Selling BizTalk-Based Engagements

1. Selling BizTalk-Based Engagements David Chappell Chappell & Associates www.davidchappell.com

2. “These are quotes from sales principals in Microsoft partners that provide a substantial integration capability.” Agenda • Key Questions and Answers • Recognizing Integration Opportunities • Complements, Alternatives, and Competitors to BizTalk Server • Appendix: BizTalk Server Basics

3. 1 Key Questions and Answers

4. Multi-site consolidation with heterogeneous systems Professional services fee €18,000,000 Person months of effort 680 Gross profit €10,800,000 Gross margin 60% Multiple apps and integration points with fault tolerance, clustering, etc. Professional services fee €1,000,000 Person months of effort 45 Gross profit €400,000 Custom app development plus integration Gross margin 40% Professional services fee €250,000 Person months of effort 15 Gross profit €125,000 Small scoping project plus initial build Gross margin 50% €30,000 Professional services fee Person months of effort 1 €13,500 Gross profit Gross margin 45% What Do Integration Deals Look Like? Using BizTalk Server Source: Microsoft BizTalk partners interviewed by IDC, 2006

5. “Don’t lead with BizTalk. Instead, lead with business process knowledge, integration knowledge, and architectural knowledge.” “We talk to our customers about their business problems first, and we bring candidate technologies to the table to address those business problems.” What’s Being Sold? • Clients want business value • Integration is a means to this end • Selling engagements that include integration typically means selling solutions

6. “Once you’re past the initial conversation, the discussion will invariably turn technical. Nothing replaces having a BizTalk architect by your side.” Envision Proof Close Qualify $ ? Sales Principal Sales Principal BizTalk Architect BizTalk Architect Developers Sales Principal How Does the Sales Process Look?

7. “You need to be able to sustain a long sales process. There’s no quick money.” How Long is the Sales Process? • For customers with no installed integration products: • Commonly 6 to 9 months • For current BizTalk Server customers: • Perhaps 3 months

8. What’s Needed to Get Started? • A solution-oriented mindset • Knowledge of both business and technology issues • Perhaps divided among different people on the sales team • Prospects with integration problems • Allowing you to expand current conversations • The ability to recognize integration opportunities

9. 2 Recognizing Integration Opportunities

10. “We’ve just acquired another company” “We’re merging with . . .” “We need to access legacy systems” “We need to connect . . .” Recognizing When Integration is Required Words to Listen For

11. Business Decision Makers (BDMs):Want solutions to business problems Information Technology Decision Makers (ITDMs):Want solutions to IT problems; involved in solving business problems Categorizing Customers … Business Groups IT

12. EAI Keeping information in sync across multiple applications Displaying diverse information from different applications B2BI Connecting suppliers with their customers • Business Process Automation • Replacing manual processes • Providing real-time information about running business processes • Managing sets of business rules • Tracking business processes for compliance Categorizing BizTalk-Based ProjectsTypical Business Problems

13. BizTalk Server Siebel CRM .NET Application SAP ERP Business Users Business Users Customer Data Customer Data Customer Data EAI: Keeping Information in SyncAn Example

14. EAI: Keeping Information in SyncBusiness Goals • Make business processes more effective and more consistent • By allowing changes to information in one application to be automatically reflected in other applications • Reduce costs • Such as by connecting different parts of a business without requiring manual re-entry

15. “Our systems don’t talk to each other” “Our users don’t have the information they need” “I need information in one system that’s kept in another” EAI: Keeping Information in SyncWords to Listen For

16. Employees Customers User Interface BizTalk Server Retail Banking Application Mutual Funds Application Lending Application Customer Data Customer Data Customer Data EAI: Displaying Diverse InformationAn Example

17. EAI: Displaying Diverse Information Business Goals • Increase customer satisfaction • By allowing direct access to current information, e.g., shipping status or financial information • Reduce costs • Such as by hiring fewer call center employees • Increase revenues • Such as by improving cross-selling based on employee access to current and complete customer information

18. “People have to go to many different applications to get their work done” “Employees have five different applications running on their desktop” “We need a common view of customers/patients/…” EAI: Displaying Diverse Information Words to Listen For

19. Customer Supplier BizTalk Server EDI JD Edwards Business Users B2BIAn Example

20. B2BIBusiness Goals • Lower costs and improve quality of interaction with suppliers • Comply with customer mandates • Big firms commonly force their suppliers to connect electronically • Comply with government and industry mandates • For health care, banking, and more

21. “EDI” “AS2” “EDIFACT” “X12” “Supply chain management” High Tech: “RosettaNet” Health Care: “HIPAA”, “HL7” Financial Services: “SWIFT” B2BIWords to Listen For

22. Business Process AutomationBusiness Goals • Reduce manual effort • And improve cycle times • Provide real-time process information • Via business activity monitoring (BAM) • Manage complex sets of business rules • With a business rules engine (BRE) • Track business processes for compliance • And improve visibility into those processes

23. Business Users BAM Tracking BizTalk Server BRE Business Users Siebel CRM .NET Application SAP ERP Business Users Business Process Automation An Example

24. “Faster time to market” “Faster cycle times” “Business rules” “Visibility” “Audit trails” “Compliance” “Sarbanes-Oxley”, “SOX”, “SarbOx” Financial Services: “Basel II” Business Process AutomationWords to Listen For

25. Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) Exposing web services from existing applications Providing an enterprise service bus (ESB) Simplicity Replacing complex custom integration Replacing integration done with older technologies Categorizing BizTalk-Based ProjectsTypical IT Problems

26. Simplicity Improving What’s Already There • Organizations often have: • Complex custom integration solutions • Or solutions based on older integration products • Mission-critical data in legacy systems • BizTalk Server-based projects can: • Provide more control • Save money • Safely wrap legacy applications • Without changing them

27. “Many companies are starting to move to SOA, which is also driving the need for BizTalk engagements.” SOA Supporting the Move to Services • SOA can provide a common way to access new and existing applications • BizTalk Server-based projects can: • Expose the functions of one or more applications as web services • Provide the services of an ESB • Such as message-based communication, data transformation, and more

28. “We’re scared to touch anything” “Complex, fragile integration” “Service-oriented” “ESB” “SOA” IT ProblemsWords to Listen For

29. Microsoft SupportFY07 BizTalk Server Campaigns • Cross-industry campaigns: • Business Intelligence: BAM and more • SOA and Business Process • Vertical industry campaigns: • Manufacturing • B2BI: Connecting with trading partners • Supply chain visibility • Retail • B2BI: Connecting with trading partners • Supply chain visibility • RFID “Connect”

30. Microsoft SupportInfrastructure Optimization (IO) Models • IO models categorize an organization into one of four levels: • Basic, Standardized, Advanced, Dynamic • The Application Platform IO Model (APIOM) includes SOA and Business Process • The process of categorizing a customer can help discover opportunities • For more information, see http://www.microsoftio.com

31. 3 Complements, Alternatives, and Competitors to BizTalk Server

32. Complements Host Integration Server Microsoft Operations Manager BizTalk ISV Partners Summarizing the Landscape • Competitors • Doing nothing • Custom code • Other vendors • IBM • SAP • Oracle • BEA • Tibco • WebMethods • Sun’s SeeBeyond • Alternatives • Windows SharePoint Services • SQL Server Integration Services • Windows Workflow Foundation

33. Complements • Host Integration Server (HIS) • Connects to IBM systems • Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) • Supports a management pack for BizTalk Server • BizTalk ISV partners • Human workflow: • SourceCode’s K2.net • Captaris • BPM: • http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk/solutions/bpm/partners.mspx

34. Alternatives • SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) • SSIS focuses on Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) of data • Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) 3.0 • Supports human workflows • Can be connected to BizTalk Server • Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) • Allows creating workflow-driven applications • BizTalk Server provides many more services, however

35. CompetitorsDoing Nothing • Is spending money on integration worthwhile for this prospect? • It might not be • Beating this competitor requires building a convincing business case for your solution

36. “If customers won’t invest in BizTalk when it’s warranted, the end result takes longer to build, is harder to scale and extend, and more expensive to maintain. It’s better for the overall solution, and thus better for the partner, to sell the right technology.” CompetitorsCustom Development (1) • Writing all of the integration code yourself can be the right solution • Such as for simple point-to-point problems • For more complex scenarios, an integration product is better

37. “Whatever solution you build, you want to do the best thing for the customer.” CompetitorsCustom Development (2) • BizTalk Server provides: • Adapters and accelerators • Data mapping • Graphical tools • Security • Persistence • Reliability/failover • Scalability • Management tools

38. CompetitorsThe Vendor Landscape

39. CompetitorsGeneral Truths • All built their integration product suites at least partially by acquisition • So they’re typically more complex to use and less mature than BizTalk Server • All charge extra for individual features, such as BAM and a BRE • BizTalk Server includes all of these things • So BizTalk Server is typically less expensive • None work as well with other Microsoft software as BizTalk Server

40. CompetitorsThe Importance of Proof • If a competitive proof of concept (POC) is done, BizTalk wins well over half of the time • Primarily because of its ease of use • But POCs aren’t just about technology • What’s being proven is that your firm (and Microsoft) are good partners for this project • Use the right people for the POC • Domain expertise in whatever is being integrated, e.g., SAP, is commonly required

41. CompetitorsImportant Factors in a Competitive Situation Help the Sale Hurt the Sale The partner: Can demonstrate rapid ROI Has strong knowledge in this vertical market The partner: Can’t demonstrate rapid ROI Lacks strong knowledge in this vertical market A POC demonstrates high productivity using BizTalk Server The POC or the entire decision is driven by a non-Microsoft-friendly person The customer is already using BizTalk Server A competing product is already entrenched .NET is a large part of the development environment .NET isn’t a large part of the development environment

42. ConclusionWhat to Do Next • Understand the problems your customers face • Recognize when integration should be part of the solution • Help the customer recognize this, too • Close the deal

43. Appendix: BizTalk Server Basics

44. 2000 2002 2004 2006 2007 BizTalk Server 2000 BizTalk Server 2002 BizTalk Server 2004 BizTalk Server 2006 .NET-based rewrite BizTalk Server 2006, R2 The History of BizTalk Server

45. Accelerators Visual Studio 2005 HL7 SWIFT ... Others Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) Orchestration Designer Business Rules Engine (BRE) Health and Activity Tracking (HAT) Orchestration SAP IBM Mainframes Data Mapping Adapters WebSphere MQ SAP ... Web Services File Others Java Applications Other Tracking Message Box Illustrating BizTalk Server 2006

46. BizTalk Server BizTalk Server or SQL Server SQL Server BizTalk Server 2006 Standard Edition • Limited to two CPUs on one server • Allows a maximum of five applications

47. BizTalk Server BizTalk Server … … SQL Server SQL Server BizTalk Server 2006 Enterprise Edition • Allows multiple servers for reliability and scalability • Allows an unlimited number of applications

48. AdaptersMaking Connections • Included with BizTalk Server: • SAP, PeopleSoft, Siebel, JD Edwards, WebSphere MQ, many more • Complete list: http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk/evaluation/ adapter/default.mspx • Available from partners: • http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk/evaluation/ adapter/partner/2004.mspx

49. “We sell ROI, making the BizTalk license just a line item to get this return.” Selling BizTalk Licenses • Selling a solution that includes BizTalk Server requires convincing customers that the license fee will ultimately save them money • This is easier with customers who understand the business value of integration

50. BizTalk Server 2006 Pricing • Developer Edition: $499/user • Limited to developing and testing solutions • Standard Edition: $8,499/CPU • Enterprise Edition: $29,999/CPU • SQL Server is also required: • Standard Edition: $5,999/CPU • Enterprise Edition: $24,999/CPU