After the successful BizTalk 2004, Microsoft has released a much better and innovative version of the powerful software - BizTalk server 2006. This recent release brings many new features and core improvements and it is the perfect tool for finding business solutions and integrating all the small pieces of a business into one whole that can easily and effectively be monitored and understood.

Biztalk 2006 is a server that helps business owners and companies optimize and manage the business process and the workflow by automating it. This latest version uses the .NET 3.0 platform, which makes it more powerful than the others and helps it integrate a large variety of applications.

Biztalk 2006 is much easier to install and understand than its previous versions, and if you are using it for the first time you will find the setup process very comprehensible. The advanced users can choose a custom setup that will lead to a custom configuration of the software that depends on the user's needs. I you already have BizTalk 2004 installed you will be able to upgrade to the 2006 version and keep your 2004 settings and files.

Also, the administration console contains all the common commands and most of the things can be done with the help of the console, from security monitoring to configuring other servers.

The Business Activity Monitor (BAM) was also upgraded so that workers can monitor all the aspects of the business easier.

These are the most important new features of BizTalk 2006, but there are a lot more innovative ones like:

-BizTalk 2006 has developer tools,

-it has support for 64-bit systems,

-it has a management console that enables enterprise management and it can do application management too (can configure settings, start or stop applications)

-it also integrates many adapters:

-POP3, an email protocol that gives the BizTalk 2006 the ability to send and receive messages and files through email

-SMTP - can add multiple attachments to a HTML file

-SharePoint - can connect to Microsoft SharePoint and get documents stored on it

In conclusion, BizTalk server 2006 is an extremely powerful business management tool, and it is perfect to connect your business and your trade partners.

Because the demand for BizTalk 2006 is continuously increasing, there also are special BizTalk 2006 training courses for those who decide to use this software. These courses can be taken online and they cover everything you need to know, both from the beginning for unexperienced users and more advanced information for those who know the basics or for those who wish to upgrade from BizTalk 2004. When you finish a BizTalk 2006 course you can take an exam and receive a BizTalk 2006 certification degree that could prove very useful for your career.

For those who lack the time and need to learn all they can in the shortest amount of time, there are BizTalk 2006 accelerated training courses, that last a few days and try to cover all the needed notions.

This is how a BizTalk 2006 class for beginners is structured:

-a brief introduction to BizTalk

-how to create Maps and schematics for your business

-how to start a BizTalk project, create a pipeline and integrate the many adapters in it

-information about the automating business processes

-managing a created application

-integrating the web services

-monitoring you application and troubleshooting

This covers all you need to know about how to manage a business project with BizTalk. Most of the BizTalk 2006 training courses last 5 days. At the end of these days you will realize how efficient the software is and you won't be able to work without it anymore!