BizTalk360 v11.6: Smarter way to Automate, Monitor and Manage Your BizTalk Environment

BizTalk360 is committed to simplifying the complex world of BizTalk Server administration. With v11.6, we’ve delivered our most feature rich update yet, focusing on intelligent automation to minimize manual effort and maximize the stability of your BizTalk environment.

This version introduces intelligent capabilities like BHM maintenance task automation, advanced service instance monitoring, and Office 365 OAuth integration, enabling organizations to maintain their BizTalk environment with minimal manual effort.

You can explore detailed updates in our Release Notes.

BHM Maintenance Activities Automation

Maintaining a healthy BizTalk environment is crucial for ensuring smooth message processing and stable performance. In large-scale integrations, database growth and message accumulation can quickly affect system responsiveness if not managed properly.

The new BHM Automated Task feature automates execution of the recommended maintenance activities generated by BHM reports. Using predefined SQL scripts, the system can automatically perform cleanup, purging, reindexing, and performance optimization without manual intervention.

Business Use Case

A retail company processes thousands of orders daily through BizTalk. Over time, their Message Box and Tracking databases accumulate inactive instances and tracking data, leading to slower processing.

When BHM detects the maintenance recommendations in the BHM latest reports like running the bts_CleanupMsgBox or purging the DTA database, BizTalk360 automatically triggers the cleanup script via the configured Automated Task reducing database size and improving processing efficiency without any manual DBA involvement.

These scripts are available as predefined templates, allowing users to easily create and configure them. Once created, the Automated Task can be mapped to a Health Check Profile. Whenever the latest report from that profile contains maintenance recommendations, BizTalk360 automatically initiates and executes the corresponding maintenance scripts, keeping the environment optimized without manual involvement.

Enhanced Service Instance Monitoring

Service instance failures or high instance counts often indicate processing bottlenecks or connectivity issues in BizTalk environments.

With the enhanced Service Instance Monitoring, administrators can now apply advanced filters such as Service Name, Host Name, or Error Code/Description to precisely target specific instances and monitor them more effectively. Thresholds can be defined to raise alerts when suspended instance counts exceed expected limits.

Additionally, this feature allows seamless integration with Automated Tasks. For example, when a threshold violation occurs, the system can automatically trigger predefined actions such as terminating or resuming suspended instances or restarting related services to restore message flow without manual intervention.

Office 365 (OAuth Support)

As Microsoft deprecates SMTP basic authentication that lacks the security, in-turn Microsoft provides the Modern Authentication mechanism OAuth2. BizTalk360 now supports Office 365 SMTP OAuth for sending email notifications securely.

Administrators can quickly configure this using the built-in SMTP Authenticator Tool, ensuring all alerts and scheduled reports are sent through a secure, modern authentication mechanism.

EDI and BAM Dashboard Reporting

Reporting functionality is enhanced by allowing users to create custom EDI and BAM dashboards and include them in scheduled reports. With interactive widgets, administrators gain actionable insights into message flow, transaction status, and process health in real-time.

With the new enhancement, users now receive a daily scheduled report summarizing transaction volume, failed EDI batches, and acknowledgment status helping operations teams proactively address communication issues.

EDI Dashboard

The EDI Dashboard provides a comprehensive view of B2B message exchange between trading partners. It offers interactive widgets that help track message processing, acknowledgments, and partner activity trends.

• Total Interchanges Processed: Displays the total number of EDI interchanges received and sent within a specific period.
• Failed or Delayed Transactions: Highlights transactions that failed due to communication or mapping errors, helping users prioritize corrective actions.
• Partner-wise Message Flow: Visualizes message exchange volumes by partner, aiding in identifying performance bottlenecks.
• Batch Status Overview: Monitors the success or failure of EDI batches, ensuring timely business document exchange.

BAM Dashboard

BAM Dashboard provides real-time visibility into key business processes tracked through BizTalk BAM activities. It helps business users and analysts monitor process KPIs and identify workflow inefficiencies.

Users can now configure custom widgets for their BAM Activities, leveraging the advanced filtering options available in the BAM View for more precise and insightful data visualization.

• Average Order Processing Time: Tracks end-to-end duration for critical processes such as order-to-invoice or shipment cycles.
• Activity Summary by Status: Breaks down active, completed, or failed BAM activities, allowing quick performance assessments.

Monitoring

• Manage Orphaned Artifacts: Introduced a new option to automatically remove orphaned applications or artifacts based on user-defined settings. Users can configure a specific time duration, and if an artifact remains orphaned beyond that period, the system will automatically remove from mapping it to prevent false notifications.
• Message Box Data Monitoring: Added a configurable notification option within Data Monitoring, allowing users to define whether alerts should be triggered when specific actions such as Terminate or Suspend Instance are performed during message box data monitoring.
• Quick Alarm Status: Introduced a new widget to display the status of all the active alarms, providing clear visibility and quick insights into alarm conditions.