Do you have a BizTalk migration in progress or about to start? Could holding on for Microsoft’s new BizTalk migration tool – coming in autumn 2020 – be the smart move?
The BizTalk migration tool (properly referred to as the BizTalk Migrator) will help businesses to simplify integration modernisation as more system architecture and apps move to the cloud.
In this article, we look at what you should do if you’ve already started a BizTalk Server migration or if you have one about to kick off.
You might feel you’ve been here before. We know we have. Past attempts have been made to create mini-tooling to handle BizTalk Server migrations. But this time feels different to us: Microsoft are putting serious effort into the BizTalk Migrator – and what’s coming in autumn 2020 excites us.
So, should you wait? Our short answer: the BizTalk Migrator will offer lots of benefits and so it is worth waiting until autumn 2020 for this.
Our longer answer: well, that’s what we’re digging into below.
The case for waiting for the BizTalk Migrator tool
Here’s our take on why holding on for Microsoft’s migration tool might be a good idea:
- Your migration will be cheaper: we believe the migration tool is going to handle much of the heavy lifting associated with moving BizTalk Server installations to the cloud. The end result should be a migration that presents fewer headaches and that saves businesses money. Pausing your migration now seems likely to be kind on your budget in a few months’ time.
- The wait isn’t that long: large migrations tend not to be quick anyway, and we’ve known some to take a couple of years to complete. In that context, waiting for autumn 2020 (let’s call it 2–4 months from the time of writing) isn’t that long to hold out for a tool that should make your migration cheaper. But a migration doesn’t need to be huge and hairy to benefit from waiting for the migration tool – even smaller, simpler projects would do well to use this, too.
- The best brains have worked on the tool: it looks as though the tool will be based on integration patterns. You might be used to logic apps being easy to get started with, but turning those into enterprise-grade integration apps isn’t straightforward – and the migration tool can do some of this work for you.
- Valuable reporting: the BizTalk Migrator will generate a free report about the state of your current BizTalk applications. This could provide valuable insight that leads to a quicker, cheaper and less painful migration – and remember that this reporting is free.
- Consistency by design: coding apps piecemeal for your migration is unlikely to give you the consistency of using the BizTalk Migrator, which should make all apps feel as though they’re overlaid on the same framework. The migrator will mean you know what you’re going to get for all of the apps in scope.
Get early access to the BizTalk Migrator tool
Autumn 2020 isn’t far off but perhaps you just can’t wait that long (we know what it feels like).
The good news is that you should be able to gain access to a private preview of the BizTalk Server migration tool. That means the software might not be quite perfect, but it should give you confidence about what an actual migration via the fully released tool would entail.
Get in touch with us and we’ll help you get access to the pre-release version of the BizTalk Migrator.
What if you can’t wait?
We think it’s smart to hold on for the BizTalk Migrator, but what if that’s not possible? There may be some cases where you just need or want to crack on, such as:
- Your budget is already spent: timings and expenditures mean that you need to proceed with your current migration plan, regardless of how much the BizTalk migration tool might be able to assist you.
- Your in-house team has the brains for the task: we know from managing BizTalk Server installations that smooth migrations are not easy to execute. If you’re brave, you might fancy putting your team head-to-head against the best brains that Microsoft have deployed in developing this migration tool.
- You’re not looking to migrate to Azure: The BizTalk Migrator helps get you onto Azure, as this is Microsoft’s platform. You may have chosen a different technology platform, and in this case this BizTalk Migration Tool won’t help you.
Get in touch for help with your BizTalk Server migration
Get in touch for help with your BizTalk Server migration
We’re keeping a close eye on developments to see how the BizTalk Migrator can help businesses manage a smooth migration to the cloud. We love talking about this stuff, so if fancy a no-strings chat to clear up a few things about your migration projects, drop us a line.
You can learn more about our work in the integration modernisation space by joining one of our free webinars – or just watch the recordings!
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