Installing the CRM Adapter for BizTalk 2009

The CRM adapter for BizTalk requires that BizTalk 2006 be installed, but this is not entirely correct.  From everything I have seen, and according to people on the product team, it should work with BTS 2K9 as well.  After doing some digging about, we discovered that the MSI is simply looking for the registry key that says BTS 2K6 is installed.  Here is a work around in order to get the adapter to install.

Workaround:

Just before installing the CRM (4.0) BTS adapter, make a backup of the registry.  Modify the following key, then install the adapter.  After the adapter is installed, set the key back to its original value.

64 bit machine:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\BizTalk Server\3.0

change ProductName =  "Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009"

to ProductName =  "Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006"

for 32 bit machines it should be under

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\BizTalk Server\3.0

change ProductName =  "Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009"  

to ProductName =  "Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006"

BizTalk 2009 First Look

BizTalk 2K6 R2 To BizTalk 2K9 Upgrade

A couple of good blog posts on the upgrade process.

http://www.modhul.com/2009/01/04/upgrading-biztalk-server-2006-r2-to-biztalk-server-2009/

And

http://www.modhul.com/2009/04/11/biztalk-2009-rtm-upgrade-gotchas-tracking-data/

Everything I know about agile, I learnt from Jake and Elwood Blues (Pt. 1)

Catchy title don't you think?  If you are not familiar with the reference, check out The Blues Brothers.  So, let's look at the movie and break it down. 

The opening scene is that of a dilapidated factory, that quickly fades out.  This is in essence the foreshadowing of the death of traditional software factories.  The old adage of "Big Design" up front is gone, and "Just in Time" is here.  This is of course followed by a look inside Joliet prison, which is the perfect metaphor for that feeling we have all had, where we were trapped by a project and process.

Luckily our "Hero" and lead developer Jake has just finished his most recent project (Run waterfall I might add), and is ready to move on to the next challenge.  He waits for his fellow developer and partner in their "consulting" firm Elwood.  Here we discover that these two are no ordinary developers.  In fact, they quickly show us that they can face any challenge head on.  How many times have you heard "We will cross that bridge when we get to it"?  Well Jake and Elwood find that bridge (An open draw bridge) and cross it with relative ease.

The new client is introduced at this point in the movie, St. Helen of The Blessed Shroud Orphanage.  As is par for the course, the client has a "simple" problem that needs to be sorted, but in reality, the client has no idea what it would really take to solve it.  The Blues Brothers try as nicely as they can to explain the difficulties and pitfalls of the project, and are rewarded with a quick beating, followed by a quicker exit down the stairs.  Any consultant, who has ever had to deal with a difficult client, can sympathize with the analogy.

Needless to say, when in consulting, you take what you can get, and Jake and Elwood take the job.  On their way out, a far more experienced PM gives them some friendly advice "Get Wise, Get to Church.  We can look at the idea of going to church, as the war room.  It is a place to congregate with your peers, and think about the problems you have and look for an answer to them.

At this point in the movie, we are at the initial architecture phase, and Jake and Elwood go to church too find some answers.  Suddenly Jake has an epiphany (Gets hit with a beam of light), and the architecture is clear.  Now to put the band back together…

Phoenix Connected Systems April Meeting

April Meeting of The PCSUG – INETA Sponsored Event

April 9 6:00 – 7:30, Phoenix, AZ

Today, you can log into a Web site such as Amazon and the site knows who you are and what your preferences are. They are stored on the server and you are who you are regardless of what computer you use. Client Application Services gives you the ability to add this same functionality to your Windows applications by using client service providers for login, roles and profiles. These client providers use Web services to talk to the corresponding ASP.NET providers.

Join Robert Green, member of the INETA Speaker’s Bureau who will show you how to add remote login, roles and profiles to client applications. You’ll see how to build Web services to use the default providers. You’ll also see how to build your own providers.

Are you doing Agile?

Ten ways to tell if you are NOT doing agile

http://alistair.cockburn.us/Top+ten+ways+to+know+you+are+not+doing+agile

Bloggers Guides

If anyone remebers a while back, there was the Bloggers Guide To BizTalk.  Well, it made a come back and now also includes the Bloggers Guide to Connected Systems

www.bloggersguides.net

It also includes various webcasts, including some from the product teams.

Who am I?

I suppose I should start out with the obligitory who am I, and why should you read my blog!

Well, my name is Todd, and I am a connected systems consultant at a company called Neudesic.  My primary passion has been BizTalk (Hence the Name BizTalk + Todd = BizTodd) for the past 8+ years.  I currently reside in sunny Phoenix AZ with my wife and 2 kids.  When I am not working, you can find me working in my backyard, riding my motorcycle, or golfing.

Now, as to why you should read my blog...

I started working with BizTalk back in 2001 (BTS 2000) while living in Israel.  I was the lead on what was the largest BizTalk deployment in EMEA at he time.  Shortly after that project went to production, I back to The US and joined Neudesic.  I am currently a VTS (Virtual Technical Specialist) for Microsoft, in support of BizTalk Server.

Recently my attention has started to switch to Cloud Services, and the next generation of Microsoft Integration Technologies.  I helped co-found the Phoenix Connected Systems User Group with my good friend Rick Garibay.