SQL Server Migration Assistant CTP for Sybase and Access Now Available

TechEd is always a great time to stay tuned for new and exciting announcements from Microsoft and this year is no exception.  Earlier in the week we announced the Microsoft Forefront family of products, a comprehensive set of security-related products that include the Antigen line of anti-virus and anti-spam products acquired from Sybari, as well as Internet Security and Acceleration Server. Information on the Microsoft Forefront product mix can be found here.

I know that any security related announcements is always exciting, but I'm actually a little more jazzed about something announced yesterday.  It may be because I've always been a database guy, but I was really excited to hear about new tools to migrate Sybase and Access databases to Microsoft SQL Server 2005. 

SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) for Oracle has been around for almost a year and now is complemented by SQL Server Migration Assistant for Sybase and SQL Server Migration Assistant for Access, which have been released as part of the Community Technology Preview (CTP) program.  Information on all versions of SSMA can be found at the SQL Server Migration Assistant page. 

SSMA for Oracle is a released product and if you are using it you can always get support by emailing ssmahelp@microsoft.com.  You can also download the CTP2 builds of SSMA for Sybase and SSMA for Access from the SSMA site, but send your support questions to accssma@microsoft.com for SSMA for Access and syb2sql@microsoft.com for SSMA for Sybase.

If you were looking for an easier way to migrate those Access databases to SQL Server 2005 or to move away from Sybase, these tools can get you rolling along faster.  Give them a try and let me know what your experience is.

Damir