Microsoft South Africa has been awarded the 1998 Annual Middle Market Accounting Software Awards in the Best Product category for its leading database product Microsoft SQL Server 7.0. The award was presented earlier this month by Patrick Toolan, director of Synergy Holdings, to David Sieff, Microsoft product manager.
"In the past, people would use the accounting package as a stand-alone piece of software. Microsoft SQL 7.0 will seamlessly link data from disparate data sources using the same query mechanism, without the use of clumsy import/export routines. It is this, and a host of other benefits and features that we believe will lead to Microsoft SQL 7.0 becoming the standard in the middle market accounting field," said Toolan.
David Sieff said: "For small to medium sized businesses accounting is a core function and the use of off the shelf packages means that we need to provide back-ends with greater flexibility and functionality. Today, a small company can manage its information effectively across most of its applications. This means that any company can compete using a Digital Nervous System to manage information. Microsoft SQL 7 is integral to any Digital Nervous System, for companies of any size and we are hugely gratified to receive this award from what is a very important market sector for us."
Microsoft SQL 7.0 was made available in South Africa in December 1998 and has received many international awards alongside an ever-increasing market share.
"Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 has raised the bar when it comes to ease of use and functionality in the accounting world," said Toolan. "Certainly we have always recommended prior versions of Microsoft SQL Server to our clients using Accpac, Solomons and Great Plains accounting software. Already we have seen close to a 50% adoption rate of Microsoft SQL 7.0 among our clients and this is increasing every day."
The primary features of Microsoft SQL 7.0 that were highlighted for the accounting market were distributed query processing, scalability, locking, bi-directional replication and multiple triggers.
"Another big draw-card for our client base is the real English queries. This makes Microsoft SQL 7.0 far easier than other database products on the market to use and implement," said Toolan.
"1998 was the first year that we issued such awards and we aim to continue with these awards making them an annual end of year celebration. We felt it was about time that companies which provided both product and service excellence were recognised for the contribution that they have made to the South African business sector," said Toolan.
The other award winners included:
Keyfile Corporation
LA Technology
Great Plains Africa
Great Plains Africa - Local Market Commitment
Peresoft Software & Support
- Best Value Added Product for Keyflow
(Pty) Limited - Market Innovation for the ACCPAC Information Technology Programme 3
- Overall Achievement
(Pty) Ltd - Best Local Product for Cashbook Note to editors: Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day. Microsoft South Africa was launched in January 1993 in Johannesburg and now has sales offices in Durban and Cape Town.
If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at www.microsoft.com and the Microsoft South Africa home page at http://www.microsoft.com/southafrica/
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