Microsoft`s new range of business solutions reflects the group`s push to remain relevant in a fast-changing business and technology environment MICROSOFT IS HOPING, through a trio of new products - Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 - to capitalise on businesses` drive to reduce IT costs as well as on the move towards virtualisation.

Microsoft was scheduled this week to stage what has been billed as its biggest and most important product launch yet. The group is releasing what it describes as the newest wave in the Server and Tools business, with three major products being brought to market at the same time.

Of the three, the main spotlight is being focused on Windows Server, which has been updated to remain relevant in a period of rapid technology changes and business demands.

"The main focus of the Windows Server product is to reduce costs in an IT environment," says Manoj Bhoola, Microsoft SA`s server and tools business group executive. He says Microsoft research found that organisations were spending up to 75% of their IT budget just maintaining their IT, leaving them very little capacity for development, research and bringing new solutions to the market.

"We looked at the environment and asked how we can make that 75% around 50%," Bhoola says. The result was a product that was self-managed and self-healing, with tools built in to free up time for IT managers.

"Another big focus of the product is on virtualisation. Virtualisation is a big, big bet for Microsoft, and I think a big bet for the industry. That is mainly driven because both AMD and Intel have brought out chips - 64-bit multicore - which are so powerful that software now needs to leverage that. So the way that Microsoft sees that is by virtualisation. What we`ve done is we`ve built it into the core operating system - it`s not an add-on, not an extra product. Core in the system is something that we call Hyper-V, which will be bundled into Windows Server 2008 at no extra cost, which makes virtualisation a core component of software now."

WINDOWS SERVER 2008

Windows Server 2008 is aimed at being a pivot point around which Microsoft customers will adopt a collection of next-generation technologies in hardware and software.

Albie Bester, Microsoft`s infrastructure servers product marketing manager, says there is a focus on manageability. "Of course, the advantage of developing a more managed environment means there would be a need for less skills in order to maintain the environment, which always helps in the South African context where we have a shortage of skills." The second focus is on reliability. Among other things, the product incorporates a revamped TCP/IP stack for improved scalability and performance in next-generation networking.

SQL SERVER 2008

SQL Server 2008 is a new-generation platform that stores mission-critical date and delivers information to users.

Frikkie Bosch, application platform product marketing manager, says the product has been extensively updated. "It`s not an interim or step-up release. It`s essentially a complete product overhaul."

He says this is because of a huge information explosion, which means that organisations, that previously had to deal with information in terms of rows and columns, now also have to deal with data in rich text format, voice, spatial data and others. The system-agnostic product aims at being able to deliver all forms of data that will be accessible from anywhere.

VISUAL STUDIO 2008

Visual Studio 2008 is aimed at enabling developers to create connected applications rapidly.

Lillian Serobatse, audience and product manager, says the product`s enhancements revolve around productivity, the ability to take advantage of new technologies and hardware capabilities, and collaborative development.