Integrate 2024 marked the 12th year of our action-packed, two-day event filled with critical announcements, knowledge sharing, and unparalleled networking opportunities. Started by Kovai.co in 2012 as a community event for Microsoft BizTalk Server enthusiasts, Integrate has evolved into the largest event dedicated to Microsoft Azure Integration Services. This year, Microsoft, our Titanium sponsor, unveiled their roadmap for the Azure Integration Services space.
Held at the iconic King’s Place, the UK, between June 10 and 11, the event was attended by more than 290 people. Day one kicked off with a welcome speech from our founder and CEO, Saravana Kumar, setting the tone and context for the two-day event.
There have been some major announcements from the Microsoft team at Integrate over the years. Unlike bigger events like Microsoft Build and Microsoft Ignite, Integrate is highly focused on Microsoft Integration. This focus allows attendees to interact directly with product teams and those who build the products – Founder and CEO, Saravana Kumar, Kovai.co
“Microsoft’s product teams also know the focussed audience they receive so they go much deeper in their sessions,” he added.
Out of the 20 sessions, we led some important sessions including one on “Knowledge Management for Enterprise Integration Platform” by Michael Stephenson, where Document360 was a focal point.
We also conducted two well-received sessions on “How an Integration Team Identified More than $1 Million of Azure Cost Savings” and “BizTalk to Azure Integration Services Supercharged by Turbo360,” highlighting the capabilities of Turbo360.
“The event was initially organized by our flagship product BizTalk360, which also happened to be the company’s name during inception. Over the years, we have been representing our Azure management product, Turbo360, too at the event since it also works on Microsoft” explained our Vice President of Marketing, Sunil Krishna. Document360 also had a stall at the event.
Microsoft took nine sessions, while top Microsoft MVPs led nine sessions. Slava Koltovich, the Product lead for Azure Integration Services and Azure Cache for Redis, took the stage after Saravana’s welcome speech and delivered an amazing keynote address. It was followed by an extremely insightful session on “Accelerating developer productivity with Azure Logic Apps”.
Other popular sessions included ones on “The Future of Event Streaming with Azure Messaging”, “BizTalk to Azure the Migration Journey: Azure Integration in Action”, “Exploring Azure API Management’s Latest Advancements and Future Developments” and “Integrating AI into Your Healthcare-Based Solutions” by Mick Badran. Mick, the founder of Solve IT, flew in from Australia to deliver his talk.
For the first time, we introduced podcasts at Integrate. During the two-day event, Turbo360’s Product Owner, Michael Stephenson, recorded 19 podcasts with top MVPs in the Azure Integration space – Senior Growth Marketer, Venkatesh Sreedharan.
The first day concluded with a closed drinks reception at the Riverside balcony for our partners, speakers, and sponsors. Nearly 75 invitees attended, and Mike took the opportunity to thank each of our sponsors 345 Technology, Affinus Ltd, Dekiru Solutions, and Frends Enterprise iPaas.
The second day proceeded smoothly with timely sessions and seamless live streaming. As per tradition, Microsoft made key announcements regarding Azure Logic Apps, the Azure Integration Environment, and updates in the BizTalk server. We at Kovai.co left with some promising leads.
Seeing the culmination of our eight months of preparation into a successful event was extremely satisfying. We traditionally begin planning for Integrate in October, creating a website, forecasting a budget, and setting a date that avoids holidays in the UK, Europe, and the US. We also start calling for papers from potential speakers more than six months in advance,” says Venkatesh, who traveled from our Coimbatore office along with Technical Architect Arunprabhu Muthusamy and Lead-Sales Development Gunasekhar Paramasivam.
Our Kovai.co team celebrated the post-event with a dinner at Hoppers in London. Continuing the tradition of Indian celebrations, Sunil ordered some amazing Chicken and Mutton Biryani from a home chef in London.
Conclusion
Over the last 12 years, Integrate has continued to grow, with most attendees choosing to participate in person, taking full advantage of the networking, learning, and conversations. We hope our learnings from this year’s event will help us serve and impact our customers even better. Together, we grow.
