Microsoft's long-awaited BizTalk Server will come out in standard and enterprise editions when it ships early next year, a Microsoft official said at Comdex.
BizTalk Server is Microsoft's XML-enabled application infrastructure for helping companies conduct business-to-business (B2B) transactions. The server software handles the business-document routing, data transformation and tracking of messages, which are particularly crucial functions for companies participating in B2B market places.
To date, Microsoft has not been forthcoming with pricing details. But Microsoft technology specialist Duane Pressley told a gathering of Comdex attendees that the standard edition, which runs on a single CPU, will sell for about $5000. The enterprise edition, for up to eight CPUs, will be priced at about $25,000 per CPU, Pressley said.
Pressley said he expects that large hub market places will require the enterprise edition but that most companies starting out will be able to use the standard edition. The beta version of BizTalk Server was the enterprise version, he said.
Pressley said Microsoft expects to start pressing BizTalk Server CDs later this month. He added the product should be generally available in January or February.