With the introduction of BizTalk Server in 2000, Microsoft sparked a revolution in the integration industry proving that integration and process automation technology didn’t have to be prohibitively expensive or hard to use. Today, over 7,000 organizations rely on BizTalk Server to integrate systems and automate processes across global supply chains. With the introduction of the fifth full version, BizTalk Server 2006 R2 builds upon the Business Process Management and SOA/ESB capabilities in prior releases to help organizations extend core process management technologies even further with new capabilities like native support for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), AS2 and RFID, and close alignment with the upcoming releases of 2007 Microsoft Office system and Windows Vista, including key .NET Framework technologies such as Windows Workflow Foundation and Windows Communication Foundation.

BizTalk Server 2006 R2 puts real-time, end to end supply chain management within reach of every customer, spanning systems, people and processes, both within and across organizational boundaries. BizTalk Server 2006 R2 empowers customers to make informed business decisions with real-time data from geographically dispersed, yet integrated systems – putting you one step ahead of the competition. All this coupled with the confidence of an enterprise class infrastructure, regardless of your company size. Your Business, Connected.

Extend—Supply Chains to the Edge

BizTalk Server 2006 R2 helps organizations cost effectively manage their supply chain from the factory to the storefront. An end to end integrated supply chain allows organizations to drive maximum efficiency through visibility into critical business processes, and tighter collaboration with trading partners. With new capabilities such as native support for EDI and RFID, BizTalk Server 2006 R2 provides the ability to gather data from the edge of the enterprise, enabling real time visibility across business processes and trading partners.

Connect—SOA and Interop on a Unified Platform

BizTalk Server 2006 R2 provides the infrastructure to connect existing applications (regardless of the platform) and to compose, expose, and consume new services. This allows you to get more out of the investments that you have already made and minimize the cost of integrating the new pieces of technology that you have acquired. Because BizTalk Server includes tools to connect both proprietary and standards based systems and pre-integrates with the .NET Framework, BizTalk Server is a central part of any SOA strategy.

Additionally, a broad array of technology and application adapters is available for BizTalk Server. With out-of-the-box support for everything from transport protocols such as FTP, SOAP, and MQSeries, to high level integration with line of business applications such as PeopleSoft, SAP, and Siebel, you choose how you want to connect applications, platforms and people – we provide the tools to do it.

• Line of business application adapters
• WS-* based standards
• .NET Framework (WCF, Windows SharePoint® Services, SQL Server™, Microsoft Dynamics™) 
• Mainframe and midrange systems
• XML and Web Services protocols (e.g. SOAP)
• Devices (RFID)

Deliver—Enterprise Proven Solutions

BizTalk Server 2006 R2 helps organizations cost effectively manage their supply chain from the factory to the storefront. An end to end integrated supply chain allows organizations to drive maximum efficiency through visibility into critical business processes, and tighter collaboration with trading partners. With new capabilities such as native support for EDI and RFID, BizTalk Server 2006 R2 provides the ability to gather data from the edge of the enterprise, enabling real time visibility across business processes and trading partners.

Quick Facts:

• Over 7,000 customers worldwide
• 90% of the Fortune Global 100 use BizTalk Server
• Leader in the 2007 Gartner Application Infrastructure and Back-End Application Integration Magic Quadrants
• Leader in the 2007 Application Server Platforms: Conventional Web, Conventional SOA and Independent SOA Forrester Waves
• 12 of the 15 largest retailers in the world run BizTalk Server

More informations about Microsoft Biz Talk Server.