Microsoft discloses details about next SQL Server release

SEATTLE -- Microsoft Corp. today announced new details about the next version of its SQL Server software, which it said will let users access and manage increasing volumes of data.

Microsoft, which made the announcement here at its first Microsoft Business Intelligence Conference, said that the next release -- now called Katmai -- will ship next year.

"We developed SQL Server with the goal of providing a data management and analysis platform for all companies, regardless of size or budget," said Ted Kummert, corporate vice president of the data and storage platform division at Microsoft, in a statement. "With the release of Katmai, we'll take the next step on our data platform vision by delivering a comprehensive and integrated business intelligence solution. Expanding the usability of data across business will give customers more value for their IT investments."

Katmai will include tighter integration with Microsoft Excel 2007, Excel Services, Office SharePoint Server and Office PerformancePoint Server 2007, Microsoft said. It will also provide reports of any size or complexity for internal use and for external partners and suppliers.

In addition, Katmai will include the Microsoft Visual Studio integrated development environment and .Net Framework, which will let developers build new applications with a higher level of data abstraction and synchronize data from virtually any device to the central data store, Microsoft said.

SQL Server Katmai can be used to manage any type of data, including relational data, documents, geographic information and XML, Microsoft said.