Hi Steve,

Like you I see the two major items you mentioned as the big ones. With the need for bigger better faster driving our online transaction lives it should be the main focus. This will not complete the migration away from spinning disk technology but will be an operational step that has sat on the conceptual lab server for too long. We have been making inroads to these technologies and it is time they became real for the masses.

But more along the line of NoSql and the world of data. I have been looking into the use of Predictive Coding as part of eDiscovery over the past month and how it is in the process of restructuring both the Federal Rules of Civil Proceedings and the case law concerning Discovery. With a better understanding now where this could all go, there is a tremendous potential no only in the legal realm but also in the general "need to know" for those experts who mine data. Using the computer automated searching algorithms and the artificial intelligence that appears to be inside the truly integrated toolsets available or being developed, this emerging technology could restructure how we think and deal with data and specifically Big Data.

With this in mind I am in complete agreement about NoSQL and other data products. Further I hope that Microsoft will some how address this area by developing some new interface or options to include SQL Server and SharePoint data collections in the discussion of eDiscovery using a combination of Microsoft and non-Microsoft products. Lastly, knowing Microsoft's history of cloning their products that were never intended to do something into a "new" product that is great and free, I hope that if Microsoft enters the field of Predictive Coding that they either write one from scratch, or buy an existing product and incorporate it into the MS family.

Thanks

M.