Chapter 1. BizTalk in the Enterprise

The BizTalk Server 2009 product is a group of application services that facilitate the rapid creation of integration solutions. BizTalk Server is designed specifically to integrate disparate systems in a loosely coupled way. BizTalk Server is a toolkit, and within this toolkit you will find tools to help you build your application. The trick, like the wise Scottish man said, is "using the right tool for the right job."

The art of creating a BizTalk solution is exactly that—using the right tool from the BizTalk toolkit to accomplish the task at hand. If you were to look at two BizTalk projects that address identical problems, designed by two architects, you would most likely see two completely different-looking solutions. Both solutions would probably work; however, generally one solution would be more correct because it would properly use BizTalk's tools as they were intended. This book will attempt to address how to properly use each of the tools within BizTalk in the manner in which they were intended. The other thing the book will do is show how each of the tools can be used to solve integration problems in an efficient way. In reality, though, most of the features within BizTalk are flexible enough that you can generally solve most problems using only one piece of the BizTalk puzzle.