Cambridge UK, 13 July 2016 – Redgate Software, the Cambridge UK company known for its portfolio of SQL Server development tools, has moved into the cloud with the preview release of a new tool for migrating databases to Azure SQL Data Warehouse.
Data Platform Studio provides a reliable and simple way to migrate on-premises SQL Server databases to Azure SQL Data Warehouse by handling the upload automatically and applying the most appropriate compatibility fixes and optimizations. Free to use for one-off migrations, it reduces the time-frame involved from days to hours and gives companies an easy route to explore the potential of Azure.
With Azure SQL Data Warehouse general availability, more customers will be looking to move data warehousing workloads to Azure. Rather than relying on a fixed combination of storage and compute, with expensive resources either under-utilized or unaffordable, users can dynamically scale and even pause compute. The architecture can handle large datasets with ease, but users only pay for time-to-insight.
What holds users back, however, is the migration path into Azure SQL Data Warehouse. Incompatibilities with SQL Server, as well as the introduction of new technologies such as PolyBase, mean that even experienced data professionals can find uploading an on-premises database a complicated process.
By making migrations fast and easy, Data Platform Studio allows users to quickly move on with their proof of concept, evaluating how SQL Data Warehouse scales storage and compute, and judging how appropriate it is for their requirements.
The development of the product is a result of Redgate’s own experience of migrating an on-premises database to SQL Data Warehouse. As David Bick, Product Portfolio Lead at Redgate, explains, “We like to think of ourselves as experts in the SQL Server space, but even we hit a few roadblocks on the way. Data Platform Studio removes those blocks because it’s engineered to make smart decisions and automate the migration process. It encapsulates everything we encountered on our own journey, and includes a lot of subsequent learning from Microsoft.”
Redgate has worked closely with Microsoft during the development of Data Platform Studio and is now looking at ways to enhance its usability further. Benchmarking, for example, will allow users to achieve the optimal Azure server configuration based on their data and budget, while provisioning will give users the ability to create compliance-certified copies of production data for development and testing.
“We’re really encouraged by the opportunities Data Platform Studio offers to our customers,” David Bick concludes. “There’s an increasing use of hybrid data estates and as our customers move to adopt SQL Data Warehouse, we’re now in a position to make that move a lot easier.”
”Microsoft is excited about the collaboration with Redgate,” says Tiffany Wissner, Senior Director, Data Platform at Microsoft. “Azure SQL Data Warehouse brings the true promise of cloud elasticity to data warehouse – customers can provision in minutes and scale in seconds. Redgate’s Data Platform Studio helps current SQL Server customers more quickly get their data to Azure for accelerated time to value.”
