1. Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
The role of the support organisation
for a succesful project
28-10-2013, BTUG.be
Top 10 pitfalls with
BizTalk-projects
2. Introduction
Lex Hegt
9 year BizTalk-experience
Administrator
Developer
MCTS BizTalk Server
BizTalk360 Product Specialist
Active in the BizTalk community
Member of the board of the
Dutch BizTalk User Group
Initiator and co-founder of the
Belgian BizTalk User Group
Founder of BizTalk Events
http://www.biztalkevents.com
Developer of
BizTalk Message Decompressor
BizTalk Processing Monitor
Blogs
http://biztalkia.blogspot.com
http://www.biztalkadminsblogging.com
TechNet Wiki
http://social.technet.microsoft.com
2
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
3. Why talk about pitfalls?
• Learn of mistakes of others!
• Multiple angles:
Project
Administration
• Goal of this presentation :
Offer a check list for a succesful BizTalk-project
3
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
7. Pitfall 1: Not enough BizTalk-knowledge at Administration
Master Secret Key
7
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
8. Pitfall 1: Not enough BizTalk-knowledge at Administration
Characteristic:
For System Administrators BizTalk is a black box
Risc:
Unsufficient qualified engineers are responsible for maintaining
the core business, with possibly bad consequences
Improvement:
Start learning BizTalk before the project starts
8
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
9. Pitfall 2: Unsufficiently addressed responsibilities
9
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
10. Pitfall 2: Unsufficiently addressed responsibilities
Characteristics:
Who does BizTalk administration?
Are all tasks and roles addressed?
Risc:
The continuity of the business process cannot be guaranteed
Improvement:
Make decent arrangements, settle it!
10
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
11. Pitfall 3: Project budget vs Administration costs
11
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
12. Pitfall 3: Project budget vs Administration costs
Characteristics:
Only focussed on the project budget
Project is scoped too narrow
Risc:
Higher administration costs
Less innovation budget in the future
Improvement:
Involve TCO of the entire lifecycle while determining the
deliverables
12
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
13. Pitfall 4: Just Happy Flow in the project
13
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
14. Pitfall 4: Just Happy Flow in the project
Charateristics:
Very limited added value of BizTalk
Much manual labor
Accumulation of incidents
Lack of process knowledge at administration
Lead time analysis/solution is high
Risc:
Due to unsufficient (functional) safety nets, the pressure at the BizTalk
administrators increases and the business process becomes interrupted
Improvement:
By bringing together the process owners and the administrators, you can
start investigating how alternate flows could be handled
14
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
15. Pitfall 5: No non-functional requirements
15
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
16. Pitfall 5: No non-functional requirements
Characteristics:
Bad performance
Bad configurability
Bad traceability
Risc:
Interruptions of the business process
Solution does not meet the requirements of the business
Improvement:
Determine which non-functionals are relevant and arrange it!
16
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
17. Pitfall 6: No Service Level Agreements for availability
17
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
18. Pitfall 6: No Service Level Agreements for availability
Characteristics:
No arrangements for availability
Unclear availability of connected partners
Risc:
Interruptions of the business process
Improvement:
Arrange that the availability demands are clear to all stakeholders
18
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
19. Pitfall 7: ‘Over the wall’-principle
19
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
20. Pitfall 7: ‘Over the wall’-principle
Characteristics:
Late transfer from project to administrators
No formal acceptance, under protest in administration
Risc:
Administrators could not intervene
No feeling of responsibility from administration perspective
Improvement:
Early involvement of the support organisation leads to
commitment and prevents time consuming conflicts
20
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
22. Pitfall 8: Innovativeness versus conservatism
Characteristics:
Project wants to innovate
Administration is conservative
Risc:
Time consuming conflicts and/or longer lead time as a result of
orientation of new technologies by the administrators
Improvement:
Involve administration for commitment and early adoption of
new technologies
22
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
23. Pitfall 9: BizTalk is a stranger for Administrators
23
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
24. Pitfall 9: BizTalk is a stranger for Administrators
24
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
25. Pitfall 9: BizTalk is a stranger for Administrators
Most simple BizTalk message routing-scenario:
17 potential problems!
25
See: http://biztalkia.blogspot.nl/2012/05/biztalk-message-based-routing-why-is-my.html
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
26. Pitfall 9: BizTalk is a stranger for Administrators
Characteristics:
Administrators are reserved on touching BizTalk
Risc:
Total lack of BizTalk administration
Improvement:
Arrange connection to the current administration processes
Make BizTalk administration transparant by using for example
BizTalk360
26
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
27. Pitfall 10: Lack of sharing changes
Characteristics:
Living in good confidence
Lack of communicaton
Risc:
Stop of the business flow
Improvement:
• Improve comm. Between user organisation and Support
• Impact analyses
27
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
28. Pitfall 10: Software Asset & Patch Management?
28
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
29. Pitfall 10: Software Asset & Patch Management?
Characteristics:
Software Assurance under used
Lack of Patch Management-strategy
Risc:
Unsupported environment
Maximum Best Effort-support in case of major incidents
Improvement:
Make it an administration process
Communication between IT and license manager
29
See: http://www.microsoft.com/nl-nl/licenties/software-assurance.aspx
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
30. Key Takeaways
• Look at the entire picture: Project + Administration
• Create commitment by early involvement of Support
• Make sure BizTalk becames embraced within the entire
organisation
30
28-10-2013
Top 10 pitfalls with BizTalk-projects
In ourdailypractice we noticethatoften, during BizTalk projects, the support organisation is notinvolved in time and as a resultyoumight get a number of problems.I want to show, by means of a number of examples, thatbyinvolvement of the support organisation, youcananticipate on thoseproblems.
But before we proceed, let’s do a small introduction of myselfMy name is Lex HegtandI live near The Hague in The NetherlandsI’vestartedusing BizTalk with the betafrom BizTalk Server 2004 andI’vemainly had Administrator and Developer rolesI have somecertificationsand I amprettyactive in the BizTalk communityCurrently I workfor Dura Vermeer in Rotterdam,which is one of the largest building companies in The Netherlands
Sowhy talk aboutpitfalls at all?Over the years we have been involved in many BizTalk projectsand we oftenneededtoaddresspitfallsourselves.Bysharingandtalkingaboutthem, we alllearn of the mistakes of otherpeople.The pitfalls I amgoingto talk about are fromboth a project andanadministrationperspectiveWiththispresentation I intendtogiveyou a checklist youcanuseyourselfduringyour BizTalk projects
Next: the agendaFirst we are gonna have a look at what kind of administrators youmight meet in anorganisationNext we’ll go through the 10 pitfallsThenwe’ll point out the keytakeways of the presentationAndthenthere’s room forquestions
In anorganizationyoumight meet different kinds of administrators, allwiththereownspecialtiesandneedsSysteem Administrators: Responsiblefor the platformHigh technical skills, but withlittle feeling for business needsTechnical Application Administrators:Theyknow BizTalkTheyalso have basic platform andapplicationknowledgeBecausethey have knowledge of all 3 aspects, they are abletobe the man in the middlebetween the System Administrators and the Functional AdministratorsFunctional Administrators:Driventhrough the business processAre part of the user organizationDuringthispresentationwhen we talk about Administrators, in most cases we mean the System Administrators
I have providedyouwith bingo cards. The pitfalls are numbered 1 to 10. I want tochallengeyouto check the pitfallsyourecognizefromyourownprojects.
What is the name of the most importantkey in BizTalk? Master SecretKeyIt is stored in anencrypted fileIt is needed in case youneedtorestoreWithout thiskey, youwon’tbeableto get your system runningExplainyour administrator the importance of the Master SecretKeyandhimiftheyknow the location of thiskey!If he can’t answer your question, have him find out the location of that key
This was just one example to point out that many System Administrators don’t have enough knowledge of BizTalkCharacteristics:BizTalk is ‘scary’ and complex (mainly because the concepts are not understood)‘real’ BizTalk admins are hard to findDevelopers often also do Administration, but they lack specific Administration knowledge (Windows, BizTalk, SQL Server etc.)Risc:Monitoring mightbeinsufficientBackups are made incorrectlyHigh Lead time duringproblem analysesAllthis kind of issues can lead todamageto the business process…Improvement:Train or Hireadministrators before the project startsExtra benefit: Administratorsknow BizTalk during the project andcan help make betterchoices
This is the story of Anybody, Nobody, Somebody and EverybodyWe have all been in a situationwhere we thoughtthatsomebodyelseshould do something
Characteristics:Which roles within the IT Department do BizTalk administrationSystem administrators?SQL DBA’s?All valid! Risc:Without decent arrangementsregarding Administration thecontinuity of the business processcan’tbegueranteedImprovement:Make clear who does what, arrange it!Make sure there are no gray areasWho does monitoringWho does daily operationWho does DBA-workWhitepaper on www.axonolympus.nl:Jeroen Hendriks - How toproperlyadminister BizTalk Server
2 Yearsago Gartner publishedthis Run-Grow-Transform model for IT spendings.Run = costsfor running the dailyoperationGrow = costsforimproving the dailyoperation, forexampleautomate a certaintask, instead of keep doingitmanuallyTransform = costsfordeveloping new productsand servicesIT is oftenconsidered as justcosting money, whilebyinnovatingyoucanimproveyourcompetetivenessTake 10% more budget in Transform, makesyouearn 10% in Run, leaving more budget forinnovation in the future
Characteristics:The project leader is onlyfocussed on the project budget, without counting in administrativecostsSo the scope of the project is toonarrowThis leads toHigheradministrationcostsLess budget forinnovation in the futureImprovement: Youcananticipate on thatbyinvolving the Total Costs of Ownership of the entirelifecycleby:Developing a roadmapwith high level functionalityblocks, whichpreparesyouforfuture extension of the applicationAnd the Support organisationcanalso help limit theircostsbyformulating Standards andGuidelines. Bydoingsocomparablesolutions are createdforcomparablesituations, whichhelps in limitingadministrativecosts
Situation: Entering a new customer at anassurance company. With the manual processYou have forgottentoaskforcertain information of the new customerYou have askedyourcolleguebysticking a Post-It on his monitor to call the customer, askfor the needed information and enter the informationData is complete, process is finished!This is a perfectly valid business process!But with an automated processYou don’t have Post-ItsAnd the processgotsuspended in BizTalkIn otherwords: the manual alternatepathsshouldalsobeautomated!
Characteristic:You have spend a large amount of money on BizTalk, infrastructureand a BizTalk solution => but stillyou have much manual laborbecauseonly the Happy Flow has been implementedRisc/improvement:DistincttechnicalproblemsfromfunctionalproblemsTechn. problem: website is turned off => shouldbesolvedby the System- of Techn. Application AdministratorFunct. problem: messages are received, which do notcomplyto the agreedspecification, shouldberoutedto the Functional Administrators, instead of becomingsuspended in BizTalkSoespeciallyfunctionalexceptions are alsoprocesseswhichcanbemodeled!Based on the number of occurences, youcanfind out ifit’sworthtoautomateanexception
Jimmy is showing of his brand new carAnd all he gets is bad commentsNonfunctionalrequirements are forexample:PerformanceMaintainabilityTraceabilityScaleabilityConfigurability
Situation:Whether or not arranging the nonfunctionals can make or break your BizTalk projectExpectations of your customer which are notdiscussed,won’tbeimplementedSobesidesfunctionalrequirements, also interview your customer regardingnonfunctionalrequirements!
Situation: in interviews withcustomers we alwaysaskwhat the availability andsupportability of BizTalk (and the connectedparties) must be. The business most of the time wants 24/7 availability and support, until the find out whatitcosts.
Alsothinkabout the connected partners, maybethey are notavailable 24/7, sothenitmightnot make sense tobe 24/7 availableyourselfMake sure the agreementsregarding availability are in an easy tofindplaceYoualso have tothinkabouthow are youmeasuring availability and the termsfrom the agreement
This is a common scenarioThe project is finishedand the project team is transfering the applicationto the Support organisationBut the Support organisation has not been involvedbefore, had no influanceon the applicationanddoesn´t want to accept/support the application
Project: new toys/capabilities!!Administration: riscs?Renewal is not a goal in itself, but the business must becomesupportedbetterbyusing IT (and new technologies)
As we saidbefore: BizTalk is considered complex, mainlybecause the concepts are notunderstoodQuitefrankly: I can’tblaimthem! In contrast withmanyotherproducts, it takes quitesome consoles to monitor and support BizTalk!
Consoles:BizTalk Server Administration ConsoleSQL Server Management StudioEvent Log ViewerPerformance MonitorMessage Box ViewerPAL (Performance Analysis of Logs)BizTalk Server Best PracticeAnalyser
Last year I wroteanarticle in which I described the potentialproblems in case of the most simple MBR scenario, where a file is transferedfrom a ReceiveLocationto a Send Port, byusing a filter on the Send Port. Therecanbe 17 potentialproblems; somaybe BizTalk is complex!
Improvement:Make sure BizTalk is adopted in processeslike:Daily checkMonitoring
Patch management notarrangedFrom time to time Microsoft comeswith patches whichcontain new functionalityand bug fixes. It is best practicetoinstallthem on your environmentsSecurity updates on Patch Tuesday via Windows Update: 2eTuesday of the month (17:00u UTC)
Software Assurance-program of Microsoft containsamongstothersRight for the newest releaseSupport & Training facilitiesPhone and online supportE-learning-possibilitiesImprovement:- Be preparedfor Patch Tuesday- License manager informsyouaboutproductsgoing End of Lifecycle
Arrangethat 10% extra budgetArrangethat the administrators are up on speed andthat BizTalk is incorperated in the administrativeprocessesArrangesolid establishment of BizTalkwithin the organisation
