Microsoft Canad's president Phil Sorgen showcased the next generation infrastructure and application platform products, including Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008.

"With the launch of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Microsoft is delivering powerful new tools that will help transform the way developers build applications and IT professionals support IT systems. Together, they will open the door to a new era where companies build systems and applications that help advance business goals by aligning computing resources with strategic objectives," said Phil Sorgen, president, Microsoft Canada.

One of the challenges facing IT professionals and developers today is the time spent on managing existing systems, which prevents them from investing as much in technologies and innovations that would help their businesses be more competitive. According to a new survey from The Strategic Counsel, Canadian IT professionals rank Web services and virtualization as the two technologies that will have the greatest impact on businesses in the future. But the survey also found that professionals spend up to 80 per cent of their time on routine maintenance as they contend with the rapid growth of the data centre. That's one reason why nearly three-quarters of them are also looking for technology that will help them ease this burden.

Big Benefits for Early Adopters

Already, IT professionals and developers at some of Canada's premiere companies, including BMO Financial Group and EDS Canada, are using Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Visual Studio 2008, and test versions of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 to help implement more secure platforms and Web applications while helping to reduce costs and speeding development.

"At BMO Financial Group, speed and accuracy can translate into significant financial gains. That's why we're always looking for ways to strengthen our IT infrastructure. Taking advantage of the performance and management benefits of Windows Server 2008 is helping my team fuel our recent expansion into China," says Sorin Manta, manager, infrastructure, technology and operations, BMO Capital Markets.

"At EDS Canada we have a broad customer base with very different business challenges, and our solutions can range from large Web sites to mainframe integration to mobile applications - and sometimes all of these. Visual Studio Team System 2008 is helping us stay agile as we develop these solutions. It provides us with an effective integrated platform to manage work items, produce integrated builds, and increase the quality of our code. This helps us better meet the needs of our business clients," said Etienne Tremblay, lead technologist, EDS Canada."As a rapidly growing builder of vibrant and interactive online communities like Hockey.com and Restaurantica.com, eMedia Interactive prides itself on at being at the forefront of Web innovation. Our strategy is to embrace cutting- edge technology, and that's why we're so excited by the release of Visual Studio 2008, Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008. By helping us build rich, compelling Web applications and providing us with a manageable platform to host them, the next wave of Microsoft-based server innovation is key to our success," said Lance Mohring, chief technology officer, eMedia Interactive.

The performance improvements and enterprise-class features of SQL Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 have resulted in record-breaking results. Today Microsoft disclosed new world-record performance results on TPC-E and TPC-H and SAP Sales and Distribution (SD) Standard Application 3-tier benchmark on four-socket industry-standard blade servers. Microsoft also published breakthrough performance benchmarks for several customer scenarios, including leading results on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Dynamics AX, Siemens Teamcenter and Camstar Manufacturing Execution Systems.

Microsoft also announced that Microsoft Windows Server 2008 with .NET Framework 3.5 delivers faster throughput than IBM WebSphere 6.1 on Red Hat Linux as shown through two new benchmark tests measuring scalability and performance in mission-critical enterprise scenarios. The sample application shows 117 percent better throughput of Windows Server using the IBM-designed Trade 6.1 benchmark; and Sun Microsystems' WSTest Web services benchmark demonstrates 94 percent better throughput on Windows Server when processing Web Service requests. More information on the results is available at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/HHHlaunch/docs/BenchmarkFS.doc.