14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has kicked off the launch of SQL Server 2008 R2, through no less than 85 live events hosted worldwide. The April 21st launch was also synonymous with the RTM of the data platform for the Redmond company. However, hours before the official RTM announcement, I told you that SQL Server 2008 R2 RTM downloads were already being offered through the Microsoft Download Center, and it wasn’t all that difficult to make the connection with the debut of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Launch Tour. With the release to manufacturing milestone behind it, SQL Server 2008 R2 will hit store shelves in just a few weeks, namely in early May 2010, as previously announced.
“Customers continue to receive and create increasing amounts of data, as information impacts their business and social lives. Our goal is to help customers extract value and business insight from that information, whether it is stored locally on their PC, in a datacenter or in the cloud,” Ted Kummert, senior vice president of the Business Platform Division at Microsoft, revealed. “Today’s release of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 is a big step forward in transforming how the IT department, the software developers, and end users interact and gain insight from data.”
According to statistics provided by the software giant, the Community Technology Preview testing program got a lot of attention from early adopters. No less than 300,000 downloads of the CTP releases of SQL Server 2008 R2 are a clear indication of the high level of customer interest in the data platform. Consistent enhancements have undoubtedly contributed to catalyzing customer demand. Key aspects of the SQL Server evolution include managed self-service business intelligence (BI) capabilities, scalability, performance and efficiency improvements and a strong focus on supporting platform integration bridging datacenters and the Cloud.
Erika Sommer , from the SQL Server Marketing team, offered a few highlights of what SQL Server 2008 R2 brought to the table:
“•PowerPivot: a managed self-service analysis solution that empowers end users to access, analyze and share data across the enterprise in an IT managed environment using Excel 2010 and SharePoint Sever 2010. •Master Data Services: helps IT organizations centrally manage critical data assets companywide and across diverse systems, and enables more people to securely manage master data directly, and ensure the integrity of information over time. •Application and Multi-server Management: helps organizations proactively manage database environments efficiently at scale through centralized visibility into resource utilization and streamlined consolidation and upgrade initiatives across the application lifecycle. •Report Builder 3.0: report authoring component with support for geospatial visualization. This new release provides capabilities to further increase end user productivity with enhanced wizards, more powerful visualizations, and intuitive authoring. •StreamInsight: a low latency complex event processing platform to help IT monitor, analyze and act on the data in motion to make more informed business decisions in near real-time.”