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On the enterprise side, Microsoft has added Data Transformation Services (DTS) that import data from any ODBC-compliant data source and deposit it into any other ODBC-compliant database, and while the company Would prefer that SQL Server be on at least one of those ends, it doesn't need to be. The OLE DB-based DTS can be used simply as a transport and transformation mechanism and replaces the Bulk Copy tool in 6.5.
Most of the noise around SQL Server 7.0 has been made around its on-line analytical processing (OLAP) capabilities. The OLAP Services Administrator and Client support several flavours of OLAP including ROLAP, HOLAP and MOLAP and write to the OLE DB for OLAP interface specification.
Geoff Belair, platform architect at Prologic Corp. in Richmond, B.C., doesn't have any such concerns. Prologic bases its business on Microsoft products and, according to Belair, it doesn't have any concerns about the scalability of NT or SQL Server. Belair also likes the Management Console and the automated management functions.