NEW YORK, Dec. 3, 1996 —
— Today at DB Expo, Microsoft Corp. indicated that sales of Microsoft® SQL Server
™
have increased by over 100 percent compared to last year, bringing the total number of users to more than 2 million. Microsoft SQL Server continues to surpass expectations in product shipments, industry support and customer demand, making it the industry’s fastest-growing database.
“We are very excited that more and more organizations have chosen Microsoft SQL Server over other alternatives,”
said Rich Tong, vice president of the desktop and business systems division at Microsoft.
“Customers have told us that they prefer Microsoft SQL Server because its combination of enterprise functionality and ease of use delivers lower cost of ownership and quicker time to deployment.”
Best-Selling Database on Windows NT Server
Driven by strong customer demand, sales of Microsoft SQL Server grew over 100 percent in fiscal year 1996, a trend that continues in fiscal year 1997.
According to International Data Corp., Microsoft SQL Server led in sales for databases running on the Windows NT® Server network operating system, with over 57 percent of unit volume for 1995, compared to Oracle at 23 percent and Sybase at 4 percent.
Developer interest has fueled sales growth as well. In a recent survey by VARBusiness Magazine, VARs named Microsoft SQL Server the best-selling database for the second year in a row at 38 percent, outpacing Oracle at 21 percent, IBM at 10 percent, Informix at 9 percent and Sybase at 8 percent.
Customers Embrace Microsoft SQL Server
The growth rate of Microsoft SQL Server is being driven by customer demand for line-of-business applications, data warehousing solutions, and applications for the Internet and corporate intranets.
The availability of line-of-business solutions has been a growth catalyst for Microsoft SQL Server. For example, SAP AG began shipping a version of its R/3 enterprise applications for Microsoft SQL Server in fall 1995. Since then, nearly 300 customers have chosen Microsoft SQL Server as their database for SAP’s R/3.
While some customers are purchasing applications, others have been successfully building them internally.
“We chose Microsoft SQL Server for our production-line system because it is reliable and integrates well with other Microsoft products,”
said Joseph Fink, CIO for Guess? Inc.
“Microsoft SQL Server is our enterprise database of choice.”
“The goal and vision with FinanceNOW!, our general ledger intranet application, was to deliver a secure, intuitive, cost-effective and easy-to-use active financial tool,”
said Michael Sidell, senior manager of business systems for Charles Schwab & Company Inc.
“After researching the market, we chose a solution based on Microsoft SQL Server, Windows NT Server, Microsoft Internet Information Server and Microsoft Internet Explorer.”
“We’re nearly complete with a yearlong migration of all of our systems from Unix to Microsoft SQL Server and Windows NT Server,”
said Patrick Naughton, senior vice president of technology and CTO of Starwave Corp.
“Microsoft SQL Server on Windows NT-based systems gives us the flexibility and price/performance we need to aggressively grow our Web database applications.”
Starwave hosts some of the largest and most popular sites on the Internet, including ESPNET SportsZone, NBA.com, NFL.com and Mr. Showbiz.
Other customers using Microsoft SQL Server for Internet or corporate intranet solutions include Cyberia Caf
é
, NASDAQ, R.R. Donnelly Financial, Software Spectrum and Windermere Real Estate.
The rapidly growing data warehousing market is driving sales of Microsoft SQL Server as well. According to a recent survey of Microsoft SQL Server customers, more than 50 percent are using the product for data warehousing or other query-intensive applications. Customers using Microsoft SQL Server for data warehousing solutions include Aristotle Publishing, the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences (COAS) at Oregon State University, and the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Industry Momentum Continues
The number of Microsoft Solution Providers supporting Microsoft SQL Server has grown to more than 3,200 companies, nearly 300 percent growth over the past two years. Solution Providers offer training, support, consulting, systems integration, application development and other services. In addition, more than 10,500 people have become Microsoft Certified Professionals for Microsoft SQL Server, up more than 100 percent from a year ago.
Business solutions and industry-specific applications have also played a significant role in the success of Microsoft SQL Server. Nearly 200 companies now ship applications and solutions that support Microsoft SQL Server, including these:
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Enterprise applications. Support from the leading vendors, including The Baan Co., Marcam Corp., PeopleSoft Inc. and SAP AG
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Accounting. More than 25 solutions from companies such as Great Plains Software Inc., Platinum Software Corp., Ramco Systems Corp., Solomon Software, State-of-the-Art Inc. and many others
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Financial. The largest portfolio management vendor, the largest derivatives trading and risk management vendor, and two of the three largest retail brokerage vendors, including Advanced Commercial Banking Systems, Advent Software Inc., FundTech Corp., SunGard Corp. and The Frustum Group
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Health care. Four of the top five health-care software vendors, including HBO & Company, IDX Systems Corp., Lanier Worldwide Inc., Medic Systems Corp., Meditech and Shared Medical Systems Corp.
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Document and image management and workflow. Over a dozen products from the leading vendors, including Documentum Inc., FileNet Corp., IMNET Systems Inc., InterTech, Micro Dynamics Ltd., Novasoft, Optika Imagine Systems Inc., PC DOCS Inc., Saros Corp., Viewstar Corp., Wang Laboratories Inc. and Watermark Software Inc.
Lower Cost of Ownership
Microsoft SQL Server continues to lead the industry in database price/performance, as measured by the industry-standard TPC-C benchmarks. Microsoft SQL Server now holds seven of the top 10 price/performance records, including the top five positions. Over the past year, the TPC-C performance of Microsoft SQL Server on industry-standard hardware has increased nearly 275 percent, from 2,454 to 6,712 tpmC, while cost per transaction has decreased more than 73 percent, from $242 to $65 per tpmC. In addition, Microsoft is the first and only database vendor to publish TPC-C benchmark results using Web-based technologies, demonstrating tight integration between Microsoft SQL Server, Windows NT Server and Microsoft Internet Information Server.
Microsoft SQL Server is also less expensive to use than competing products. A recent study showed that Oracle Enterprise Server was 44 percent more expensive than Microsoft SQL Server on a cost-to-use basis. The study compared Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle7 Server costs for systems, software, development and operations personnel. The complete results of the study are available for download from the Microsoft Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/idcstudy.htm.
Microsoft SQL Server version 6.5 is currently available, with pricing starting at approximately $1,399 for a five-user system. A no-charge, 120-day evaluation version of Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 is available now for downloading from the Microsoft Web site. For more information on Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 or to download the product, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/sql/ .
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