It was no coincidence that Microsoft Corp chose the first day of arch rival Oracle Corp’s user conference in San Francisco, yesterday, to announce the pricing and packaging for the next version of its database software, SQL Server 7.0. Redmond has been talking about the new features of the database for months, but this is the first time the company has divulged any hard and fast details. A spokesperson for Microsoft told ComputerWire the latest version would include a number of key enhancements. The most significant is the inclusion of data warehousing support through new OLAP services, he said, which Redmond hopes will give it the edge over rivals Oracle, IBM Corp and Sybase Inc. But also new are additional data transformation services that enable users to fill their SQL warehouse with data from other sources, such as an Oracle database for example. In addition, there is a new mobile version that sits on Windows 95 and 98 systems and connects laptops, or other mobile devices, to corporate databases and overall improvements in performance and ease of use. SQL Server 7.0, which will be unveiled on the first day of the Comdex 98 show on Monday, comes in three flavors. The standard edition runs on Windows NT and is designed for workgroup and departmental applications. It includes full replication services, data transformation services, OLAP services and Microsoft9s Meta Data repository 2.0. Prices for the standard edition start at $1,399 for a 5-user license; $1,999 for 10 users; and $3,999 for a 25- user system. The enterprise edition is aimed at large departments and high-end enterprise applications. It adds support for terabyte databases, Microsoft’s cluster services, partitioning for OLAP services and support for SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) servers with more than four processors. The enterprise edition is available in three configurations: a 25-user system costs $7,999; the 50-user package is $10,999 and the 250-user version costs $28,999. The third version, SQL Server 7.0 Desktop, is Microsoft’s attempt to push its the technology into the small workgroup/mobile environment where its Access database has traditionally hogged the limelight. It ships as part of the standard and enterprise editions but companies wanting to access the software will still have to pay on a per-seat license basis. Microsoft also announced a special license program for businesses wanting to provide access to their database over the internet. The SQL Internet Connector provides unlimited user access and is priced at $2,999 per server processor. It also unveiled a special promotion offer whereby customers using previous versions of the database, as well as non-Microsoft database users, can purchase the software for just $99 per user for a limited 99-day time period.
á
