Microsoft's upcoming, and long awaited, update to its popular Office software suite has yet to be released, though that hasn't stopped the company from planning ahead. Office 2010 is scheduled to be available sometime next year, but the Redmond company has said it's already planning Office 15!

Hello everyone! As Office 2010 nears shipping, we are starting to plan Office 15. One area that we are considering improving is our SQL Server support. Based on what I've heard from the community, that would be most welcome. Note that we are very early in planning, and considering many possible areas of investment, I unfortunately can't commit to any actual improvements at this time.

This is where you come in… I need your help to understand the need for improvements and make the case for improved SQL support. If you could take a few moments, please jot down your thoughts on the following:

 1. What is unique about SQL Server scenarios? Why do you turn to SQL Server instead of using a local Access database? This is a bit of a rhetorical question, obviously there are many features that SQL offers that local Access databases do not, including better security, multi-user support, scalability, and manageability. And perhaps those are the main reasons. But are there other characteristics of a SQL Server solution that we should understand?
 2. How often do create a ADP + SQL solution vs. a Access frontend linked to SQL? In other words, how often is it about something like an ADP, and how often do you work with linked SQL tables? Is one of these more important for us to improve than the other?
 3. What existing features in Access, that are targeted at SQL Server, are falling short of your needs?
 4. What features in SQL Server would you like to take advantage of, but currently can't because they are not exposed in Access?
 5. What new features would you like to see in Access that would make development for SQL Server faster, more efficient, or more manageable? And any other data you would like to contribute to this subject is most welcome.