Microsoft today announced the launch of SQL Server v.Next Early Adoption Program to help customers and partners adopt the next version of SQL Server before general availability.
Microsoft is looking for customers interested in deep engagements with the Engineering team and in particular those who are interested in validating new features and adopting SQL Server vNext on Windows or Linux in production. Upon successful validation these solutions could be supported in production prior to the general availability release.
Benefits of joining this program:
- Through the program you will have direct access to the engineering team through a Program Manager Buddy. Your PM Buddy is there as a primary contact within the development team to help connect you to the right people to help your solution adopt SQL Server v.Next. Typically, PM Buddies communicate with the customer via email and regularly scheduled meetings. PM Buddies help scope the project when the customer first joins SQL EAP so that there is common understanding of the schedule and requirements.
- SQL EAP participants have the opportunity to bring your workload to the SQL Customer Advisory Team Customer Lab to directly engage and test with the SQL Server team.
- Customers in SQL EAP will be able to try out new features, sometimes before the public gets to see them, and provide the feedback directly to the engineering team. They will have the opportunity to provide input into the prioritization of product requirements for SQL Server v.Next via regular surveys. Participants will also be able to discuss feature design with PMs.
- You will have access to a private Yammer group for SQL EAP customers to communicate with one another and the engineering team, helping customers learn from each other. Content on the private Yammer group will be considered confidential and covered by the Microsoft NDA required to participate in SQL EAP.
- Customers going into production will be fully supported by Microsoft Support before general availability. A special support channel is provided to raise cases for SQL Server v.Next. The SQL Server engineering team will be backing up the Microsoft Support team to provide assistance as needed. Customers in production will also have support for release-to-release upgrades.
Learn more about this program -.
