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The bulk of the show's buzz centred around an upcoming version of SQL Server known as Yukon. Aside from offering improvements on such traditional database fronts as programmability and integration with Intel Corp. chip platforms, one of the key new features will centre around mobile devices and allowing users to access SQL data on them.
Some recent numbers show SQL Server catching up in the database market. Last year, it surpassed US$1 billion in revenues, and [Gord Mangione] pointed out that it is now Microsoft's fourth-largest business. According to Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Group, SQL Server also last year surpassed Oracle's market share on Windows servers for the first time.
For one attendee and SQL Server user, however, that ease-of-use trump card that Microsoft touts is a double-edge sword. Because the people who make up his company's management team hear from Redmond representatives that SQL Server is easy to use and implement, "they seem to think it's as easy as installing (Microsoft) Word," said the Atlanta-based database administrator, who wished not to be identified. The purse-string controllers therefore aren't willing to pony up the necessary resources to handle a task that "is much more complex. They just don't get it."