News and Reviews

(April 15, 2008) On Tuesday, Microsoft confirmed that it plans to release a third service pack for SQL Server 2005 by the end of the year.

(December 6, 2007) Microsoft Corp. today announced the release of Beta 3 of the ADO.NET Entity Framework. Designed to make it even easier for developers to build data-centric applications and services regardless of the underlying data source, the ADO.NET Entity Framework is already gaining significant support from multiple database vendors and third-party providers, including Core Lab, DataDirect Technologies, Firebird Foundation Inc., IBM Corp., MySQL AB, Npgsql , OpenLink Software Inc., Phoenix Software International, Sybase Inc. and VistaDB Software Inc.

(December 5, 2007) Today Microsoft Corp. highlighted the benefits customers have realized by migrating their data platform to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 to run their SAP® applications: enterprise-caliber reliability coupled with significant cost savings. Customers have experienced over 35 percent cost-efficiencies by selecting SQL Server 2005 to run their SAP solutions.

Redmond is gaining, but when will it -- or can it -- overtake longtime market leader Oracle?... Within years the seemingly impossible becomes the reality and Microsoft is the market leader, leaving the incumbent lying and bleeding in the dust. Several of these has-beens were acquired, while others are significantly downsized.

We are announcing an important milestone for SQL Server 2008—the upcoming availability of the November Community Technology Preview (CTP) for the latest version of SQL Server. SQL Server 2008 is a huge step forward as we continue delivering on our Data Platform Vision for “Your Data, Any Place, Any Time.” SQL Server 2008 will bring that vision to life, and there is something in this feature-rich CTP to meet the needs of companies of all sizes.

New products and alliances with Microsoft, IBM, and Oracle to be featured at Zend/Con
Microsoft and Zend also will reveal that they are working to support Microsoft's SQL Server database in PHP. Developers would gain an optimized way to link PHP applications to SQL Server 2005.

Solutions to set a new standard in performance cost of implementation, and ease of operation.
The new Business Intelligence & Data warehousing solutions, jointly engineered by Dell and Microsoft, include a stack of server hardware, storage arrays, operating system, database and analytics software, management, and reporting tools. The entire solution is based on the hardware and software many customers are using in their enterprise today.

74.7 percent of enterprises are using SQL Server, while 54.5 percent are using Oracle database.

Lava Trading launched a 70-terabyte capacity platform, dubbed Tick Database, that ensures its financial services customers achieve best execution by providing close to real-time access to pricing quotes in the US equities markets. In addition, Lava's Tick Database will store massive volumes of quotes to enable its customers to show compliance Reg. NMS.

SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition scored a 4.7, outperforming competitors by upwards of two and a half full points. The competition took place between March and April 2007, involved 350 participants rating a variety of products across four dimensions: familiarity with product, profit potential of the product to the channel, opportunity the product presents for associated sales, and overall market impact of the product. View the slide.

InformationWeek (May 1, 2007) In a world awash with data, even user-experience conferences like Microsoft's Mix conference this week must cover database technologies. So while much of the press attention here has focused on Silverlight, the company's glitzy new plug-in, the world of data has quietly played a strong supporting role in several little-noticed announcements, including an early test release of a set of data services.

SQL Server Magazine (April 17, 2007) When you think about SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, the first thing that probably comes to mind is a personal database application. Although that’s certainly something that SQL Server Express is good for, it’s really more than a single-database system. Derived from the full-blown, enterprise-ready version of SQL Server 2005, SQL Server Express is really a database server, and as such, there’s more to it than just being a personal database.

SQL Server Magazine (February 26, 2007) Microsoft is faring better and better in the BI space by selling software (e.g., SQL Server, the 2007 Microsoft Office system) that does almost everything--and also includes world-class BI.

SQL Server Magazine (February 22, 2007) Microsoft has announced a license change that now allows you to use unlimited virtual instances in servers that are licensed for SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition.

TechNewsWorld (February 20, 2007) Microsoft has released a second service pack for its enterprise-level SQL Server 2005 database software, which emphasizes integration with Vista and the company's upcoming Longhorn server.

Search Win IT (January 17, 2007) A new SQL Server release offers easy accessibility for road warriors while allowing IT administrators to keep data encrypted and secure if a mobile device is lost or stolen.

Information Week (December 14, 2006) Microsoft was gearing SQL Server to work with "the occasionally connected user or application," a hallmark of mobile device use.

ZDNet India (December 14, 2006) "While Microsoft's leadership in Business Intelligence is definitely a significant milestone, it is equally emblematic of the strides that Microsoft is making in the database market."

vnunet.com (November 22, 2006) "It will take me five minutes to find a new bug in the Oracle 10g database, but I cannot do that with SQL Server 2005."

vnunet.com (November 22, 2006) "It will take me five minutes to find a new bug in the Oracle 10g database, but I cannot do that with SQL Server 2005."

Computerworld (November 20, 2006) “They (Microsoft) can scale and handle data warehouses of any size.”

InternetNews.com (November 16, 2006) “It's all about mobility for people on the road. That's where the future really is and that's what they're (Microsoft) focusing on."

Bloomberg (October 26, 2006) "I sleep well at night knowing one of my key projects is tied in with Microsoft," said Gary Greenwald, who runs Citigroup's business that produces information tools for clients.

Computerworld (October 19, 2006) Microsoft used SQL Server as the guinea pig for its Security Development Lifecycle. After a couple of years of hard engineering work, the early returns on SQL Server merit attention and respect.

Computerworld (September 18, 2006) To generate call-center-specific BI data, 1-800 Contacts relies on a system that makes use of Microsoft SQL Server, which plays host to BI functions, such as those with extract, transform and load capabilities. Agents access information by tapping Microsoft SharePoint collaboration services.

Computerworld (September 4, 2006) Alex Payne, product manager in Microsoft's Office business applications group, said that Office 2007 will provide improved integration of Excel with the BI reporting and analysis capabilities in the company's SQL Server 2005 software.

TDWI (August 2, 2006) “Microsoft’s impact on the BI tools market cannot be overemphasized. Currently this is especially true with respect to its Reporting Services and Analysis Services products,” says IDC’s Dan Vesset.

VARBusiness (July 24, 2006) "Nearly one-third of respondents dubbed the company (Microsoft) the most innovative in BI, followed by Business Objects and Oracle. Microsoft also ranked tops in CRM and accounting software."

ComputerWeekly.com (July 18, 2006) Read about SQL Server 2005, what makes it special, why Gartner says it grew faster than the industry average, and why you should consider a career built around SQL Server 2005.

Enterprise Systems (July 5, 2006) Microsoft’s push into business intelligence (BI) client tools is primed for success, say users, largely because SQL Server 2005 gets just about everything right.

Computerworld (June 05, 2006) Microsoft Corp. this week plans to unveil an updated business intelligence strategy that includes its first business process management (BPM) offerings.

TechRepublic (March 13, 2006) Whether you're using SQL Server 2000 or earlier versions, it's time to switch up.

Developer.com (January, 2007)

Intelligent Enterprise (January 1, 2007)

Windows IT Pro (September 2006)

SD Times (June 2006)

eWeek (April 20, 2006)

InformationWeek (April 20, 2006)

IDG (April 19, 2006)

Software Development Magazine (March 15, 2006)

TDWI (March 1, 2006)

InfoWorld (January 16, 2006)

CRN (April 19, 2006)

CNET (April 19, 2006)

InfoWorld (January 16, 2006)

InfoWorld (January 2, 2006)

Government Computer News | GCN.com (January 23, 2006)

Megavendors are beginning to dominate the BI market. In less than one year, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, and IBM will have gone from accounting for a quarter of the market to owning over two-thirds of it.

Gartner (November 2007): The data warehouse DBMS market is in transition due to new entrants, the data warehouse appliance fever, large DBMS vendors challenging the data warehouse-only vendors and the changing workloads affecting the performance of the data warehouse.

IDC (April 2007): Microsoft continued to gain ground with 25 percent growth in the relational database management systems market. The RDBMS market as a whole grew fairly well and, with the strongest growth among the leaders, Microsoft has steadily narrowed the gap.

IDC (June 2007):Microsoft had another strong year in the BI tools market with the highest growth rate (28 percent) among the top 10 vendors. IDC reports the BI market showed growth of 11.5 percent in 2006 for a total market size of $6.25 billion in worldwide software revenue.

ESG (November 2006): SQL Server has maintained the industry’s lowest rate of common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVE) while other database providers have seen their CVE reports increase.

Gartner (September 12, 2006): In the report the analysts state, “With the release in November 2005 of SQL Server 2005, Microsoft is moving into the mainstream DW DBMS market. Since its release, Microsoft has seen double-digit revenue growth and leads the Windows relational database management system (RDBMS) revenue market with 46.8% of the market and 16.6% growth from 2004 to 2005.”

IDC (July 2006): Research firm IDC reports in the Worldwide Business Intelligence Tools 2005 vendor shares report that Microsoft’s growth of 25% leads the industry for DBMS and pure-play BI vendors.

Forrester Research (February 8, 2006): Microsoft’s business intelligence (BI) technology—including SQL Server 2005 with Integration Services for data integration, Reporting Services for production reporting, and Analysis Services for analytics functionality—provides a solid, albeit incomplete, solution for analytic and enterprise reporting.

(September 22, 2006)