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    Overview
    • 05 Mar 2023
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    Contents

    Overview

    • Updated on 05 Mar 2023
    • 3 Minutes to read
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    Article summary

    In this section I will provide a 1 page overview of some of the technologies you will come across in the integration platforms organisations have developed over the years using Microsoft technologies.

    Recently I have also decided to include an investor style approach to viewing the technologies in terms of buy/hold/sell which is how I would consider investing my own time and money in the technologies.

    Buy

    If I am grouping a technology as "Buy" this means if i were building an integration platform this is a technology I would be actively looking to use and I would be investing my own training time in learning about it.


    Buy Technologies
    Logic Apps Consumption
    Logic Apps Standard
    Power Apps / Power Automate
    Data Factory
    Azure Functions
    Azure Web Apps
    Event Hub
    Event Grid
    Service Bus
    API Management
    Container Apps
    Log Analytics
    Application Insights
    Power Automate Desktop/RPA

    Hold

    If I list a technology as hold then it is likely I would not be using it to implement new solutions unless it was a technology I already used and was very comfortable with. I will be keeping myself aware of what is happening with this technology but it is unlikely I will invest a lot of my training time on this technology.

    Hold TechnologiesRecommendation
    Integration AccountMicrosoft arent doing a lot with this at the moment and are focusing AIS investments in other areas but it does what it says on the tin.
    Even though Logic App Standard supports inline maps and there are cost benefits of inline maps if you need a centralized map or you need the EDI/EDIFACT type features then Integration Account is solid.
    Id expect more investments around integration accounts once Logic App Standard is feature compatible with Integration Services Environments and BizTalk

    Sell

    If I were building a new solution I would not be using this technology and if I was changing an existing solution I would probably be looking to migrate away from this technology to mitigate the risk of future technical debt. I will not be investing any of my training time in these technologies. I might even group the technologies by ones I would sell fast versus ones id sell slowly.


    Sell SlowRecommendation
    BizTalk ServerLook to move to Azure Integration Services
    Azure Web JobsAzure Functions
    SQL Server Integration ServicesData Factory or Synapse Pipelines
    SSIS is supported still in Data Factory but its better to have a strategy of limiting investments in SSIS and move to Data Factory or Synapse Pipelines


    Sell FastRecommendation
    BizTalk RFIDLook at Azure IoT solutions
    Windows Workflow ManagerLook to move to Azure Integration Services
    App Fabric HostingCloud hosting options eg App Service
    BizTalk ESB ToolkitLook to move to Azure Integration Services
    Microsoft Identity ManagerAzure Active Directory
    MSMQAzure Service Bus
    Windows Communication Foundation.net API technologies
    API Management
    Windows Workflow FoundationLogic Apps
    WCF Routing ServiceAPI Management
    Azure Integration Services Environment (ISE)Microsoft are deprecating the Cloud service which is the underlying hosting for ISE.
    This was a dedicated compute node for Logic Apps

    Move your ISE logic apps to consumption or standard.

    There are potential cost savings and feature benefits from doing this too,


    Ones to Watch

    Ones to watch are technologies you might not have on the radar for most projects, there will be some that will look at these technologies but from a skills and learning perspective I think we need to keep an eye on these technologies as they will be in our remit sooner or later.

    TechnologyRecommendation
    Azure Kubernetes ServiceSome parts of the Azure Integration Services technologies already support AKS, for example Functions and API Management.
    At present Logic Apps does not support AKS.

    I would expect this to be on the roadmap but some way off once Logic App Standard has feature parity with BizTalk and ISE.
    There would be scale to zero and networking benefits offered by Logic Apps on AKS but it is not a use case I think there is large demand for just yet.


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