Learning BizTalk Server 2006

I am a software developer. That is what I do. That is what I know. I have been attempting to learn enterprise development on the BizTalk Server 2006 platform for ~3 months now. It is an amazing platform with many underlying technologies. I have been extremely impressed with all of the pieces that make up BizTalk and simply amazed at what all of these pieces bring to the table. That said, it hasn't been an easy journey, and I am nowhere even close to being useful as a BTS developer. I seem to get stuck on each little task that I try to accomplish. With my receding/thinning hair, there isn't much more to pull out.

Maybe this is one of the reasons why I have found this learning curve so steep. Its an article by Mark Burch on "The BizTalk development paradigm"

I have been reading the books:

BizTalk 2006 Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach
by Mark Beckner, Ben Goeltz, Brandon Gross, and Brennan O'Reilly (Paperback - Sep 13, 2006)

Pro BizTalk 2006 (Pro)
by George Dunphy and Ahmed Metwally (Paperback - Oct 23, 2006)

Foundations of BizTalk Server 2006 (Foundations)
by Daniel Woolston (Paperback - Jan 8, 2007)

Taken the class:

Course 2933: Developing Business Process and Integration Solutions Using Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006
Five days; Instructor-Led

I've worked through the BizTalk Server 2006 Tutorials.

I'm working through the BizTalk Server Code Samples.

With all of this work, I still am struggling to get real world solutions (even prototypes) going at the moment.

That being said, I am still extremely excited to have the opportunity (and the challenge) of working on these integration projects for my company using BTS2006.

Guess we'll see where I end up.