Middleware, also referred to as Application Infrastructure, is an essential enabling technology for helping IT meet the challenges of evolving their business applications. Enterprises of all sizes experience tremendous cost and complexity when extending and customizing their applications today. With investments across both on-premises and public cloud environments, Microsoft is bringing the best of both worlds to a new generation of Application Infrastructure. Read more in this whitepaper.

With the Microsoft Application Platform you can:

Build Web and composite applications using the power of the Microsoft® .NET Framework, including ASP.NET, Windows® Communication Foundation (WCF) and Windows® Workflow Foundation (WF).

Scale and Manage applications on the foundation of Windows® Server and the enhanced features of Windows® Server AppFabric.

Integrate applications and business partners, automate processes, and simplify operations using Microsoft® BizTalk® Server.  And Connect cloud and on-premise applications and extend existing investments using Windows® AzureTM AppFabric

Middleware or Application Infrastructure offerings from Microsoft consists of the following key elements which build upon a consistent and proven foundation of developer frameworks (Microsoft® .NET Framework), IT Pro management tools (Microsoft® System Center, IIS & PowerShell), and an enterprise ready platform (Windows® Server, Windows® Azure & SQL Server).

Windows Server AppFabric

Windows Server AppFabric provides a set of application services focused on improving the speed, scale, and management of web and composite applications. Existing web applications are faster and more scalable through distributed in-memory caching; and composite applications are easier to build with pre-built development frameworks, tools, application services, and ITPro management and monitoring capabilities.

Learn More: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/appfabric.

Windows Azure AppFabric

Windows Azure AppFabric connects hybrid applications and services running on-premises and in the cloud. This includes applications running on Windows Azure, Windows Server and a number of other platforms including Java, Ruby, and PHP. It delivers secure connectivity between loosely-coupled services and applications, enabling them to navigate firewalls or network boundaries.

Learn More: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/appfabric.

Microsoft BizTalk Server

Microsoft BizTalk Server enables organizations to connect and extend heterogeneous systems across the enterprise and with trading partners. BizTalk Server 2010 comes pre-integrated with Windows Server AppFabric to allow .NET developers to more rapidly build composite applications that connect to line-of-business systems. This brings the familiar programming model of .NET to complex enterprise integration scenarios involving LOB systems.

Learn More: http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk.