Microsoft gets Bizzy with .Net

Microsoft has launched the latest version of its BizTalk server product, another of the basic building blocks for its .Net vision.

BizTalk Server 2002 adds additional web services functionality, including integration with Microsoft .Net development environment, to the original release back in 2000.

BizTalk is Microsoft's play in the increasingly crowded application integration and application server arena. Microsoft claims more than 800 customers already for the integration software suite and says it works with 300 different software platforms.

This kind of integration is vital to the success of web services, which rely on different application communicating with each other across the internet.

Microsoft's play in this area differs somewhat from its main competitors BEA, IBM and Sun, who have all tackled the legacy problems by launching application server products.