Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) is a programming model and runtime for building workflows in .NET applications. Microsoft BizTalk Server is a product for integrating disparate systems and automating business processes across applications. BizTalk Services provides a cloud-based integration service for building B2B and EAI solutions. WF and BizTalk are complementary but serve different purposes. WF is for implementing workflows within an application while BizTalk is for orchestrating workflows across applications. BizTalk provides capabilities for integration, scalability, transactions, and administration that developers would have to build with WF. The document compares the features of WF, BizTalk Server, and BizTalk Services to determine when each technology should be used

1. BizTalk Server, BizTalk Services and Windows
Workflow Foundation (WF)

2. Introduction
 Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) is a programming model, set of tools, and
runtime environment that allows one to write declarative workflows on the
Windows platform to represent the execution model of your programs. The WF
runtime is part of the .NET Framework, first appearing in .NET Framework
3.0, with improvements in .NET Framework 3.5.
 Microsoft BizTalk Server (BTS) provides an efficient and effective way to
integrate systems and businesses through manageable business
processes, enabling them to automate and orchestrate interactions in a highly
flexible and highly automated manner. Microsoft BizTalk Server provides a
development and run-time environment for business process management (BPM)
and automation.
 Windows Azure BizTalk Services (WABS). We have collaborated with multiple
partners and customers to build a simple, powerful and extensible cloud-based
integration service that provides Business-to-Business (B2B) and Enterprise
Application Integration (EAI) capabilities for delivering cloud and hybrid
integration solutions. The service runs on a secure, dedicated per tenant
environment that you can provision on demand, while it is being managed and
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3. Fundamental Difference between WF and
BizTalk
 WF and BizTalk are not competing technologies. Windows Workflow Foundation
and BizTalk are complementary technologies that serve different needs.
Windows Workflow Foundation
BizTalk Server
WF is a developer framework used to implement
workflow inside an application.
BizTalk is a product that can be used to implement
workflow across disparate applications.
WF is a framework that provides the building
blocks needed to build workflow-based
applications.
BizTalk is an integration server/service that
includes the ability to add business process
automation.
WF is a framework that provides developers with
the base components they need to build the
modules that will be used to automate processes.
BizTalk is a platform that provides developers with
the pieces they need to automate business
process.
WF does not have the inherent features or tools for
tracking, administration and so on that is available
with BizTalk.
BizTalk provides a lot of capabilities that are needed
for serious business process automation that WF
developers would have to write. EX BizTalk has
proven scalability, tracking, administration and
transformation capabilities that a WF dev would
need to write from scratch.
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4. Comparison between WF and BizTalk Server
Feature
Hosting
Windows Workflow Foundation
Hosted in a custom app (client-side
execution, but the client could be
an ASP.NET application)
Designer
Server-side in the BizTalk
process
BizTalk Service
Service that run on the
cloud
Included in Visual Studio
Scalability
Developer must implement
Transactional
integrity
Developer must implement
Tracking
infrastructure
Simple framework pieces provided
that allow you to build the tracking
infrastructure
Runtime
modification of
“in-flight”
workflows
Yes, but developer must implement
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BizTalk Server
Well-proven, highly
scalable
Native PaaS cloud
Solution
Long running and atomic (ACID) transactions
Comprehensive Business
Activity Monitoring
infrastructure provided
Tracking View in BizTalk
Services Portal
No, workflows are defined at design time
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5. Comparison between WF and BizTalk Server
Feature
Windows Workflow Foundation
BizTalk Server
BizTalk Service
Cross-platform
integration
capabilities
Not supported natively
Extensive adapters
available
Adapters available
Composability
WF processes cannot directly
invoke a BizTalk application,
although you could indirectly by
calling an orchestration that had
been exposed as a Web service
A BizTalk process could
could invoke a WF
invoke a WF process via
process via Web service
Web service call, or from a call
helper class or expression
shape
Management and Developer must implement
administration
Extensive set of tools
provided for IT pros to
administer and track
execution
BizTalk Portal
Windows
Communications
Foundation
support
Through an adapter, or
could be called from an
expression shape or
helper class
Through an adapter
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6. Comparison between WF and BizTalk Server
Feature
Windows Workflow Foundation
BizTalk Server
Rules engine
support
Yes
Extensible
activities
Yes
Transformation
capabilities
No
Programmability
WF is a framework. You must
implement applications to use it
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BizTalk Service
No
No
Yes
Exposes APIs for most
Custom Code in Bridges
parts, and has numerous
extensibility points such as
pipeline components,
adapters and “functoids”
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7. Use BizTalk Server when?
 Solving an EAI problem that requires communication with diverse applications on
diverse platforms. Because of its focus on cross-platform integration, BizTalk
provides adapters for communicating with other software, tools for mapping
between message formats, and more. WF is focused solely on workflow, not
EAI, and so it doesn’t provide these things.
 B2B services are required. WF doesn’t address this area, while BizTalk provides
tools for working with trading partners, accelerators for RosettaNet, SWIFT, and
other industry standards, and more.
 BPM services such as BAM are needed. WF provides a basic tracking
infrastructure that can be used to create these services, but BizTalk Server
includes a much more complete set of tools in this area.
 A complete management infrastructure and support for increased scalability
are necessary. As described earlier, BizTalk Server includes a full set of tools for
administering and scaling a production environment, something that’s not provided
by WF.
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8. Use WF when?
 An application will itself host workflows. WF lets workflow be built into an
application, allowing the workflow to be deployed and managed as a native part of
the application. Because it’s focused on integrating diverse applications rather
than providing a general workflow framework, BizTalk Server always runs
orchestrations within the BizTalk Server process.
 The business process being implemented requires human workflow. BizTalk
Server addresses system workflow, and so it lacks WF’s support for things such
as state machine workflows and dynamic update. A scenario that requires both
human workflow and more complex system integration services could be
addressed by using WF and BizTalk Server together, however.
 The workflow will execute on a client system. BizTalk Server is a server-focused
product, and so it’s less well-suited to run on desktop machines.
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9. Windows
Azure BizTalk
Services

10. Windows Azure BizTalk Services
EAI
B2B
 Connect systems following different
 Easily manage and onboard trading
transport protocols
partners using the BizTalk Services
 Validate the message originating from
Portal. With the BizTalk Services
the source endpoint against a
Portal, customers will be able to cut
standard schema
down the on-boarding time from weeks
 Transform the message as required
to days.
by destination endpoints
Leverage Microsoft hosted B2B
 To enrich the message and extract
pipelines as services to exchange B2B
specified properties from the
documents and run them at scale for
message. The extracted properties
customers. This minimizes overhead in
can then be used to route the
managing B2B pipelines and their
message to a destination or an
corresponding scale issues with
intermediary endpoint.
dedicated servers.
 The ability to track messages.
Ability to track messages. Evangelism Team
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11. Windows Azure BizTalk Services
EAI
 VS Design Experience
 Flat file/XML file Support
 Custom code
 Tracking
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12. Q&A