Yeah, try_convert sure took it's time getting here. We don't have 2012+ on any production boxes either so it's not an option.

One trick to improve isnumeric() functionality is prefix '0e' to whatever string you're converting. I'll admit I haven't tested this thoroughly myself but the idea is that the 'e' tricks SQL into treating the string as hexidecimal and thus changes the rules it uses to parse the value.

declare

@int varchar(30) = '1234',

@notInt varchar(30) = ',1234'

select

PrefixInt = isnumeric('0e' + @int),

PrefixNotInt = isnumeric('0e' + @notInt),

NormalInt = isnumeric(@int),

NormalNotInt = isnumeric(@notInt)

Here's another forum post about the general idea.

http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic117734-23-1.aspx