Adapter Connects BizTalk 2004 and SAP

An updated BizTalk Adapter for SAP reduces the amount of code developers must write to incorporate SAP business management applications into BizTalk 2004 integration solutions. The SAP Adapter is one of a series of adapters and accelerators being updated for BizTalk Server 2004, which is not fully backward-compatible with the previous version. Microsoft’s Adapter for SAP is similar to an adapter from partner iWay Software, indicating that Microsoft will compete with partners in BizTalk add-on markets that it deems critical to the success of the product.

Adapters Link BizTalk to Other Systems

BizTalk Server is a messaging and business-logic processing platform that is used for enterprise application integration (EAI) and business-to-business (B2B) integration. For example, a BizTalk solution could coordinate exchange of data between a Web-based system used to capture online purchase orders and a back-end SAP application that processes and tracks those orders. BizTalk Server uses modular connection components (called “adapters”) to exchange messages with the systems being integrated.