Azure News from the PASS Summit

SQL Azure will be big news in the next generation of SQL Server. Watch this space for more news from the Microsoft PDC later in November. Ted Kummert, Microsoft senior VP, told attendees at the PASS conference in Seattle to stay tuned and look for major advancements 24-36 months from the SQL Server 2008 R2 release.

Today's SQL Azure news is that the November CTP of SQL Azure is feature complete. The plans are to release Azure in January 2010. That's when the billing will start. Today's demos included a look at a new utility that synchronizes on premises solutions with the cloud. The utility will be available later this month.