Chimmels, Park Rd, Dartington Hall, Totnes TQ9 6EQ
Sector:
Norgine
Migrating a complex BizTalk estate to Azure Integration Services
The Challenge
Our client is a European pharmaceutical organisation operating in a highly regulated environment, with a complex integration landscape supporting critical business processes.
They had been running a BizTalk Server 2016 environment, which we had supported and maintained since 2019. Over time, the organisation recognised the need to modernise its integration platform and reduce reliance on ageing on-premises infrastructure.
By 2021, the decision was made to migrate existing BizTalk applications to Azure Integration Services. The goal was to improve agility, reduce internal maintenance overhead, and take advantage of modern, cloud-native integration capabilities.
The Approach
Like many organisations operating mature BizTalk estates, the client was looking to futureproof its integration landscape while reducing reliance on on-premises infrastructure.
We were selected as the delivery partner based on our experience in BizTalk migrations, deep expertise in Azure Integration Services, and our involvement in the early development of Microsoft integration tooling. This provided confidence in a structured, low-risk transition from BizTalk to Azure.
Moving to Azure Integration Services offered clear advantages, including reduced operational overhead by shifting away from server-based integration, lower infrastructure and licensing costs, improved scalability and resilience, and alignment with modern integration patterns and Microsoft’s long-term platform strategy.
Our focus was on delivering a controlled, end-to-end migration while ensuring the resulting platform would be maintainable, scalable, and easy for internal and external teams to support. We brought a structured delivery approach,
combining strong governance, rigorous testing, built-in DevOps practices, and the use of standardised patterns to ensure the platform could be easily supported and extended over time, without introducing unnecessary vendor lock-in.
This included:
Designing a cloud-based integration architecture aligned with Azure Integration Services.
Establishing governance, standards, and consistent deployment patterns.
Embedding automation and DevOps practices from the outset.
Applying standardised naming conventions and reusable patterns to support long-term ownership.
Implementing a structured testing approach to ensure quality at each stage of delivery.
This approach ensured the migration could be delivered efficiently, while creating a platform that could be confidently supported and extended over time.
Our solutions
We delivered a full end-to-end migration programme from BizTalk Server 2016 to Azure Integration Services.
Key elements included:
Azure foundations and landing zone: Creation of dedicated DEV, TEST, UAT, and production environments, supported by a fully governed landing zone designed to control cost, maintain consistency, and prevent resource sprawl. This included the deployment of core Azure Integration Services components such as API Management, Service Bus, Logic Apps, Azure Functions, Key Vault, Data Factory, and monitoring through Log Analytics, alongside supporting infrastructure including App Service Plans and integration runtimes to enable secure hybrid connectivity. All infrastructure was provisioned and deployed using Azure DevOps pipelines to ensure repeatability, consistency, and control.
Common services and governance: Implementation of shared services for error handling, monitoring, and Business Activity Monitoring, alongside CI/CD pipelines to automate build and release processes.
Application migration: Migration of more than 25 BizTalk applications into Azure Integration Services, supported by comprehensive functional and technical testing.
Documentation and handover: Full documentation of the platform and integration architecture, alongside knowledge transfer to the client’s support provider.
The Process
We began with a detailed assessment of the existing BizTalk estate, including a complexity analysis of each application to define migration effort and approach.
Through this analysis, we identified common integration patterns, allowing us to develop a set of reusable Logic App templates. These templates simplified the migration process and created a consistent foundation for future development.
This approach was informed by Microsoft’s BizTalk migration tooling, to which we contributed during its early development.
With the core infrastructure and patterns in place, we migrated, deployed, and tested the BizTalk applications within Azure Integration Services.
We then supported the go-live process, ensuring all services and integrations were operating as expected, and continue to support the platform, providing ongoing consultancy and expertise as required.
The Outcome
The organisation now operates a modern, cloud-based integration platform aligned with Microsoft’s long-term strategy.
Why it worked
By combining structured migration planning with reusable patterns and strong governance, we enabled a complex BizTalk estate to be transitioned to Azure Integration Services in a controlled, sustainable way.