Specifying a BizTalk Server Solution

BizTalk Server solutions specify business processes, message handling, and systems and interfaces to integrate disparate applications. Shown here is a solution for a simplified business process wherein a BizTalk Server solution mediates the exchange of purchase orders between one company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) application and another’s order management system. BizTalk Server acts as a hub for communication between the systems.

To specify and design the solution, business analysts and developers must define and implement the following:

Business processes. Business analysts define the mechanics of business processes, which developers implement in programs called “orchestrations.” Orchestrations define the conditions and sequence under which messages are exchanged among the applications involved in the process. In the illustration, an orchestration dictates how a purchase order generated by the ERP system (labeled “ERP-PO”) is handled: if the purchase order amount is under a defined limit, send a message with the purchase order to the supplier; otherwise, reject the purchase order and send a message with a rejection notice to the ERP system.