Network Computing is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Survivor's Guide to 2006: Enterprise Apps and App Infrastructure: Page 9 of 14

Databases aren't just for storage anymore, either. The latest versions of Oracle's Oracle10g and Microsoft's SQL Server 2005 come with built-in features that support the business intelligence and data warehousing needs of business. Microsoft has finally added support for its CLR (Common Language Runtime) languages inside the database to compete with the in-database Java language support of its rivals. And now that these databases come standard with direct XML access/generation to data, it's a fact that databases aren't standalone containers of data anymore, but full-blown platforms that handle data storage, manipulation and application-level logic.

Most databases are subsuming EII (enterprise information integration) capabilities to support business-intelligence and data-warehousing initiatives. Although many BI vendors have snatched up EII vendors so they can provide this same functionality, Microsoft and others are building these capabilities into their databases, which removes the extra layer of integration needed to deploy BI and data-warehousing products.

Lori MacVittie is a Network Computing senior technology editor working in our Green Bay, Wis., labs. She has been a software developer, a network administrator, and a member of the technical architecture team for a global transportation and logistics organization. Write to her at [email protected].