Why Convert to SQL Server 2012?

SQL Server 2012 introduces many new capabilities, performance and integration advantages vs. SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2005, and is must-have upgrade especially for companies that are looking to take advantage of more advanced Reporting Services, Analysis Services and Integration Services.

New SQL Server 2012 Capabilities we find very useful include:

Partially Contained Databases allow you to move databases easily between servers and environments, with fewer issues, lowering development, testing and maintenance cost.
New Selective XML Index and ColumnStore Index provide more powerful options for fine-tuning your database and application performance.
SQL Server 2012 T-SQL Language Enhancements give developers more flexibility and code control to build more robust solutions quicker. New T-SQL 2012 Language Enhancements include:
  • THROW (re-raise SQL error)
  • OFFSET / FETCH (simpler, ANSI-standard paging)
  • SEQUENCE (centralized IDENTITY mechanism)
  • IIF() / CHOOSE() (pick value through logical comparison: similar as operator ? in c#)
  • CONCAT() / FORMAT() (powerful string manipulation)
  • PARSE() / TRY_CONVERT() / TRY_PARSE() (easy data type conversion)
File Table makes your life a lot easier to manage a folder like a table of documents without losing external control over the contents.
Full-Text Search enhances underlying performance, as well as semantic search (think keywords) and customizable proximity / NEAR.
AlwaysOn Availability Group is a high-availability and disaster-recovery solution that provides an enterprise-level alternative to database mirroring.
Management Studio provides a user experience that is well-aligned with Visual Studio, which increases developer efficiencies and adds many other user-friendly features.
If your organization is in the early planning stages of a SQL Server 2012 upgrade, PCA can provide SQL Consulting and engineering evaluation services that provide you with an in-depth assessment of your existing SQL Server plans, architectures, and designs — and help you get the most out of new SQL Server 2012 capabilities.  This early-stage SQL Server consulting service will allow you to identify and mitigate risks, and realize the benefits of your SQL Server 2012 conversion more quickly.