Business Case: Migration from BizTalk Server to Azure Integration Services

1. Executive Summary

Our organization currently relies on BizTalk Server as the backbone of our integration landscape. While BizTalk has provided reliability for years, its on-premises footprint, high operational costs, and limited agility present challenges in today’s cloud-driven environment.
Migrating to Azure Integration Services (Logic Apps, API Management, Service Bus, Event Grid, Functions, Data Factory, etc.) aligns with our digital transformation goals, enabling agility, scalability, and cost efficiency.

2. Drivers for Change

Technical Drivers

• End of Mainstream Support: Latest BizTalk versions (2020) have a limited support horizon (2030) with no significant innovation roadmap.

• Modern Integration Patterns: Cloud-native services (event-driven, API-first, serverless) are easier to implement in Azure.

• Scalability Limits: BizTalk requires manual provisioning of servers and databases; Azure services scale elastically.

• Hybrid Integration Needs: Increasing requirement to connect SaaS (Dynamics 365, Salesforce, ServiceNow, etc.) and cloud-native apps.

Business Drivers

• Reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): Remove hardware refresh cycles, SQL licensing, patching, and BizTalk upgrades.

• Agility & Time to Market: Faster delivery of integrations with low-code Logic Apps, API connectors, and managed services.

• Innovation Enablement: Access to AI, analytics, IoT, and modern API ecosystems.

• Resilience & Compliance: Azure provides high availability, disaster recovery, and compliance certifications (ISO, SOC, GDPR).

3. Options Considered

1. Do Nothing (Stay on BizTalk)

   • Pros: No migration effort.

   • Cons: Rising support risk, inability to meet business demands, higher infra costs, technical debt, security risks

2. Upgrade to Latest BizTalk Version

   • Pros: Extended support lifecycle.

   • Cons: Still on-premises, limited innovation, high CapEx and OpEx, not aligned with cloud strategy.

3. Migrate to Azure Integration Services (Recommended)

   • Pros: Cloud-native, scalable, cost-efficient, future-proof.

   • Cons: Requires upfront migration effort, training, governance setup.

4. Benefits of Azure Migration

Cost Benefits

• Pay-as-you-go (OpEx model, no upfront CapEx).

• Auto-scaling reduces idle capacity costs.

• Elimination of BizTalk + SQL Server licensing overhead.

Operational Benefits

• Reduced infrastructure management (patching, DR, backups).

• Faster deployments with CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps/GitHub.

• Built-in monitoring with App Insights & Azure Monitor.

Business Benefits

• Agility: Faster onboarding of partners and SaaS systems.

• Innovation: Unlock AI/ML, data analytics, IoT scenarios.

• Global Reach: Integration across multiple geographies with Azure regions.

5. Risks & Mitigations

6. High-Level Roadmap

1. Assessment: Inventory BizTalk applications, dependencies, and workloads.

2. Pilot Migration: Select low-risk integration to migrate to Logic Apps & Service Bus.

3. Phased Rollout: Migrate critical integrations in waves (e.g., EDI, APIs, batch processes).

4. Decommission BizTalk: Retire on-prem infrastructure, cut licenses, and consolidate monitoring.

5. Optimization & Innovation: Adopt advanced cloud-native features (AI, Event-Driven Architectures).

7. Financial Justification

• Current Costs: BizTalk + SQL Server licenses, Windows Server, infra support, hardware refresh cycles, upgrade projects every ~5 years.

• Future Costs: Pay-per-use Azure consumption, lower infra overhead, faster delivery cycles.

• ROI:

  • 30–50% savings on infrastructure & licensing.

  • Faster integration delivery = reduced project cost & improved time to market.

  • Avoided upgrade cycles = cost avoidance.

8. Conclusion

Migrating from BizTalk to Azure Integration Services offers significant cost savings, increased agility, and alignment with the organization’s digital transformation strategy.
Recommendation: Approve a phased migration to Azure Integration Services, beginning with an assessment and pilot project, with the goal of full migration within 12–24 months.