Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Unveiled at Sold-Out Developers Workshop
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25, 1 — Demonstrating its commitment to prepare independent software vendors (ISVs) and developers for Microsoft® SQL Server
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7.0, Microsoft Corp. is conducting a Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Developers Workshop in Los Angeles today through Friday. More than 2,000 attendees representing 1,200 companies from around the world are participating in the event. Attendees have the opportunity to receive in-depth information about the architecture, internals, development tools and interfaces of Microsoft
SQL Server 7.0, enabling them to get an early start on building applications for the latest version of the database, scheduled to be available in the second half of this year.
“Over the last 18 months, the number of applications available for Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 has quadrupled,” said Jim Ewel, group product manager for database and development technologies at Microsoft. “The overwhelming attendance at this event clearly demonstrates an enthusiasm among developers that will result in the availability of even more solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0. This is critical for customers who select a database in part because of widespread availability of business solutions.”
This workshop, co-sponsored by Digital Equipment Corp. and Data General Corp., complements preceding briefings on related technology. Earlier this month, Microsoft hosted more than 160 representatives from over 100 ISVs for developer briefings on OLE DB for OLAP as well as for Microsoft’s forthcoming OLAP server. In March, Microsoft plans to host more than 200 vendors for a briefing on extensions to the Microsoft Repository to handle metadata, OLAP and Data Transformation Services. The Microsoft Repository continues to receive the widespread support of the software industry, following the early endorsement of the Metadata Coalition and 65 leading ISVs in October.
Microsoft SQL Server Winning With Developers
The developer community has cast its vote for the industry’s premier database, with Microsoft SQL Server as the clear winner for developers building database applications. According to a Microsoft Developer Tracking Study, 69 percent of database application developers build products for Microsoft SQL Server, compared to 32 percent for runner-up Oracle. Developer momentum is the driving force behind the phenomenal growth in the availability of applications for Microsoft SQL Server 6.5.
Microsoft SQL Server has also gained popularity with the top ISVs building products for the largest vertical and horizontal markets including accounting, enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer management and health care. Today, five of the top five accounting vendors, four of the top five ERP vendors, six of the top six customer management vendors, and eight of the top 10 health-care vendors ship products built on Microsoft SQL Server. These software vendors, all of whom are represented at today’s conference, will lead the way in building world-class applications for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0.
“We are excited that Pivotal Relationship has been selected as an application for benchmarking the new capabilities of Microsoft SQL Server 7.0, crafted to increase performance, reliability and ease of administration,” said Norm Francis, president and CEO, Pivotal Software Inc. “Preliminary tests show that with small changes to our code, Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 will increase query performance within Pivotal Relationship by over 10 times. Performance improvements of this magnitude prove that the Microsoft BackOffice® platform is the best choice for customer relationship management solutions.”
Microsoft Makes Big Investments in Developers and ISVs
Microsoft is committed to helping developers and ISVs build and deploy highly scalable database solutions more quickly, simply and cost effectively. The Microsoft application developer customer unit (ADCU), which focuses exclusively on supporting programs for software vendors building applications on Microsoft SQL Server and the BackOffice family, employs more than 550 people worldwide. ADCU technical specialists work directly with software developers to ensure that their applications run well on Microsoft platforms.
The Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 migration lab is another example of Microsoft’s investment and commitment. The lab enables the top 100 ISVs working with Microsoft to work directly with the Microsoft SQL Server development team to ensure that their applications and Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 are highly optimized well before version 7.0 ships. The lab addresses a wide range of issues including data migration, application design and performance optimization. The lab also provides an open feedback loop in which ISVs can provide insight to Microsoft on the database’s features and performance.
“Working one-on-one with SQL developers at the Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 migration lab helped us ensure that our products will work seamlessly with Microsoft SQL Server 7.0,” said Neville van der Merwe, technical lead at Wonderware Corp. “Wonderware has used Microsoft SQL Server as its core database technology for four years because Microsoft is committed to providing software vendors with a great database platform that gives us the ability
to focus on delivering best-of-breed factory automation software through our IndustrialSQL, InTrack and InBatch FactorySuite products.”
Developed by a world-class development team, Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 is the best database for the Windows® family, offering lower cost and complexity and greater flexibility than any other database. Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 enables independent software vendors and customers to build and deploy scalable database solutions for such emerging growth markets as e-commerce, branch office, mobile computing and data marts. Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 delivers greater scalability, superior data warehousing, and easier management and use. Microsoft SQL Server is a member of the Microsoft BackOffice family, a set of servers that make it easy to build, manage and deploy powerful business solutions.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
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