At the PASS conference last year, Andy, Steve and I were
sitting around a dinner table wondering what would make us make the big jump to
Yukon (now called SQL Server 2005). We especially wondered what would make
smaller companies that represent the backbone of SQL Server users make the big
jump to SQL Server 2005. At the time it took a little imagination to see where
Microsoft was going with Beta 1 of SQL Server 2005, since much of the interface
would say “Not Implemented Yet” when clicking on it. Well, 4 months later not much has
changed but we now have word what all the features are. Those features can all
be seen on Microsoft’s site at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/yukon/productinfo/top30features.asp.
A week ago, we solicited readers to let Microsoft know which
of the SQL Server 2005 announced features mattered most to them. We had a great
response, with 890 of you answering the survey in three days. The answers were
pretty interesting. The full results can be seen at the bottom of this article.
We essentially asked readers to look at the top 30 features and rank how
important these features were in making them upgrade.
One of the most striking result was in the security realm.
77% of the respondents said that the proposed security enhancements were either
an important or must-have feature. In the developer category, T-SQL enhancements
was the most important feature. One
of the most important business intelligence features was DTS and scalability,
which has been overhauled from the previous release.
We also asked readers if there were any features that they'd
like to see in the next release of SQL Server. You can see that list of features
in an un-edited form here: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/columnists/bknight/usersqlserver2005features.asp
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Complete Survey
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| 1. | SQL Server 2005 New Administration Features
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| | | No need for feature | Small need for feature | Average feature need | Important feature | Must have feature | Response Total | | Database Mirroring | 5% (37) | 14% (113) | 22% (180) | 39% (316) | 20% (162) | 808 | | Online Indexing Operations | 4% (30) | 10% (82) | 27% (218) | 35% (282) | 23% (187) | 799 | | New Integrated Toolset | 3% (21) | 7% (59) | 29% (229) | 41% (323) | 20% (162) | 794 | | Snapshot Isolation | 7% (57) | 18% (145) | 35% (279) | 28% (222) | 11% (85) | 788 | | Data Partitioning | 4% (30) | 13% (102) | 26% (209) | 35% (281) | 22% (177) | 799 | | Mirrored Backups | 6% (47) | 17% (136) | 27% (212) | 32% (254) | 17% (136) | 785 | | Online Restore | 3% (22) | 12% (95) | 21% (164) | 37% (297) | 27% (219) | 797 | | Fast Recovery | 1% (11) | 8% (65) | 20% (157) | 39% (314) | 32% (253) | 800 | | Dedicated Administrator Connection | 4% (29) | 13% (101) | 22% (176) | 34% (267) | 28% (224) | 797 | | Replication Enhancements | 8% (63) | 16% (126) | 26% (203) | 31% (246) | 20% (156) | 794 | | Total Respondents | 810 | | (skipped this question) | 80 |
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| 2. | SQL Server New Development Features
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| | | No need for feature | Small need for feature | Average feature need | Important feature | Must have feature | Response Total | | .NET Framework Hosting | 7% (50) | 11% (81) | 24% (181) | 34% (258) | 26% (198) | 768 | | XML Technologies | 3% (26) | 10% (79) | 22% (171) | 33% (255) | 31% (241) | 772 | | ADO.NET 2.0 | 4% (30) | 9% (69) | 25% (192) | 36% (281) | 26% (199) | 771 | | Transact-SQL Enhancements | 1% (6) | 2% (12) | 12% (90) | 37% (289) | 49% (382) | 779 | | SQL Service Broker | 6% (45) | 16% (121) | 38% (294) | 29% (221) | 11% (83) | 764 | | Notification Services | 4% (30) | 13% (100) | 30% (231) | 36% (276) | 17% (129) | 766 | | Web Services | 5% (37) | 10% (79) | 28% (212) | 33% (255) | 24% (183) | 766 | | XQuery Support | 7% (55) | 16% (118) | 31% (236) | 28% (212) | 18% (135) | 756 | | Full-Text Search Enhancements | 9% (73) | 22% (172) | 27% (211) | 25% (191) | 16% (122) | 769 | | Security Enhancements | 2% (16) | 5% (41) | 16% (122) | 31% (237) | 46% (357) | 773 | | Total Respondents | 785 | | (skipped this question) | 105 |
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| 3. | SQL Server New Business Intelligence Features |
| | | No need for feature | Small need for feature | Average feature need | Important feature | Must have feature | Response Total | | Data Transformation Services (DTS) | 2% (17) | 6% (48) | 12% (91) | 33% (254) | 47% (368) | 778 | | Data Mining | 4% (32) | 10% (78) | 25% (188) | 34% (262) | 27% (207) | 767 | | Clustering Support | 5% (39) | 10% (79) | 24% (181) | 29% (218) | 32% (241) | 758 | | Key Performance Indicators | 3% (20) | 6% (49) | 26% (195) | 36% (278) | 29% (221) | 763 | | Scalability and Performance | 2% (12) | 5% (35) | 13% (97) | 36% (273) | 45% (346) | 763 | | One-click Cubes | 8% (63) | 19% (149) | 30% (227) | 28% (215) | 15% (111) | 765 | | Architecture Enhancements | 2% (18) | 7% (54) | 29% (220) | 37% (282) | 25% (187) | 761 | | Integration with the Microsoft Office System | 11% (83) | 17% (128) | 24% (187) | 28% (218) | 20% (154) | 770 | | Total Respondents | 775 | | (skipped this question) | 115 |
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| 5. | If SQL Server 2005 was released in the first half of 2005, when would you upgrade?
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| | | Response Total | Response Percent | | Immediatly |  | 141 | 16% | | After a few months | | 277 | 32% | | More than 6 months after release | | 115 | 13% | | After Service Pack 1 | | 154 | 18% | | After a year | | 56 | 6% | | Never | | 5 | 1% | | Total Respondents | 743 | | (skipped this question) | 147 |
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| 6. | Are you planning on participating in the SQL Server 2005 beta program?
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| | | Response Total | Response Percent | | Yes | | 389 | 45% | | No | | 355 | 41% | | Total Respondents | 739 | | (skipped this question) | 151 |
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| 7. | What do you consider to be your role in your company?
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| | | Response Total | Response Percent | | Developer | | 498 | 57% | | DBA | | 539 | 62% | | Business Intelligence professional | | 134 | 15% | | Manager | | 97 | 11% | | Business analyst | | 75 | 9% | | Other | | 25 | 3% | | Total Respondents | 763 | | (skipped this question) | 127 |
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