New DataMarket, Improved SQL Azure Services Announced
Microsoft last week announced that its portal to buy and sell data services has launched as DataMarket, part of the Windows Azure Marketplace.
Formerly called Project Codename "Dallas," the market serves as a repository "that makes it easy to discover, purchase and consume data through a variety of different sources, both public domain and commercial," said program manager Steve Yi in a PDC10 session.
DataMarket has a new Web site and new information sources available for subscription, with many more on the way. The site lists 13 data categories such as Financial, News, Statistics and Weather, along with 28 publishers and more than 70 individual data feeds.
The feeds are typically presented in the XML-based OData format and can be easily integrated into applications built with the .NET Framework, for example, or directly into PowerPivot and Tableau data visualization projects.
Microsoft is rolling out new paid services through Nov. 22, with a variety of pricing and consumption options. Users can also request early access to the paid subscriptions.
You can learn more about DataMarket here, and Microsoft has also put up several YouTube videos, dealing with topics such as discovering and subscribing to data and using DataMarket with PowerPivot.
In other data-centric news, the company announced several enhancements to the cloud-based SQL Azure, including a Community Technology Preview (CTP) of SQL Azure Reporting, bringing the same capabilities of SQL Server Reporting Services to the cloud.
A SQL Azure Data Sync CTP 2 was also announced, along with a lightweight, Silverlight-based database manager, formerly called "Project Codename Houston."
You can learn more by watching the following PDC10 video presentations:
Introduction to Windows Azure Marketplace DataMarket
What’s New in SQL Azure
Code First Development with Entity Framework
Building Engaging Apps with Windows Azure Marketplace DataMarket
Introduction to SQL Azure Data Sync
Introduction to SQL Azure Reporting
Introduction to Database Manager
What do you think about the new DataMarket and SQL Azure enhancements? Comment here or drop me a line.
Posted by David Ramel on 11/03/2010