SQL Server 2000 Steers Toward Enterprise

Scheduled for launch Sept. 26, SQL Server 2000 (SQL 2000) will emerge in two editions—Standard and Enterprise—that roll up many small improvements requested by users over the last two years. The high-end Enterprise Edition (EE) leverages the new breed of Windows hardware to boost performance and availability and introduces a new load-balancing technology that could make big gains in scalabiilty once it has usable supporting tools. Both EE and Standard Edition have useful new features to simplify management of large databases and large numbers of servers. The catch: higher prices for EE and Web customers.

Market Background

SQL 2000 builds on SQL Server 7.0 (SQL 7), a major rewrite of the product that shipped in Nov. 1998. SQL 7 has done well, turning in a 35% boost in revenue for fiscal year 2000 and winning highly visible Web customers such as Barnesandnoble.com and Buy.com. However, it hasn’t dented the lead of IBM and Oracle, which kept a combined share of 60% from 1998 through 1999, based on Dataquest estimates of new database license revenue. By comparison, Microsoft’s estimated share in 1999 was 13%, up from 10% the previous year.