By Jay Atkinson
AIS Network CEO
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 is here now. How much do you know about it?
If you’re using Microsoft SharePoint 2010 or Microsoft SharePoint 2010 for Internet Sites or if you manage big data, then it’s likely that you are familiar with SQL Server. This newest version of Microsoft’s premier enterprise database management system has numerous new (and quite powerful) features over the previous release, 2008 R2.
In fact, there are so many noteworthy improvements over 2008 R2 that it would take quite a long time to blog about them all. Rather, let’s just examine how this new version helps you solve some basic business challenges effectively.
Why use SQL Server 2012? As the foundation to the cloud-ready information platform, SQL Server 2012 will help businesses of all sizes unlock breakthrough insights across the organization as well as build solutions quickly and extend data from server to private or public cloud — all backed by advanced capabilities for mission-critical confidence.
Not only does SQL Server 2012 help improve customer management, but it also may help you face a number of common challenges. Let’s look at five:
But how do you know if you need SQL 2012? Many organizations are 24×7 operations. They may have a global presence too. But they all have one very important quality in common: they cannot afford downtime. Does this describe you? If so, ask yourself some of these questions:
- How is your current database supporting your needs?
- Is the performance of your current database where you need it to be?
- Are you planning a move to the cloud?
- Do you see yourself introducing new mission critical applications or planning migrations within three months to a year?
- How are you viewing business insights for your organization?
- Are you planning any major projects within the next three months to a year?
These are all good discussion points that we’d be happy to help you work through in your effort to discover whether or not SQL Server 2012 would benefit your organization.
Finally, I’d suggest three brief points for consideration:
1) Mission Critical Confidence. SQL Server 2012 enables mission critical performance and availability at low TCO. Consider that it offers:
- A new integrated high availability and disaster recovery solution
- Advanced performance speeds
- Built-in encryption capabilities help protect confidential information without changes to the application
2) Breakthrough Insight. Use SQL Server 2012 to unlock new insights with pervasive data discovery across the organization. With SQL Server 2012, you can:
- Empower business users to create visually rich dashboards or reports across heterogeneous data sources
- Activate managed self-service BI, which easily balances an employee’s need for rich information and collaboration with IT’s need to manage the safety and confidentiality of information
3) Cloud on Your Terms. SQL Server 2012 is useful in enabling you to create business solutions quickly – on your terms – across servers to private or public clouds. You’ll like that you can:
- Easily move applications across on-premises and cloud with unlimited virtualization (available through SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition) and license mobility
- Extend data across on-premises and the cloud
Are you aware of the significant improvement Microsoft has made to the licensing model for SQL Server 2012? We’ll cover that topic in a future blog.
In the meantime, to learn more about how Microsoft SQL Server 2012 can help you stay productive and reduce costs, please just contact our office. We’re happy to help.