Accelerators and Third-Party Tools

The BizTalk foundation has led to the development of products for specific industries and third-party software to strengthen elements of the platform. For instance, Microsoft has developed accelerators for the healthcare industry (HIPAA) in the United States, electronics manufacturers (RosettaNet) and financial services (UCCnet, SWIFT financial messaging), and for suppliers. More information on the accelerators is at www.microsoft.com/biztalk/evaluation/accelerators/default.asp.

Several companies have developed add-on products that automate the workflow of transactions along with BizTalk. One of the most notable is Teamplate from Captaris. TeamPlate is built entirely on the .NET platform and offers a library of components and web services to simplify the building of workflow solutions. It integrates with the full range of Microsoft products, including not only BizTalk but also SharePoint, Office, InfoPath, Exchange, Visio, Content Management Server, and even Great Plains accounting software. For more information, see www.teamplate.com/internal/product/integration.asp.