Silver:
SQLsafe
Idera • www.idera.com
Why it won: The latest version
of Idera’s SQLsafe provides a classic UI
and high-speed backups that can be as much as 50
percent faster than native backups.
Bronze:
LiteSpeed for SQL Server
Quest Software • www.quest.com
Why it won: Quest Software’s LiteSpeed
for SQL Server helps companies reduce
reliance on tape and provides fast backups
with a small, low-impact footprint.
Business Intelligence and
Reporting Winners
Gold:
Crystal Reports 2008
Business Objects • http://www.businessobjects.com
Why it won: The industry leader has come through
again with a comprehensive package that extends
the ease of use of its enterprise-class, cross-platform
reporting solution to end users.
Crystal Reports 2008 moves the dial forward for enterprise
reporting software with a significantly improved
end-user experience that includes new visualizations,
what-if scenario modeling, and on-report interactive
parameters. The 2008 version also makes it easier for
developers to create applications that meld reports to business practices and helps designers create reports
that can be reused for various audiences.
“I believe that Crystal Reports 2008 will change
the way organizations use reporting,” said Peter Callaghan,
chief sales officer at Maximizer. “Now that
Flash can be embedded within a report, the report
itself is transformed into a more sophisticated collaboration
tool, and this new interactivity has thousands
of innovative potential uses. With Flash integration,
the only limit for our use of Crystal Reports 2008 is
our imagination.”
Rob Hershfield, president of United Data Strategies,
agrees. “Crystal Reports 2008 has leapfrogged
everything else on the market. My future as a reporting
consultant has never been better, because now I
can do so much more with the product.”
—Sheila Molnar
See associated figure
Silver:
Tableau
Tableau Software • www.tableausoftware.com
Why it won: Tableau 3.0’s ease of use lets
users of varying technical abilities analyze and monitor
data simply by dragging and dropping fields to
create dashboards.
Bronze:
Stimulsoft Reports.Net 2008.1
Stimulsoft • www.stimulsoft.com
Why it won: Stimulsoft Reports.Net 2008
is a high-end tool for developers who need
to generate reports in Microsoft .NET. The 2008.1
version includes new Gantt and scatter charts, enhances
report exporting, and adds functionality to
the report engine.
Database Management Winners
Gold:
SQL mobile manager
Idera • www.idera.com
Why it won: SQL mobile manager’s use of mobile
management technology offers the potential for
nimble troubleshooting and improved response time,
helping DBAs reduce database downtime and ensure
that small events don’t escalate into large ones.
The simple phrase “SQL Server database management”
actually reflects all the hours of a DBA’s life
that are spent doing change and configuration management,
auditing, performance monitoring, backup
and recovery, problem resolution, administration,
and capacity planning. The big management suites
help you manage everything from a central location,
but Idera’s SQL mobile manager helps you manage
no matter where you are. By harnessing mobile technology
to offer DBAs flexibility and convenience,
SQL mobile manage claims our Editors’ Best award
in database management.
As the use of mobile devices to manage IT systems
evolves, the resulting efficiency improvements could
actually result in less time spent managing SQL Server.
Certainly, mobile management helps you react quickly
when performance plummets or other problems arise.
Development manager David Bentz confirmed the
product’s flexibility. “With the instant alerts, monitoring,
diagnostic details, and management features that
SQL mobile manager provides, we can diagnose and
correct SQL Server problems before users even notice.
We really like being able to monitor our servers
from anywhere 24 × 7.”
—Caroline Marwitz
See associated figure
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