SQL Server - A historic release available now!

One of the most exciting things about being an technology professional is the constant change.  Some people dislike change; some avoid it and none more so than large corporations.  As a small business owner and technology professional, embracing change is the cornerstone to my business and what excites me about  going to work everyday.  It is also why I went into business, I wanted to work for a company that embraced change and became the change they wanted to see in the world to paraphrase Ghandi.  Last week I had the privilege to spend a week at the MVP Summit.  It was my first time on the Microsoft Campus and an honor and a privilege to be there as a Data Platform MVP.   I took that opportunity to not only absorb all that I could from the fire hose of information that was tossed my way but to make connections and observe the large machine that is Microsoft.   Most people who work for large companies know how slow companies can be to change.  I will admit I did not see that side of Microsoft.  All the talk around technology that took place on and off the Microsoft campus was about change, being agile specifically.  Although we often know it as a method of software development or project management, it is basically the ability to move quickly and easily and as technology professionals we need to embrace it.  Microsoft does this to a level I have never seen or experiences in a large company ever before. 

Today at Microsoft Connect(); the announcement of changes to the standard features of SQL Server 2016 is a classic example. This is another change in the direction of Microsoft.  Where once they determined for us what we needed and how to use it, they are now giving us the tools and allowing us to determine what the best way is for us to help our clients, customers and partners.

I am aware of many clients who have not had the ability to take advantage of features like; Row-level security, Columnstore, In-memory OLTP, Always Encrypted and PolyBase so wondered why they should bother to upgrade to SQL Server 2016?  You can find the announcement from Microsoft to see all the details on what Microsoft has changed for SQL Server 2016 in SP1 here. For all those that have said, why do I need to be excited about the next version of SQL Server, I only have standard edition.  Microsoft just gave you the best reason ever, to be excited to upgrade!