Microsoft offers Oracle defectors up to 50 percent off SQL Server

SQL Server 2008 isn’t set to be released to manufacturing until the second quarter of next year. But Microsoft already is taking aim at Oracle with its forthcoming release.

Microsoft officials announced on September 19 that they have no plans to increase the price of SQL Server 2008 beyond what the company already charges for SQL Server 2005. Microsoft execs also announced that, starting today, customers who migrate from Oracle to SQL Server will get a 50 percent discount on the price of SQL Server Enterprise Edition or 25 percent off the price of Standard Edition. However, both discounts are available only when users sign up for Software Assurance, Microsoft’s annuity volume-licensing plan.

Microsoft made its SQL Server announcements at the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) Community Summit in Denver. More specifics on the Oracle pricing promotion will be provided on Microsoft’s SQL Server Migration page.

This past spring, Microsoft held a contest to entice developers to build Oracle-Office mash-ups. Microsoft also created earlier this year a new user consortium designed to work with joint Oracle-Microsoft customers.

In other database-related news, Microsoft also announced on September 19 that its Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 product will be released to manufacturing this week. PerformancePoint is Microsoft’s latest business-scorecarding application and a key component of its business-intelligence line-up. PerformancePoint provides users with monitoring, analysis and forecasting/budgeting functionality. PerformancePoint builds on top of SQL Server and uses Office as its user interface. PerformancePoint integrates with SQL Server Reporting Services, SharePoint Services and SharePoint Server, officials said. It costs $20,000 per server, plus $195 per Client Access License (CAL), and $30,000 per Internet connector.

Microsoft officials said more than 10,000 customers kicked PerformancePoint 2007’s tires as part of the Community Technology Preview (CTP) test process.

Officials declined to discuss how Microsoft plans to add a services component to PerformancePoint in the future. But earlier this year, Microsoft officials said that Microsoft is developing a managed business-intelligence bundle that will include Microsoft-hosted versions of SQL Server and PerformancePoint. Still no date so far on when Microsoft plans to make that hosted BI offering available, however.

Author: Mary Jo Foley

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