Microsoft readies public SQL Azure Reporting test build, as Salesforce launches a cloud database

Microsoft is allowing testers to register, as of December 7, for a public Community Technology Preview (CTP) test build of the reporting services technology for its SQL Azure cloud database.
Microsoft SQL Azure Reporting is a cloud-based reporting service built on SQL Azure, SQL Server, and SQL Server Reporting Services technologies that allows users to publish, view, and manage reports that display data from SQL Azure data sources.

The test build that will be made available is designated CTP 2 and will be made available to a “limited” number of testers, according to company officials. A first CTP of SQL Azure Reporting Services “was made available to a private group of TAP (Technology Adoption Program) customers prior to the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) announcement to provide early feedback on the Reporting service,” execs said.
Microsoft execs said at the company’s October 2010 PDC that Microsoft will deliver the final version of SQL Azure Reporting Services in the first half of 2011. A number of PDC attendees said at the time that they considered availability of the reporting services to remove an impediment for them to deploying Microsoft’s cloud database.

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