There's a lot of discussion about tokenization. To keep the issue simple  tokenization is about encrypting sensitive data to reduce PCI compliancy requirements - also there's discussion whether it actually solves anything or not. As already mentioned the key point of tokenization is reducing PCI compliance costs but there are also...
Read more »

Quite a long break since my last architectural blog entry. It's not that there's nothing to say - only lack of time to write it down. I started writing this post about different integration worker characteristics as a continuation to my earlier post on architects. I sketched different shades of grey on paper but somehow ended up on...
Read more »

Experienced BizTalk developers and really familiar native BizTalk admin console. And for developing MMC offers a lot of possibilities and features which can be used to drill into BizTalk Server. But when thinking about administrator who does not have years of expertise with BizTalk development its admin console can be quite...
Read more »

Once upon an ERP project, somewhere near production deployment, a nasty show-stopper bug tore down the dream of production use of ERP in scheduled time. Well, nothing out of the ordinary in that. Bugs should be found before production deployment.  And this tiny little bug was not even the nastiest sort, a mere data mapping flaw that...
Read more »

Several years ago we arranged annual customer event for one of our large-scale customer. After the formal agenda, two of our project managers who had led the integration project parts of different ERP projects in that very same customer, sat down together to share experiences. Our project managers are often a combination of designer...
Read more »

Two years ago I was involved in a research project studying supply chain integration via B2Bi between telecommunications operators and OEMs. I co-authored with researcher Jouni Kauremaa and professor Kari Tanskanen from the Helsinki University of Technology an article that provides a case study of RosettaNet. This article was based...
Read more »

FRENDS Helium 1.0 - web-based monitoring tool for Microsoft BizTalk Server is finally out. Product downloads (incl. 60-day trial version), brochure and technical details can be found from Helium page. All feedback about the tool is highly appreciated. Just leave your comments here or do not hesitate to drop few lines via email to me.
Read more »

It’s been a while since I first wrote my post about SaaS/S+S –based integration. At that time I thought that I don’t see too much benefit in Microsoft’s .NET Services –based messaging platform, but there could be some benefit starting using hosted workflow services – a part of .NET Services. I thought to write another post pretty...
Read more »

Couple weeks back I participated BizTalk Server 2009 launch event in Vienna. There was quite a nice number of participiants at the event - I think bit under 100. Also in the same conference we showed first time in public our new monitoring tool FRENDS Helium for BizTalk Server. Focus for FRENDS Helium is in easy installation and...
Read more »

Let our discussion continue with Janne :) His previous post about design principles got me thinking about people who make the designs and specifications. What are great integration architects made of?   Sugar and spice and all the things nice. Extraordinary ability to absorb tons of information and filter all the essential parts....
Read more »