions.

• Remain in On-Premises
• Migration to Azure Cloud
  • Lift & Shift
  • Cloud Native
  • Hybrid

Remain On-Premises: If an organization has decided to leverage its existing data center investments, it can remain on-premises while migrating to BizTalk Server 2020 from BizTalk Server 2016 or 2013. With the extended warranty for BizTalk Server 2020 ending on November 1, 2029, this option allows organizations to consider a cloud migration strategy.

Starting from BizTalk Server 2016 and continuing with BizTalk Server 2020, Microsoft has added capabilities that allow organizations to connect to Azure cloud services. This presents an excellent opportunity to explore Azure cloud functionality while remaining on-premises. By leveraging these capabilities, organizations can gradually move their integration workloads to the Cloud, taking advantage of Azure’s features while continuing to use their existing on-premises investments. This approach can be a viable first step in a hybrid cloud strategy, enabling organizations to realize the benefits of the Cloud at their own pace.

Migration to Azure Cloud

Lift & Shift: Organizations who decided to migrate to Azure Cloud but don’t want to take the risk of changing the existing architecture and design because implementing Azure Integration Services requires a complete rewrite of the current implementation, this option facilitates the taste of Azure Cloud and at the same time migrate the existing implementation As-Is. In this option, the BizTalk Server environment will be set up in Azure VMs, and migrate the code to BizTalk Server 2020 from BizTalk Server 2016 or 2013. The organization has many questions about setting up the BizTalk Server environment in Azure Cloud Vs. On-Premises. Few Organizations are moving in this direction, and they are successful.

Cloud Native: This is the most recommended option by Microsoft. As the world increasingly adopts cloud technologies, each organization is expected to migrate to the Cloud eventually. To facilitate this, Microsoft offers Azure Integration Services (AIS) for building integration platforms on the Azure Cloud. For organizations using BizTalk Server, the integration platform developed using BizTalk Server can be migrated to Azure Cloud using AIS. Microsoft is doing its best to encourage organizations to migrate their integration platforms to Azure Cloud by providing tools, documentation, white papers, and more. The AIS includes:

• Logic Apps
• Service Bus
• APIM
• Event Grid
• Function Apps
• Azure Data Factory

It’s important to note that there is no direct comparison between BizTalk Server components and AIS, and migrating to AIS from BizTalk Server requires a complete rewrite of code development, deployment, and monitoring, except for a few components like Schemas and XSLTs.

Hybrid: The hybrid approach enables organizations to run both on-premises and Cloud implementations simultaneously. By leveraging this approach, organizations can continue using their current on-premises implementation while adding new functionality in the Azure Cloud. To adopt this approach, organizations can migrate their existing BizTalk Server 2016 or 2013 to BizTalk Server 2020 on-premises and incorporate new functionality using Azure Integration Services (AIS). It’s crucial to upgrade to BizTalk Server 2020 because it includes various built-in adapters and capabilities that facilitate connecting on-premises and cloud resources.

Seamless Integration Migration with YASH

At YASH, we specialize in facilitating integration migration. Our team deeply understands BizTalk Server and Azure Integration Services, and we offer a range of migration solutions tailored to each organization’s specific needs. Our cloud infrastructure team provides best practices and standards for setting up infrastructure in the Cloud, ensuring seamless implementation. We have a proven track record of successfully delivering projects involving migration from BizTalk Server 2013/2016 to BizTalk Server 2020 and migration from BizTalk Server 2013/2016 to AIS. Contact us today to learn more about how YASH can help your organization develop a migration strategy for your integration platform.

• Azure Integration Services
• BizTalk Server
• Microsoft BizTalk
• Migration from BizTalk Server