“…The technology is an add-on for SQL Server 2000, Microsoft’s three-year-old flagship database. As an enterprise reporting tool, it is designed to provide companies with the ability to create reports that push real-time data from any data source to any device in a variety of formats.

Reporting Services is being included in the base licensing price of SQL Server 2000, and will come in three editions that parallel the editions of the database — developer, standard and enterprise. A time-bombed evaluation edition is also being offered. Customers who already own SQL Server licenses can get Reporting Services for free….

Regardless of the robustness of the functionality, a primary market impact will be a traditional one with Microsoft — sucking the profit margin out of the sector. This is a role often forgotten, given Microsoft’s new role of defending its operating system profits against lower cost Linux alternatives. But with Reporting Services, Microsoft is showing it’s ready to bare its competitive teeth in the database market.”