Déjà vu all over again – new SQL Service Pack opens the door for slippage

Looks like we are going through the same release schedule of SQL Server 2008 as we had in 2005. A new Service Pack has been announced for the current release which seems to herald a possible slippage of the Katmai release - now named SQL Server 2008. In May 2005, Microsoft released SP4 for SQL Server 2000. At the time, the Yukon release or SQL Server 2005 was slated for a "Summer release". Reading Microsoft release schedules are a bit like reading Real Estate listings - you have to read between the lines. When you see a house listed with an "easily maintainable garden" and "easy access to commuter rail" you know what they mean: small yard next to the station...right? So "Summer release" means as close to Labor Day as possible...well, it actually slipped again, eventually SQL Server 2005 was released Nov 7th 2005. SQL Server 2008 is slated for a Q3 release, so translated that means September 30th, right? Well, don't be surprised if it slips to Q4.

Now I know how difficult it is to schedule releases for software. I used to work for several software companies in the past, namely: Pansophic Systems, Bachman Information Systems and Sybase Inc. None were, however, the size of Microsoft. And I must admit, Microsoft does get the software out the door in reasonable shape. Yes, there are bugs, but that's what Hot fixes, Cumulative updates and Service Packs are for. (Think of it as job security. Someone needs to be there to apply the fixes!) And the huge number of developers at Microsoft's disposal makes it very impressive indeed. Apparently, it had 900 developers on Yukon and now 5000 developers have touched Katmai - truly astonishing, if true.

The Microsoft stance is a good one: "We won't release a product until it is of sufficient quality". Very noble. So slippage is a good thing - they are trying to "iron out the kinks" or "tighten a few screws". But when the marketing budget has already named the product SQL Server 2008, you can bet your bottom dollar that SOMETHING will come out before December 31st! Of course, a la 2005, certain new features may be unsupported until the first Service Pack - remember Database Mirroring? But, at least Microsoft gave us the unsupported feature to test out and SP1 came out within 6 months to fully support it. Now SQL Server 2008 will make it faster and more reliable.

When I worked for Bachman, the released software was not tied to dates but was released as 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 etc. "Point releases" (equivalent to Service Packs) came out as 2.1, 3.1, 4.1 etc. I remember listening to some cynical but loyal customers that said they would never install a "point zero" release but would always wait for the "point one" release. Of course, one clever VP of Development decided to circumvent this behavior by making the next major release jump to 5.1 straight away. Luckily, Microsoft can't be so sneaky with their service pack strategy. But I am hearing many customers that are planning to "wait for the first Service Pack" for SQL Server 2008.

"And...", in the famous words of SNL's Stuart Smalley - "...that's... okay".
Cheers
Brian

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