Manufacturing and Retail Customers to Benefit From New Extended
Supply-Chain Functionality via RFID and EDI Capabilities in Upcoming
BizTalk Server 2006 R2 Release
NASHVILLE, Tenn., June 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- At the U Connect
Conference for supply-chain management, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT)
today announced deeper investments in business process management by
disclosing plans to ship Microsoft(R) BizTalk(R) Server 2006 R2. The
capabilities in the new release of BizTalk Server will enable customers to
extend the reach of their business processes. Scheduled to be available to
customers in the first half of 2007, BizTalk Server 2006 R2 will add native
support for electronic data interchange (EDI) and AS2, as well as a new set
of services for developing and managing radio frequency identification
(RFID) solutions. Early previews of the technology will be made available
to customers and partners that can participate in the BizTalk Server 2006
R2 technology adoption program (TAP) at http://connect.microsoft.com.
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BizTalk Server 2006 R2 will broaden its support for platform
technologies such as the 2007 Microsoft Office system and Windows
Vista(TM), including core WinFX(R) technologies such as Windows(R) Workflow
Foundation and Windows Communication Foundation. Furthermore, BizTalk
Server 2006 R2 will provide an adapter framework on top of Windows
Communication Foundation to help customers build customized adapters to
better support interoperability between applications. Together, these new
capabilities will enable customers to increase the reach of their existing
business processes to address a host of current and emerging business
problems, particularly in the area of end-to-end supply chain and retail
operations.
"Our customers are increasingly innovating with processes that reach
well outside typical business applications -- whether connecting processes
with a key supply-chain partner or integrating real-time events from a
manufacturing device on a plant floor," said Burley Kawasaki, group product
manager for BizTalk Server. "In each of these cases, extending core
processes outside of the organization is often too costly and too hard to
realize, leading to missed opportunities due to a lack of real-time
awareness into the processes. The new capabilities in BizTalk Server 2006
R2 will further empower customers to drive innovation by extending their
business process management solutions to the right device, the right
information and the right trading partner."
Support for EDI and AS2 Extends Trading Partner Management Capabilities
of BizTalk Server 2006
The new supply-chain capabilities in BizTalk Server 2006 R2 are
designed to drive greater efficiencies in connecting a company's core
business processes to those of its external supply chains. In addition to
the existing XML-based business-to-business support in BizTalk Server 2006,
native support for EDI and the AS2 protocol in BizTalk Server 2006 R2 will
enable users to efficiently connect their supply chains to key suppliers
and trading partners.
"For many years, larger firms in the retail, manufacturing, healthcare,
insurance and other sectors have been able to take advantage of the
productivity improvements that the automated exchange of EDI transactions
provides, and usage continues to expand among these organizations as they
reach out to more trading partners and use an expanded list of EDI
transaction sets," said Ken Vollmer, principal analyst in the Application
Development and Infrastructure research group at Forrester Research Inc.
"Many tier-two and tier-three companies have realized that they can achieve
the same benefits of improved value chain coordination that their larger
trading partners have, and they are establishing their own hubs for
exchanging EDI transactions with their downstream trading partners."*
BizTalk Server 2006 R2 includes new features that provide native
support for messaging protocols such as EDIFACT and X12 and the secure
communication protocol, EDIINT AS2. Microsoft is encouraging broader
partner and customer feedback through participation in TAP. Those
interested in the BizTalk Server 2006 R2 TAP can register now at
http://connect.microsoft.com.
"Enterprises today continue to use EDI as a means to more securely and
reliably connect partners to critical supply-chain business processes.
These investments are fundamental to how they do business," said Jean-Yves
Martineau, CTO and co-founder of Cactus Commerce. "By building our Trading
Partner Integration and Global Data Synchronization Solutions on top of the
rich supply-chain capabilities in BizTalk Server 2006 R2, we will help
customers connect more efficiently with their partners and supply chains
through the use of EDI and AS2 and emerging technologies such as RFID."
New BizTalk RFID Functionality Delivers Advanced RFID Device and Data
Management Along With Unprecedented Partner Support
The R2 release of BizTalk Server will integrate BizTalk RFID, a new set
of technologies that will reduce the complexity associated with the
management of intelligent RFID device hardware by connecting real-time RFID
events to relevant supply-chain processes and back-end business
applications.
"RFID is getting increasing traction as a critical enabling technology
for supply-chain visibility and security and asset management. RFID allows
companies and government organizations to respond to key business events in
real time and transform or optimize their processes based on enhanced
visibility to activities in the physical world," said Peter Regen, vice
president of Global Visible Commerce at Unisys. "With BizTalk Server 2006
R2 and Unisys' Global Visible Commerce solutions, organizations will be
able to make better decisions by knowing exactly what goods and assets are
where, and do so with a low-cost, scalable solution for managing data,
devices and integration."
BizTalk RFID is a robust set of technologies with open APIs and tools
to cost-effectively build vertical solutions and configure intelligent
RFID- driven processes. It includes the following:
-- Device abstraction and management capabilities to help customers
manage and monitor devices in a uniform manner. This "plug and play"
architecture allows customers to leverage the investments in standard
or nonstandard devices by providing a uniform way of managing their
device infrastructure.
-- An event processes engine that enables customers to create business
rules and manage the choreography of event pipelines for RFID events
-- Tight integration with Microsoft Visual Studio(R) and open APIs that
allows developers to quickly integrate RFID events with existing
business applications, or create their own custom solutions
-- Support for industry standards and an extensible architecture with
advanced deployment and monitoring tools that IT professionals can
use to meet service-level commitments and reduce long-term costs
Pricing and licensing details for BizTalk Server 2006 R2 have not been
announced, as Microsoft is gathering customer and partner feedback before
finalizing them.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software,
services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full
potential.
* Trends 2006: Electronic Data Interchange, Forrester Research Inc.,
October 2005
NOTE: Microsoft, BizTalk, Windows Vista, WinFX, Windows and Visual
Studio are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in
the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the
trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE Microsoft Corp.
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