He cares! He really cares!

I first met Sean McCown when I worked on the team developing SQL Server Integration Services. Sean was simultaneously one of our most active supporters and one of our most trenchant critics. He can very – what’s the word? – very forthright. You know, blunt, outspoken and generally on the money. So, I keep a look-out for Sean’s articles and certainly his reviews of our latest efforts.

So, frankly, I was at least relieved to see the headling of Sean’s latest article - Seven reasons to care about SQL Server 2008 R2 – and glad to read it. Sean calls out what I would agree are the important reasons to upgrade: Managed Self Service Business Intelligence, Report Components, Master Data Services, StreamInsight, Multi-Server management, DACPACs and Sysprep. But don’t just make do with the list: Sean’s comments are insightful and critical where he needs to be, and he calls out great use cases for the features he likes.

For an example of his criticism, Sean takes us to task for the ways in which we have factored Enterprise (now supporting 8 CPUs) and DataCenter. Time and customers will tell – especially new customers. Mark Beyer, of Gartner, had a different view of our changes: “It’s about time. The amount is reasonable, the per socket is still better than any percentage per core that other vendors use, and SQL 2008 R2 remains a solid value for the price.” SKU factoring is always a difficult balance, particularly where existing customers find themselves right on the edge of two editions. We’ll have customers in that situation and I trust our field teams will help them make a choice based on our need to build a long-term relationship, rather than overselling an edition for the box price. Traditionally, this is exactly how we have worked – thus the very high numbers of SQL Server Standard Edition that we see.

Enjoy Sean’s post here and please do add your comments. Would love to see what you think is compelling in SQL Server 2008 R2 too.

Donald Farmer