BizTalk end of life: how to plan your migration to Frends

At many organisations, BizTalk has been running quietly in the background for years. But the platform is entering its final stage: Microsoft won't release another version after BizTalk Server 2020.

Three dates matter:

• 31 March 2027 (end of sale): Microsoft is expected to stop the sale of new licences (opens in a new tab) on this date. Existing licences remain valid, of course.
• April 2028: mainstream support (opens in a new tab) ends. After that, you only get security updates (extended support).
• April 2030: extended support ends too. From then on, there are no more security updates or support.

Running BizTalk? Then three years may still feel like plenty of time. It might even end up on your list of "problems for future me".

But over ten to fifteen years, many BizTalk environments have grown into dozens or hundreds of integrations, with maps, orchestrations, custom adapters and code that sometimes only one colleague really understands.

You don't migrate a landscape like that in a few weeks. Those problems for "future me" may come knocking sooner than you think.

Reason enough to take the bull by the horns now.

What are your routes after BizTalk?

"Every disadvantage has its advantage," as Johan Cruyff put it. The end of BizTalk is a good moment to weigh up your options again.

You can stay put for now, migrate to Microsoft's own successor or use this moment to choose a different integration platform.

What makes sense for you depends on your landscape, your cloud strategy and the knowledge in your team.

We're not going to tell you that Frends is the best solution for everyone. The right choice depends on what's running now and where you want to go in the coming years.

But Frends is a good fit for teams that work with BizTalk. Here's why.

Why Frends suits teams that work with BizTalk

A new integration platform means new tooling. Even so, as a BizTalk team you don't start from scratch with Frends:

• Your knowledge stays useful. Frends runs on .NET 8 and you write logic in C#. That means you can often bring existing C# code across with limited changes.
• Processes become visible. You model integrations visually in BPMN 2.0, a standard notation for processes. That makes them easier to understand and hand over, including to colleagues who didn't build them.
• You choose where it runs. On-premises, in the cloud or hybrid. That gives you more say in where processes and data end up, which can matter for organisations with requirements around data sovereignty or operational control. Frends is also a European vendor.
• It fits your Microsoft purchasing. Frends is available through Azure Marketplace. If you have a Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC), Marketplace purchases can count towards it.
• The licensing model is straightforward. Frends charges per process, rather than per connector or per user, for example.

How does a BizTalk migration to Frends work?

You don't move a BizTalk environment to Frends in one go. First you map what's running, decide what you want to keep and then migrate step by step.

1. Map what's running. Integrations, schemas, maps, orchestrations, adapters, custom code and the dependencies between them. Monitoring and management belong in there too. Only once you have that overview can you decide on the scope and order of the migration.
2. Decide what goes first. A simple, low-risk integration is a more logical first candidate than a complex orchestration that twenty processes depend on. Based on complexity, business impact and dependencies, you split the migration into manageable waves.
3. Keep what works, improve what could be better. Existing code and parts of your BizTalk solution can sometimes be reused. But after ten or fifteen years, not everything is worth carrying over one to one. A migration is also a good moment to clean up old integrations, simplify them or rebuild them.
4. Run BizTalk and Frends side by side for a while. Migrate a group of integrations, test them, put them live and move on to the next. That way BizTalk keeps running as long as it needs to, and you only switch it off once the last relevant integrations have moved across.

Worth knowing: not everything migrates equally easily

Custom adapters, complex orchestrations and XSLT maps with inline C# usually need more attention. Migration tooling can take work off your hands, but it doesn't replace the technical decisions, testing and validation.

That isn't specific to Frends. For its own Migration Agent (opens in a new tab) for Azure Logic Apps, Microsoft also says the generated output needs to be reviewed and validated.

We use AI tooling too, to convert maps and code faster. We always agree this with you first and work within a framework that fully meets the applicable security standards. Even then, a developer checks every result.

How long does a migration like this take?

That depends entirely on the landscape. But there are examples that give an idea of what's possible.

The Swedish municipality of Skövde had around 200 integrations on BizTalk 2016. According to Frends' customer case (opens in a new tab), a team of seven developers migrated that environment to Frends in about six months.

First, know where you stand

As far as we're concerned, a BizTalk migration doesn't start with choosing Frends. First you need to be clear about what's running, what's still needed and how much work it will actually take to migrate that landscape.

That's why we start with a BizTalk assessment. We map your integrations, maps, orchestrations, adapters and custom work, and look at where the biggest dependencies and risks are. The result isn't a generic migration plan, but a picture of your own environment: what can move across fairly easily, where is the real work and what order makes sense?

From there, we can work out a migration route together, including the capacity, planning and costs involved, so you can make a well-founded decision internally too.

And if Frends doesn't come out as the best route, the assessment should show that too.

Why Harmony?

A BizTalk migration needs two things: experience with complex integration landscapes and knowledge of the platform you're moving to. We bring both.

• More than ten years of integration experience. We build and manage integrations for large organisations in the Benelux. We know how a landscape with hundreds of connections fits together and what to watch out for in a migration.
• Certified Frends consultants. Our team is certified on the platform and works closely with Frends.
• Together with your own team. From assessment to go-live, we work alongside your people, so the knowledge stays in-house.