[ Test Center: Deep dive into SQL Server 2008. ]

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The company was also able to move its  BI systems from an HP Superdome computer to commodity hardware, saving more than  $100,000 per year in maintenance payments to HP, he said.
The platform is being  used by about 7,000 workers,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, from back-office employees to financial advisors at  Raymond James' many locations around the country,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, he said.
But as enthusiastic as Daniell is about Microsoft  tools, that does not extend to the prospect of running his BI operation on cloud  services like Amazon Web Services or Microsoft's Azure platform, given the type  of regulations the financial services industry must follow.
[ Test Center: Deep dive into SQL Server 2008. ]
Raymond James  is using SQL Server 2008 to power its BI (business intelligence) platform, said  Todd Daniell, manager of the company's BI group.
There isn't much in the way of new features in SP1,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, but that  is a deliberate reflection of Microsoft's strategy to put out initial releases  that are feature-complete, with packs only used for fixes, he said. "We got  feedback from customers that they wanted more predictability,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, service packs that  they could deploy without worrying about application  compatibility."
Raymond James was able to compress one of its largest tables by  more than 70 percent and went from a total data warehouse size of 2TB to less  than 600GB, according to Daniell.
The anticipated initial service pack for Microsoft's SQL Server 2008 database  will be available imminently, Microsoft said Tuesday.
Another reason the company isn't interested in other BI  platforms, such as Oracle, is because Daniell's team doesn't have Oracle  expertise, and the cost to buy Oracle products plus train his workers would be  too high, he said.
Microsoft releasing first SQL Server '08 service pack | Data Management
          April 07, 2009               Microsoft releasing first SQL Server '08 service pack               The SQL Server SP1 contains all the cumulative updates and fixes issued since SQL Server 2008 was released and makes it easier for shops to deploy the database          By Chris Kanaracus | IDG News Service                                                Print                                |                  Add a comment                                                                                                                                                     
"I can't tell you how much that is going to save us over the long run,"  he said.
Some Microsoft customers, such as the financial services  company Raymond James, haven't bothered to wait for SP1.
Should there be a compatibility problem, users have the  ability to uninstall the service pack, he said.
                                                                                                                                                                                               
"I'm sure  their security is a lot better than others," he said. "But man, you don't know  until you know, and with something like this, it's better not to know."
While Microsoft is  hoping the service pack's release will entice more SQL 2000 and 2005 users to  upgrade, the company claims SQL 2008 has been downloaded more than 3 million  times already.
SP1 (Service Pack 1) also makes it easier to  deploy SQL Server 2008. A feature called Slipstream allows users to install the  database and service pack at once, easing the process of loading the software  onto hundreds or thousands of servers, said Fausto Ibarra, director of product  management.
Many SQL Server  2000 and 2005 shops have been waiting for the pack before upgrading to the 2008  edition, as it contains all the cumulative updates and fixes issued since SQL  Server 2008 was released to manufacturing in August, resulting in an overall  more stable application.
Daniell is  looking forward to the service pack's fixes, but said the initial release "was  pretty solid."
While Raymond  James may buy other tools for "light, ad-hoc type of reporting,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login," the company  plans to stick with Microsoft products for its BI needs because the platform  allows workers to interact with familiar front-end environments, such as Excel,  he said.
SQL 2008 has improved scalability, performance and  security, and also has "fantastic" data-compression capabilities, he said.