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'Dog Fooding' Update: SQL Server 2005 Found Reliable Running Microsoft's SAP Implementation

Participating in a beta program carries with it some degree of risk, but for companies that are willing to be on the bleeding edge of technology, participation can also lead to a competitive advantage. With Microsoft's use of the SQL Server 2005 database beta, however, the competitive advantage is realized in a completely different way. Since Microsoft started to get the enterprise computing bug in the mid-1990s, "eating your own dog food" has been the way the tech giant has described its internal use of Windows operating systems and SQL Server database technology to run its SAP R/3 ERP software. And if the acquisition of SAP had gone through, this truly would have been "eating its own dog food" in all imaginable ways, but Microsoft maintains that its four own ERP lines are for small and midsized businesses and don't compete for high-end ERP accounts, such as Microsoft itself.

Before running R/3, Microsoft relied on IBM AS/400- and DEC VAX-based applications to handle things like accounting, shipping, billing, and inventory management. In a September PressPass Q&A, Mike Hatch, senior technology architect of the Enterprise Application Services-SAP group within Microsoft, discussed the risks and benefits of using beta software, and SQL Server 2005 Beta 2 in particular. "One of the main priorities of our IT group is to be the product team's first and best customer for new products," he says. "If we're asking customers to trust that Microsoft products are reliable, secure, and ready to handle real business demands, we've got to be willing to do the same thing ourselves. As a result, Microsoft IT systems are running on beta software approximately 35 percent of the time. This dog-fooding process is a crucial part of the product release cycle; in fact, the product can't ship unless we've signed off on it, so essentially we are a 'customer,' even though we work for the same company."

Hatch says there haven't been any big surprises with SQL Server 2005. The software was used to run a production volume of SAP R/3 with a database volume of 1.7 TB for 33 days "without needing to be shut down or showing any sign of unresponsiveness," Hatch says. "The only reason we did a restart after 33 days was to carry out a disaster recovery exercise." Microsoft is planning to release a third beta candidate for SQL Server before shipping SQL Server 2005 sometime in the first half of 2005.

SAP Launches Windows-Based ERP for SMBs

SAP last week launched a new version of its Windows-based ERP package for small and midsized businesses, called SAP BusinessOne, which features new integrated MRP capabilities, support for more databases management systems, enhanced CRM capabilities, new "what if" analyses, and integration with Microsoft Outlook. With the new MRP capabilities in Business One, SAP aims to make materials requirement planning an integral part of the application, and to give small manufacturers the type of oversight and control of their business that larger companies have benefited from. SAP also plans for the MRP capabilities to form the basis from which its business partners can further customize the software for so-called "microvertical" industries. New CRM capabilities include integrated calendaring for sales and service reps, the capabilities to track, compare, and analyze win/loss activity in real time, and lead allocation and opportunity analysis.

The new "what if" analysis capability in Business One will let users weigh a combination of planning variables, such as forecasts, open sales orders, open production orders, and stock levels, to make business decisions, says SAP, which hopes to lure businesses off the spreadsheet habit. A new wizard has also been added for building customized reports from Business One data, while enhancements to the software development kit will boost high-volume transaction processing and provide automatic upgrades for solution extensions. Database support has also been extended beyond Microsoft's SQL Server with this release to include IBM's DB2 UDB Express database and the Adaptive Server Enterprise database from Sybase. BusinessOne is used by 3,700 companies around the world and will be available in 37 countries and 25 languages, the company says.

IBM Picks Pentium Ms for eServer i5 Co-Processors

IBM last week announced a new line of Windows-based Integrated xSeries Server (IxS) co-processors that run inside of its eServer i5 midrange servers. The new IxS card is based on a 2 GHz Pentium M processor from Intel, as opposed to the 2 GHz Xeon processors used in previous IxS cards. The Pentium M processor, which is one of the key components of Intel's Centrino laptop brand, is smaller and cooler than Xeon processors, which is one of the reasons why IBM uses it in its blade servers and, now, its IxS cards. That's also one of the reasons why the Pentium M-based IxS costs $2,780, while the Xeon-based card costs $1,900. The new IxS cards are available for IBM's rack-mounted eServer i5 Models 520, 550, and 570 system chassis. More than 70 percent of AS/400, iSeries, and i5 shops also have Windows servers.

Windows Small Business Server Adoption Rate Soars

Microsoft's Windows Small Business Server 2003 package is continuing to be adopted among small and midsized businesses, according to statistics recently released by Microsoft. The Redmond, Washington, software giant says that, in the first year of availability, it has sold two-and-a-half times more licenses for Windows Small Business Server 2003 than it did during the first 12-months of the availability of the product it replaced, Windows Small Business Server 2000. And in the first four months of availability, more customers purchased Windows Small Business Server 2003 than in the entire first year of Windows Small Business Server 2000, the vendor says.

In touting the success of the product on its one-year anniversary, two weeks ago, Microsoft also cited a survey that gives an idea of the tremendous market share and potential of this product. A whopping 61 percent of small businesses currently use Small Business Server, or plan to deploy it, according to the Boston-based IT analyst that curiously carries the name Yankee Group. So when Derek Brown, Microsoft's Small Business Server product management director, says that "Windows Small Business Server 2003 is a great way for small businesses to realize the value of their PCs and expand the ability of their people to work, collaborate and communicate in a variety of new ways," it's not just marketing fluff, but something more, too. Windows Small Business Server 2003 is available in two packages. The Standard Edition, which costs $599, includes Windows Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2003. The Premium Edition, which costs $1,499, adds the SQL Server 2000 database and the Internet Security and Acceleration Server (ISA Server) 2000. Both products also include tools like Remote Web Workplace, SharePoint Services, and fax software.

Evans Data: Developers Taking 'Wait and See' Approach to XP SP2 Installs

One out of five developers is taking a "wait and see" approach toward installing Windows XP Service Pack 2, and one in 20 developers won't install the service pack at all, according to a new report announced last week by Evans Data. The first downloads of the new security-focused release of the Windows desktop operating system occurred in September, and Microsoft is reportedly stepping up efforts this month to increase downloads. The service pack has received somewhat positive reviews from security experts for its stronger security features, but, as is usually the case when security is tightened, some older applications tend to break under XP SP2, which has led some big Windows shops, such as IBM, to mandate the "wait and see" approach.

In its September survey of 650 North American developers, Evans Data found that 14 percent of the developers installed SP2 in the first week, that more than 40 percent of developers have delayed installation until more information can be gathered, and that 6 percent won't install SP2 at all. What's more, the Santa Cruz, California, research firm found a trend in SP2 adoption according to the size of the business: that smaller companies are the most likely to have installed SP2 within the first week, that midsized companies are most likely to install SP2 by the end of the year, and larger companies are the ones that haven't yet committed to installing SP2. "In a larger enterprise," says Dauren Tatubaev, an Evans Data analyst, "there are often many custom applications running on numerous machines, making integration more risky and un-installing SP2, should it become necessary, a far more difficult and expensive task. When in doubt, a wait-and-see attitude is the most prudent course of action."

Offshoring Giants Tata, Infosys Profit Big-Time