Microsoft South Africa has reported an increase of 24 percent for Microsoft SQL Server sales for the first half of its last financial year, in comparison to the same timeframe in the previous year. There has also been a 38 percent increase in sales of end user access licences for Microsoft SQL Server measured over the same period.
The local success is in line with the international usage of Microsoft SQL Server. Research conducted by Zona, a US research house, earlier this year found that Microsoft SQL Server is the most popular Web database with a market share of 68 percent. Additionally, three independent studies have found that Microsoft SQL Server has a lower total cost of ownership than Oracle and the American Institute for Research found that Microsoft SQL Server is three times easier to use than Oracle. Local enterprise customers using Microsoft SQL Server to enhance their business operations include Eskom, Mintek, Macsteel International and Autopage Cellular. From an international Internet point-of-view, it has enabled customers such as Dell.com to move more than $35 million worth of computers daily and NASDAQ.com handle 20 million hits a day.
According to David Sieff, product marketing manager at Microsoft South Africa, the growth can be attributed to enterprise customers` acceptance of Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 as a viable cost-effective database platform on which to run mission critical systems. "There is an increasing trend towards larger companies choosing Microsoft SQL Server as it scales to their demanding business requirements, while still being easy to use and maintain. The response from our customers to date has been that Microsoft SQL Server can reliably handle high volumes of transaction data, meeting their requirements to achieve higher profits, while improving their customer satisfaction and retention."
Local customers continue to sing the product`s praises. Microsoft and Macsteel International Holdings recently formed a global strategic partnership whereby Microsoft supplies the software and high-level support for www.livesteel.com, a new online trading site for steel products. Since the site is hosted in Hong Kong, Macsteel required a solution that would give the company access to global technical support and software that was flexible and scalable enough to meet the demands of a high turnover electronic commerce site.
"Our site needs to have access to 24x7 support, especially as it spans two continents," says Colin James, chief information officer at Macsteel International. "We chose to partner with Microsoft as it not only has the required support capabilities, but also has the ability to implement the software through SQL Server, that effectively integrated with our existing back-end systems. The means that there has been no need to deploy new and costly software upgrades."
Mintek has developed and deployed a furnace production management system based on Microsoft technologies, leading to a 70 percent fulfilment of plant requirements within the resource planning stage, effectively increasing production efficiency. The FurnStar furnace production management system manages real-time information covering all smelting materials, inputs, procedures and outputs. It merges all production data, supplies feedback and analysis tools, then sends it through to the relevant operators and managers online in a single user interface style.
"Our real-time environment demands constant uptime and Microsoft SQL Server delivers proven stability and reliability," says Warren Carew, project development manager at Mintek. "By accessing the most up-to-date information from the furnace environment through our database, our management`s planning and costing processes have been greatly enhanced. Any issues or abnormalities can be identified and dealt with quickly, ensuring that productivity stays at optimal levels."
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 is expected to launch in South Africa in August 2000. The new product release will deliver enhanced scaleability on Windows 2000, is fully Web-enabled and includes numerous improvements over SQL Server 7.0 in the online analytical processing database (OLAP) and analysis services space. This is important for enterprises who are building sophisticated data warehouses for effective customer relationship management and knowledge management.
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