SQL Database Roadmap

by
Andrew Snodgrass

by
Andrew Snodgrass

Andrew analyzes and writes about Microsoft's data management, business intelligence, and machine learning solutions, as well as aspects of licensing... more

Azure SQL Database is a multitenant relational database management cloud service based on SQL Server‘s latest database engine for individual database deployments. SQL Database is part of the Azure SQL brand of services that also includes Azure SQL Managed Instance, Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure SQL Edge, Azure Arc-enabled SQL Managed Instance, and SQL Server in Azure VMs.

Product: SQL Database

Licensing: SQL Database

Recent Updates and Near-Term Roadmap (2025–2026)

Azure SQL Database continues to remain in sync with the base SQL Server database engine, sometimes receiving new features before they reach on-premises, but more often seeing new features arrive at the same time.

Updates and Plans Show Maturity

SQL Database recent updates and plans include the following:

Natural language queries (through AI vector search technology) is built into the SQL Server database engine and T-SQL language, which means it can be used for new or existing databases and can be a marked improvement on existing search capabilities. The technology also adheres to SQL Server’s security controls and will interest customers who want to add natural language search to database applications without relying on an external AI solution or sending data outside of SQL Server’s boundary. However, there are limits, described in the Directions report “SQL Server 2025 Adds Natural Language Search the Right Way.”