Microsoft will tomorrow make a major push into the business market when it introduces SQL Server. It has many partners in the launch, including Compaq and Silvon. It is also organising a vast series of seminars, some of them free, to publicise the event.

Towards the end of last month, the company said that sales of SQL Server in its Q1 financial period were the highest ever in revenue terms, with sales rising by 26 per cent. SQL Server 7.0, when it is released, will be part of a coordinated push into the corporate market, as part of its BackOffice and NT Server strategy, the corporation said. It will take both Oracle and IBM-Lotus head on.

Greg Maffei, Microsoft’s CFO, said when his company announced its Q1 that it is continuing to gain market share against both these companies. BackOffice, and its different components such as SQL Server 7.0, were part of an integrated push to grow the market, Maffei said. ®