REDMOND, Wash. — May 31, 2006 — Microsoft Corp. today announced Visual Studio® Team Edition for Database Professionals, expanding Visual Studio 2005 Team System to include tools that enable software development organizations to collaborate more effectively when creating reliable, data-driven applications. The new product will be available as a Community Technology Preview (CTP) at Tech•Ed 2006 in Boston and is expected to ship by the end of 2006. This addition to Microsoft® Visual Studio 2005 Team System is the next milestone en route to the release of Visual Studio code-named “Orcas,” which will provide capabilities for building compelling applications that target Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005, Windows Vista™, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, and the next generation of Web technologies.
“One of the main issues in software development today is a lack of collaboration among members of a software development team and beyond,” said S. Somasegar, corporate vice president of the Developer Division at Microsoft. “Our goal is to ensure that all members of the IT organization can gain more visibility into and greater predictability of the software development process. The expansion of Visual Studio Team System to include data tools, along with developer productivity innovations in the upcoming Visual Studio ‘Orcas,’ demonstrates Microsoft’s commitment to providing tools that help individuals, teams and organizations derive greater efficiency when building solutions on the Microsoft platform.”
Bringing Database Professionals Into the Application Life Cycle
Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals delivers on Microsoft’s commitment to provide tools that reduce communication barriers and complexity across software development teams.
“All too frequently, schisms exist between database teams and development staff, leading to ineffective collaboration, inadequate project and code management, poor quality, and cost increases,” said Melinda Ballou, program director at IDC’s Application Life Cycle Management service. “Avoidable problems occur due to these gaps in communication. Users on both sides need tools and processes to facilitate coordination and management across groups and across skill sets, to increase efficiency, and to improve software quality earlier in the life cycle.”
This new member of the Team System family fulfills increasing demand in the market for more advanced tools for managing database changes by providing a foundation to reduce risk, ensure quality and speed deployment. Database architects, developers, administrators and other database professionals can now employ integrated change-management functionality to streamline changes to their databases and reduce the risk of catastrophic failure related to the alteration of database schemas. In addition, database professionals may now drive better quality earlier in the development process through integrated database testing, including support for database unit tests, complex test authoring and automatic generation of meaningful test data.
“As the software development life cycle matures, there’s an increased need for a tool that makes the database professional an integral part of the application team,” said Larry Humphries, vice president of product management at Quest Software Inc. “In expanding Visual Studio Team System to include this functionality, Microsoft provides developers and data professionals with such a tool. We look forward to integrating our solutions with Visual Studio Team System and providing customers with a complete solution for building productive and robust data applications.”
Building on Future Microsoft Platforms
Microsoft also discussed how Visual Studio “Orcas” will deliver capabilities that help individuals, teams and the entire IT organization successfully build dynamic applications and solutions on the Microsoft platform. In addition to support for Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system, Visual Studio “Orcas” will include several innovative technologies: Microsoft .NET Language Integrated Query makes it easier for programmers to build solutions that analyze and act on information; code name “Atlas” is a Web client framework that simplifies Ajax-style development; and code name “Cider” provides the user interface designer with tools for building Windows Presentation Foundation-based applications. Visual Studio “Orcas” will put application development on the latest Microsoft platform within reach of all developers, regardless of skill level or expertise with modern technologies.
Product Information, Pricing and Availability
The first CTP of Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals will be available to attendees at Tech•Ed 2006 in Boston. It will also be available for download at http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/teamsystem/products/dbpro. The final version of Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals is expected ship by the end of 2006. Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals will be available to current and future subscribers of Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite with MSDN® Premium as part of their subscription. Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Database Professionals will also be sold separately, consistent with the other “role-based” products in the Visual Studio Team System family ($5,469 estimated retail price). Additional pricing and licensing information can be found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/howtobuy.
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