Microsoft introduced SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005 to the local market and highlighted the coming release of BizTalk Server 2006 at the start of a three-city roadshow at Rand Airport south of Johannesburg.
Originally due for release in 2003, the long-awaited SQL Server 2005 is the first major upgrade of the database software in five years, but includes several major enhancements, particularly to the business intelligence and analysis functionality.
Various local and US representatives told a venue packed mainly with representatives of the developer community yesterday afternoon that Microsoft`s expanded new product line was the result of customer and partner involvement, including 26 from SA.
Jon Beighle, a senior director from Microsoft`s Redmond headquarters, emphasised the importance of developer community involvement in the latest product releases, pointing out that feedback had resulted in18 000 bug fixes prior to release.
Security and tight integration between the server infrastructure and development tools were other common themes throughout the roadshow, with Beighle claiming Microsoft had achieved the best integration in the industry across applications like SQL Server, Visual Studio and BizTalk Server.
"Security has been an area of major investment for Microsoft, and it is thrilling to deliver on our promise to improve security, particularly in Visual Studio, to help build more secure code and identify security risks," said Beighle, echoing similar statements by CEO Steve Ballmer during his recent visit to SA.
While offering a variety of licensing incentives to switch from competing data management and analysis products, Microsoft also announced new integration facilities that will allow native interoperability with business applications from rivals such as PeopleSoft, Siebel and Oracle.
Several customer organisations also took to the stage to illustrate how the new products are designed to overcome former limitations in scalability, performance and security by demonstrating features such as support for Web services, service orientation, table partitions, 64-bit X64 processors and data mirroring.
The Microsoft roadshow heads to Durban and Cape Town next week, on 22 and 24 November respectively.
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