Hi all,

I'm sure that this question has been asked numerous time under different guises but I'd like some clear clarification before I potentially start some development work on the subject.

Part of my development work involves migrating away from SSIS overnight batch files into a more transactional solution using BizTalk. However, I have been asked to look at taking transactional notifications (singles records generated throughout the day) and generating outputs which are made up of x number of records. i.e. all the records that have changed during the day, thus essentially recreating the batch file similar to that of SSIS.

My queries are:

1. Is this possible using BizTalk? - I have concerns in how the technology would keep the messages inflight for potentially hours or be waiting for x (100 for example) records before the batch file is generate?
2. Am I essentially using BizTalk to replace SSIS with very little additional gain/reward? 

I understand that the question is fairly broad and has many possible answers but I would like to try and avoid duplicating work if the gain/reward is minimal compared to the huge effort required. Has anyone done anything similar and would be able to share they feedback on how it went, the approach taken etc...

Kind regards,

S

We all love BizTalk, but what exactly is wrong with the SSIS jobs?  SSIS is an integral part of the Microsoft Integration stack so it's in no way wrong to use it.

If it's the case that the 'overnight' aspect is not meeting new SLA's, then sure, a BizTalk solution might be warranted.

1. Yes.  Exactly how depends on a number of factors.  You can queue any number of messages in the MessageBox until ready to process them.
2. Maybe, maybe not.  It depends on what you expect to gain and how well that's achieved.