The latest accelerator for RosettaNet, Microsoft's product for supply-chain integration in high-tech manufacturing, supports BizTalk Server 2004 and the latest versions of the RosettaNet business-to-business (B2B) transaction standards. The accelerator is a set of BizTalk Server add-on components and documentation for B2B transactions, such as ordering products and submitting engineering change requests. Based on the RosettaNet standards for "high-tech manufacturing" businesses (such as semiconductor and PC component vendors), the new accelerator could help Microsoft and partners move the more scalable BizTalk Server 2004 into those businesses, which would in turn provide high-profile demonstrations for IT buyers.

Updated Standards, Monitoring

According to Microsoft, version 3.0 of the BizTalk Server Accelerator for RosettaNet supports all RosettaNet process standards (called Partner Interface Processes, or PIPs) published as of the accelerator's Mar. 2004 release. Like the previous version, this version of the accelerator supports versions 1.1 and 2.0 of the RosettaNet Implementation Framework (RNIF), a set of standards for message formats and network protocols used by all PIPs. (According to Microsoft, the accelerator has been certified RosettaNet Ready for version 2.0.)

This version updates support for the Chemical Industry Data Exchange (CIDX) Chem eStandards (to version 2.0.2); these standards support B2B transactions of chemicals by using the RNIF. However, version 3.0 of the accelerator does not support the similar Petroleum Industry Data Exchange (PIDX) standards that were supported in the previous version.

New in this version of the accelerator is a user interface for monitoring RosettaNet processes. It exploits Health and Activity Tracking (HAT), a new feature of BizTalk Server 2004.

Requirements, Availability, and Resources

The BizTalk Accelerator for RosettaNet 3.0 requires BizTalk Server 2004, which in turn requires Windows Server 2003 and SQL Server 2000. Because BizTalk Server 2004 is not backward-compatible, RosettaNet solutions built on versions 2.0 or prior will need considerable migration work to come forward to 3.0.

The Standard Edition of the Accelerator runs on the Standard Edition of BizTalk Server and costs US$4,999 per processor (volume discounts apply). The US$19,999 Enterprise Edition of the Accelerator is required for the Enterprise Edition of BizTalk Server. The accelerator is available only through volume license channels.

For further information, see www.microsoft.com/biztalk/evaluation/rosettanet.