Microsoft Delivers Technology Preview of BizTalk Server 2006

Microsoft Corp. today announced that it will include 16 new application and technology adapters in the Enterprise and Standard editions of BizTalk® Server 2006 at no additional charge, including adapters for Oracle Corp., PeopleSoft and Siebel Systems Inc.

“Enterprises and medium-sized businesses continue to rank the integration of diverse applications and the automation of business processes among their most pressing IT needs,” said Robert Wahbe, general manager of the Connected Systems Division at Microsoft.

This announcement marks a significant break from the industry norm of charging additional license fees for application and technology adapters, and offers customers a simple and cost-effective way to reduce the complexity of purchasing, building and implementing application integration and business process automation solutions. Separately, Microsoft announced pricing, licensing and product timelines for BizTalk Server 2006.

The new version of Microsoft® BizTalk Server will feature 16 new adapters, nine of which were previously developed or sold by third parties. BizTalk Server 2006 Enterprise and Standard editions will include adapters for Oracle Database Connector, Oracle Application Suite, PeopleSoft and Siebel, all of which are now in beta 1 form for customers to experience.

“Organizations continue to look for integration solutions that jump-start individual projects and scale easily for enterprisewide deployments,” said Janelle Hill, research vice president at Gartner Inc.

With the release of BizTalk Server 2006’s Community Technology Preview (CTP), enterprise customers are beginning to experience the new management and deployment features in the product. These features include new tools to upgrade mission-critical solutions built on BizTalk Server 2004 and manage those solutions more efficiently.