As companies build and extend their IT information assets, there is a need to integrate applications to exchange data. While a point-to-point application integration using custom code is possible, it does not address large-scale application integrations without duplication of data and the complexity of managing such an integration. BizTalk is a de facto choice for message-based integration for on-premises systems and for services on Azure for both applications and businesses.

In this book, we're going to introduce you to BizTalk Services, Microsoft's new integration middleware hosted on Windows Azure. This book assumes that you already understand the need for integration and the many benefits of using specialist integration software as opposed to building custom point-to-point integration solutions. We will look at why cloud-hosted integration services are so compelling and the scenarios in which these services make most sense. Prior knowledge of BizTalk Server is not expected, though it will help you to quickly understand certain topics within the book. We will assume you are a professional developer, an architect, or a solution designer familiar with the challenges of integrating heterogeneous systems and applications. The book also assumes familiarity of the Microsoft developer toolset, specifically .NET, Visual Studio, and SQL.

In this chapter, we will start to answer some fundamental questions around what BizTalk Services is and how it can help you to build integration solutions. Specifically, the following topics will be discussed: