Microsoft had previously planned to ship SQL Server 2005 in the second half of last year. It had to push back the delivery date of the update and an accompanying Visual Studio 2005 development tool to this summer. The company plans to initiate a third beta, or testing, program for the overhauled database by the end of March. The beta will be open to all.
Rizzo said that the lower-priced product and features were driven by customer requests rather than as a reaction to competitors. Customers and partners were seeking a database that was more functional than its free product but less expensive that the standard edition of SQL Server. Microsoft also sought to make high-end features more broadly available. But, he said that Microsoft is comfortable competing on the overall value of its database.
"We welcome the competition, but we think in the end it's a losing proposition for (Oracle) to try to compete on price with us," he said. "They're niched at the high end, and they make all their money on these expensive add-ons."
An Oracle representative was not immediately available for comment. IBM declined to comment for this story.
Forrester's Yuhanna said that for large customers, traditional database features such as fast performance and reliability continue to be very important. But for applications at smaller companies, price is central to many customers' decisions.
"The fact is there's a lot of discussion about return on investments for databases. Customers are concerned about how they can get the best value for the lowest cost," Yuhanna said.
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