Migrating Microsoft BizTalk to Azure Integration Services

Microsoft BizTalk Server has been a trusted solution for enterprise integration, enabling businesses to connect disparate systems, automate workflows and ensure data exchange. However, with Microsoft announcing plans to end support for BizTalk in 2030, organisations face a critical decision point: continue relying on an aging platform or transition to a modern, cloud-native solution.

As businesses increasingly shift towards cloud-native solutions, many organisations using Microsoft BizTalk Server for enterprise integration are considering moving to Azure Integration Services (AIS). By migrating to Azure Integration Services (AIS), businesses not only ensure compliance and security for the future but also gain access to tools that simplify integration management and reduce operational costs.

This article outlines the key considerations, benefits and steps involved in migrating from Microsoft BizTalk to Azure Integration Services.

What is Microsoft BizTalk?

Microsoft BizTalk Server is a business process automation and integration tool designed to enable organisations to connect different systems, applications and data sources. Launched in 2000, BizTalk has long been a cornerstone for enterprise integration, particularly for industries with complex workflows such as finance, healthcare and supply chain management.

BizTalk’s core features include:

• Orchestrations: Allowing businesses to automate and coordinate multi-step processes across various systems.
• Adapters: Providing connectivity to popular enterprise systems such as SAP, Oracle, SQL Server and web services.
• Pipelines: Facilitating the transformation of messages between formats like XML, EDI and flat files.
• Messaging: Enabling reliable communication between systems through a robust message queuing infrastructure.
• Business Rules Engine (BRE): Allowing users to define, manage and execute business rules independently of application code.

Despite its reliability, BizTalk operates within the constraints of an on-premises environment and a monolithic architecture. These limitations can hinder agility, scalability and cost-efficiency, making it challenging to meet the demands of modern integration scenarios. With Microsoft phasing out support for BizTalk by 2030, organisations must plan for a strategic migration.

Why consider migrating to Azure Integration Services?

It’s a fair question: if your current BizTalk Server solution has been running smoothly for years, why disrupt the status quo to migrate to a different technology? At first glance, maintaining a stable, tried-and-true system might seem like the safest and most cost-effective option. However, as technology evolves and business needs grow more complex, sticking with legacy systems can create significant challenges and missed opportunities in the long term.

As businesses increasingly adopt cloud-first strategies, migrating from on-premises solutions like BizTalk to Azure Integration Services offers significant advantages. 

Let’s explore why migrating from BizTalk to Azure Integration Services (AIS) is not just a proactive move but a strategic necessity for future-proofing your organisation.

1. Cloud-native advantages

While BizTalk has served as a robust integration platform, it is based on an on-premises, monolithic architecture that limits scalability and agility. Migrating to AIS gives you access to modern, cloud-native technologies that deliver:

• On-Demand Scalability: Azure’s serverless architecture can scale automatically to handle peak loads.
• Reduce infrastructure costs: Pay-as-you-go pricing reduces the need for upfront capital expenditures.
• Global Availability: Azure’s global data centers ensure low-latency integration across regions.

In contrast to BizTalk, which requires constant updates and manual scaling, AIS handles these complexities behind the scenes, freeing your team to focus on innovation.

2. Modern architecture

AIS enables organisations to adopt advanced technologies such as:

• Microservices: Simplify application development by breaking complex systems into smaller, manageable services.
• Event-Driven Integration: Use Azure Event Grid to process events in real-time, enabling faster responses to business changes.
• AI and IoT Integration: Combine Azure Logic Apps with AI and IoT tools to create intelligent workflows that improve decision-making and operational efficiency.

Migrating to AIS positions your organisation to meet these demands while preparing for the technology trends of tomorrow.

3. Costs of the platform

Azure Integration Services (AIS) offers a cost-efficient, scalable pricing model that contrasts with the substantial upfront investments often required by BizTalk. Businesses adopting AIS benefit from a pay-as-you-go approach, where costs are directly tied to resource usage. This model provides:

• Increased ROI: Minimising resource waste ensures a better return on investment.
• Predictable expenses: Simplifies budgeting and cost forecasting.

In contrast, maintaining an on-premises BizTalk Server infrastructure entails significant expenses, including hardware procurement, system updates and software patching. Azure Integration Services simplifies cost management by eliminating these complexities through:

• Automatic updates: The serverless design ensures continuous updates, keeping the platform current without manual intervention.
• Lower maintenance costs: No physical infrastructure to maintain or dedicated resources for system administration.
• Built-In resilience: Designed with high availability and disaster recovery capabilities, reducing the financial risks associated with downtime.

This streamlined operational framework allows IT teams to focus on strategic priorities instead of routine maintenance tasks.

What are the costs of keeping BizTalk running?

Maintaining a BizTalk Server requires a variety of costs that contribute to its total cost of ownership (TCO):

1. Licensing costs: Licenses for BizTalk Server, Windows Server and Microsoft SQL Server are essential. Advanced requirements, such as load balancing or high availability, may necessitate more costly SQL Enterprise licenses to create clusters.
2. Infrastructure expenses: Running the software stack typically requires on-premises data centers or managed private hosting solutions to ensure sufficient server or virtual machine capacity.
3. Ongoing maintenance: Beyond the initial setup, administrative efforts for system updates, security patches and performance optimisation add to the overall expense. These tasks often demand a skilled IT team, further increasing the operational costs.

By migrating to Azure Integration Services, businesses can reduce these costs, use a modernised platform and reallocate resources to initiatives that drive innovation and growth.

4. End-of-life challenges for BizTalk

One of the most pressing reasons to consider migration is that Microsoft plans to end extended support for BizTalk Server in 2030. While your current solution might work well today, the clock is ticking on future updates, security patches and technical support. Running unsupported software introduces risks, including:

• Security vulnerabilities: A lack of updates leaves systems exposed to cyber threats.
• Compliance issues: Regulatory standards often require up-to-date technology.
• Increased costs: Supporting an outdated system can result in higher operational expenses and specialised resource needs.

Proactively transitioning to Azure Integration Services ensures you remain compliant, secure and fully supported by Microsoft’s evolving ecosystem.

Azure Integration Services: A complete overview

Azure Integration Services combines a suite of  tools that work together to address a variety of integration scenarios. Understanding these tools is crucial for planning the migration.

1. Azure Logic Apps

Azure Logic Apps provide a visual, low-code/no-code interface for automating workflows. They enable businesses to:

• Connect systems via pre-built connectors for popular applications like Salesforce, SAP and Microsoft Dynamics.
• Build complex workflows with ease using a drag-and-drop designer.
• Automate routine processes such as data synchronization, notification generation, or file transfers.

2. Azure API Management (APIM)

Azure API Management is a secure and scalable solution for managing APIs throughout their lifecycle. Key features include:

• Security: Protect APIs with authentication, authorisation and IP restrictions.
• Monitoring: Gain insights into API usage and performance.
• Developer Enablement: Provide developers with self-service portals to access APIs and documentation.

3. Azure Service Bus

Azure Service Bus facilitates reliable asynchronous communication between services. It is ideal for:

• Queue-based messaging to handle high-load scenarios.
• Decoupling systems to ensure that failures in one part do not impact others.
• Processing messages in a fault-tolerant manner with retry policies.

4. Azure Event Grid

Azure Event Grid enables real-time event routing between sources and handlers. Use cases include:

• Building reactive applications that respond to events immediately.
• Integrating with Azure resources like Blob Storage, IoT devices, or custom topics.
• Simplifying event processing with centralised management.

Migration approaches: Choosing the right path

Migrating from BizTalk Server to Azure Integration Services (AIS) is a strategic move. However, every organisation’s migration journey is unique, so it is very important to select the right migration approach. Below are the key migration approaches to consider:

1. Rehosting (Lift-and-Shift)

This approach involves migrating your existing BizTalk applications and infrastructure to Azure with minimal changes.

Key characteristics:

• Fast Implementation: Ideal for organisations looking to move quickly to the cloud.
• Preserves Existing Architecture: No significant redesign of workflows or integration logic. Scenarios where BizTalk’s orchestrations can be directly mirrored in Logic Apps.
• Cost Considerations: May involve higher operational costs if legacy workflows are not optimised for the cloud.

Best for:

Organisations with limited time or resources to reengineer their integration workflows but still want to benefit from Azure's scalability and infrastructure.

2. Incremental migration (Replatform)

In the replatforming approach, specific integrations are gradually moved to Azure while others remain in BizTalk during the transition. 

Key characteristics:

• Selective optimisation: Migrate components that are most cost-effective and efficient in Azure, such as using Logic Apps for specific integrations.
• Balanced investment: Requires moderate changes to align with Azure’s features without a full redesign.
• Improved performance: Increases operational efficiency by utilising Azure-native tools like API Management and Service Bus.
• Reduced risk: Test workloads in Azure without disrupting existing operations.
• Phased adoption: Allow teams to familiarise themselves with Azure before fully migrating.

Best for:

Organisations seeking to balance migration speed with cost and performance optimisation.

3. Refactor or Rebuild

This approach involves redesigning and reengineering integration workflows to fully utilise Azure’s modern serverless architecture.

Key characteristics:

• Future-proof solution: Enables organisations to take full advantage of Azure services such as Azure Logic Apps, Azure Event Grid and Azure Functions.
• Optimised for scalability: Ideal for high-volume integrations or complex workflows.
• Greater investment: Requires more time and resources upfront but delivers long-term benefits.

Best for:

Businesses that aim to modernise their integration strategy, replace outdated workflows and create a cloud-native solution tailored for future growth.

4. Hybrid Approach

Some businesses may choose to retain critical BizTalk components on-premises while integrating Azure for new workloads, allowing them to migrate incrementally.

Key characteristics:

• Gradual transition: Retain critical BizTalk components while shifting certain integrations to Azure.
• Risk mitigation: Reduces disruption to existing operations during migration.
• Flexibility: Ideal for scenarios where regulatory or operational constraints prevent a complete move to the cloud.

Best for:

Organisations that need to manage compliance, preserve legacy systems or phase out BizTalk over time while adopting Azure.

Steps to migrate from BizTalk to Azure Integration Services

Migrating from BizTalk to Azure Integration Services (AIS) involves a series of well-defined steps to ensure a smooth transition while minimising disruptions. Here's a step-by-step guide:

1. Assess your BizTalk environment

Understanding the current environment provides a clear picture of the migration scope, helping prioritise critical integrations and avoid unexpected issues.

What to do:

• Conduct a full inventory of all BizTalk components, including:
• • Orchestrations.
  • Adapters and pipelines.
  • Custom scripts or extensions.
• Use the BizTalk Migration Assessment Tool (BMAT) to evaluate which components can be directly migrated and which need re-engineering.
• Identify dependencies on external systems, databases, or third-party APIs to understand how systems interact.
• Set goals: Define what success looks like for your migration, whether it’s cost savings, scalability, or improved functionality.

2. Design the Azure architecture

A well-designed architecture ensures that the new system is efficient, resilient and future-proof.

What to do:

• Map BizTalk functionalities to Azure services:
• • Replace orchestrations with Azure Logic Apps or Azure Functions.
  • Use Azure API Management for managing and exposing APIs.
  • Adopt Azure Service Bus as a solution for messaging and integration
• Plan for critical requirements like high availability, disaster recovery and scalability using Azure’s built-in features.
• Create a blueprint of the architecture, showing how services will interact.

3. Prepare the Azure Environment

Preparing the environment ensures a seamless deployment and avoids configuration-related delays.

What to do:

• Set up Azure resources, including:
• • Resource groups for logical organisation.
  • Azure subscriptions to manage costs and resources.
• Configure networking with Virtual Networks (VNets) and secure connections.
• Establish monitoring tools such as Azure Monitor and Application Insights for tracking performance and errors.

4. Migrate data and schemas

Correct schema and data migration ensures that workflows function as intended without data loss or corruption.

What to do:

• Export BizTalk schemas and data mappings.
• Adapt schemas to Azure standards using tools like Liquid Templates or custom transformations.
• Validate schemas and mappings through extensive testing to ensure data consistency.

5. Migrate workflows and orchestrations

Properly migrating workflows preserves the functionality of the original system while making use of Azure’s advanced capabilities.

What to do:

• Rebuild BizTalk workflows in Azure Logic Apps or Azure Functions using the exported mappings and orchestrations as a reference.
• Integrate Azure API Management to replace BizTalk’s adapters.
• Use Azure Event Grid for event-driven integrations, where necessary.
• Test workflows thoroughly in a non-production environment.

6. Implement security and compliance

Security and compliance are critical for maintaining trust, avoiding legal penalties, and protecting sensitive data.

What to Do:

• Use Azure Key Vault to manage secrets, certificates and encryption keys.
• Configure access controls using Azure Active Directory (AAD) for authentication and role-based access.
• Ensure compliance with regional regulations like GDPR by utilising Azure’s compliance tools and managing data residency.

7. Test the migrated solution

Testing identifies and resolves potential issues before the system goes live, reducing downtime and risks.

What to do:

• Perform functional, integration and load testing to ensure the new system meets performance and reliability standards.
• Test error-handling mechanisms to validate system robustness.
• Compare test results with baseline BizTalk performance to ensure parity or improvement.

8. Deploy to production

A controlled deployment minimises downtime and ensures business continuity.

What to do:

• Plan the deployment to minimise disruption, ideally during non-peak hours.
• Roll out the new system gradually, starting with non-critical workflows before migrating essential processes.
• Monitor performance post-deployment using Azure Monitor and resolve any issues that arise.

9. Optimise and Monitor

Ongoing optimisation ensures the system remains cost-effective, reliable and aligned with organisational goals.

What to do:

• Use Azure Cost Management to track expenses and optimise resource usage.
• Continuously monitor system performance with Azure Monitor and Application Insights  and make adjustments as needed.
• Regularly review and refine workflows to improve efficiency, adapt to changing business needs and address any bottlenecks.

The diagram below illustrates an example of an initial migration setup, featuring a Standard Logic App that orchestrates workflows while interacting with APIs, services, hybrid solutions and on-premises resources.

Diagram: Initial migration environment with Standard Logic App orchestration. Resource: Microsoft Learn

Mapping BizTalk Artifacts to Azure Integration Services

Migrating to Azure Integration Services (AIS) involves aligning the existing BizTalk components with their equivalent Azure solutions. Here’s how this process can be approached:

The table and diagram below provide a general comparison of resources, artifacts, features and capabilities across BizTalk Server and Azure Integration Services. Although Azure Logic Apps serves as a central platform for integration tasks, it’s essential to evaluate the full range of functionalities offered by Azure Integration Services and the broader Azure ecosystem.

Diagram: Comparison of resources and capabilities: BizTalk Server vs. Azure Integration Services. Resource: Microsoft Learn

Common migration challenges 

Migrating from BizTalk to Azure Integration Services (AIS) can present several challenges. Identifying and addressing these issues early in the process ensures a smoother transition. Below are some common challenges:

1. Complex orchestrations:
   Break large orchestrations into smaller, modular Logic Apps workflows.
2. Custom pipelines:
   Replace custom pipelines with Azure Functions or use API Management for extensibility.
3. Skill caps:
   Provide hands-on training for your IT team and ensure they are equipped to manage Azure services effectively.
4. Compliance and security:
   Ensure the new architecture meets compliance requirements using Azure's robust security tools and governance features.

Conclusion

Migrating from Microsoft BizTalk Server to Azure Integration Services (AIS) is a critical step for organizations looking to modernize their integration platforms, reduce operational costs and future-proof their business. With BizTalk’s end-of-support deadline approaching in 2030, the time to act is now. 

We understand that migration can be a complex and time-intensive process. That’s why we’re here to help. 

Don’t let the challenges of migration slow your progress. Start your journey with us today, and together we’ll transform your integration strategy into a smarter, more connected and future-proof solution.

Contact us now to begin your migration journey!

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