Microsoft South Africa is introducing SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005, as well as highlighting the upcoming release of BizTalk Server 2006. Additional launches will be held in Durban on 22 November 2005 and in Cape Town on 24 November 2005.
Manoj Bhoola, Server and Tools business group manager at Microsoft South Africa, says the company is delivering a broad family of developer tools and server software that enable businesses to better connect their people, business processes and information, and give customers the ability to make better decisions faster.
"Through extensive collaboration with our customers and partners, we`re delivering powerful new platform capabilities with unprecedented integration between the server infrastructure and development tools," he says. "We`re enabling people to gain more insight into their businesses and play an even bigger role in the success of their organisations."
New capabilities enable better decisions faster
The advancements Microsoft is delivering with Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 and BizTalk Server 2006 build on the foundation put in place over the last several years, with significant investments in Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft .NET, providing developers and IT professionals with a dependable application platform that has underlying support for Web services and service orientation capabilities.
The deeper integration of the server and tools with today`s releases enables a host of innovative scenarios and a range of new capabilities:
* Visual Studio 2005 and the .NET Framework 2.0 enable developers and development teams to build high-performance, security-enhanced and reliable solutions using an enterprise-ready development platform. Visual Studio 2005 features an expanded set of tools including Visual Studio Team System, an extensible lifecycle tools platform that enables collaboration between software development teams to deliver modern service-oriented solutions.
* Microsoft SQL Server 2005 provides an integrated data management and analysis platform that helps organisations reliably manage mission-critical information and confidently run complex business applications. With embedded reporting and data analysis tools included with SQL Server 2005, companies can gain greater insight from their business information.
* BizTalk Server 2006 delivers new features that enable enterprises to better monitor, manage and deploy their mission-critical business processes.
In addition, Microsoft announced that it will include 16 new integration adapters in BizTalk Server 2006 Enterprise and Standard editions at no additional charge to customers. The move gives customers native interoperability to business applications such as PeopleSoft, Siebel, Oracle Database Connector and Oracle Application Suite.
Delivering increased value, functionality with expanded product line
Furthering Microsoft`s move to more role-specific software, the expanded set of product offerings has been designed to meet the unique requirements of audiences that span from hobbyists and students, through professional developers and IT professionals to enterprise architects and development teams.
"With the Visual Studio 2005 Express family and SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, Microsoft provides easy-to-use database and development tools to Web developers and students so they can construct Windows-based applications and Web sites for personal use and enjoyment at no cost," says Danny Naidoo, developer and platform group director at Microsoft South Africa.
Expanding the resources available to hobbyists and enthusiasts using the Express products, Microsoft also announced today the immediate availability of the Express Do-It-Yourself Kit, a collection of award-winning artwork from Corbis, icons from the Microsoft icon gallery, templates, instructional videos and other useful resources.
SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition and BizTalk Server 2006 Enterprise Edition serve as part of Microsoft`s new tools for enterprise customers, while Visual Studio Team System, a new expansion of the Visual Studio product line, has been designed to address the growing complexity of the software development lifecycle.
"Visual Studio Team System has been deeply integrated with SQL Server 2005 and BizTalk Server 2006. Together, these products help break down the barriers between the architect, tester, developer and project manager to enable better collaboration across distributed environments and speed business-driven software delivery," says Naidoo.
"As a result, Microsoft provides the most cohesive solution on the market. Microsoft`s strategy of tightly integrating the application platform with the underlying operating system enables a bedrock foundation for management, administration, security and tooling that provides a single, consistent, easy experience throughout the platform," he says.
"Microsoft also offers excellent support for Web services and collaboration. This year will be a milestone year for Microsoft as it delivers a number of significant enhancements, including version 2.0 of the .NET Framework and new releases of Visual Studio, SQL Server and BizTalk," Bhoola concludes.
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