Lessons Learned #554: I Have Used BCP for Years — But How Does It Actually Work?
BCP is one of those SQL Server tools that many of us have been using for years. It is simple, reliable, and extremely fast when we need to move large amounts of…
Microsoft JDBC Driver 13.6 for SQL Server is now available
Microsoft JDBC Driver 13.6 for SQL Server is now available. This release helps Java applications get more work from the same infrastructure, diagnose latency with better context, strengthen critical connection paths, and…
mssql-python 1.15.0: Faster, More Reliable, and Built for Your Applications
I am excited to share the release of mssql-python 1.15.0, our 15th release since General Availability. We build mssql-python for Python developers connecting their applications to SQL Server, Azure SQL, and Azure Synapse.…
Evaluating Agentic AI in Microsoft Foundry: Beyond Final-Answer Quality
As AI systems evolve from single-turn assistants into tool-using agents, evaluation has to evolve with them.For a traditional LLM application, teams often focus on whether the final response is relevant, coherent, or…
Microsoft ODBC Driver 18.7.1: smaller vectors, easier configuration, and better cloud routing
Microsoft ODBC Driver 18.7.1 for SQL Server is now generally available. This release continues the work we started in 18.6 to support modern application patterns while making the driver easier to deploy…
Create multimodal applications with OpenAI models in Microsoft Foundry
Imagine you are building a home design application. A customer says, “Show me a modern kitchen with dark cabinets and a large center island.” Images appear in seconds. Before the application finishes…
Public Preview: Automatic Zone Placement for Virtual Machine Scale Sets
We’re excited to announce the public preview of Automatic Zone Placement for Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets. This new capability lets Azure select availability zones for your scale set based on SKU availability, capacity,…
Generally Available: Restrict usage of user delegation SAS to an Entra ID identity
Shared access signatures (SAS) grant time-bound, scoped access to Azure Storage resources without sharing account keys. Over time, Azure Storage has continued to strengthen SAS security, moving from account keys to user delegation (UD) SAS secured by Microsoft Entra…
Move to Modern SQL Server Licensing with Confidence
Why eligible customers should move to pay-as-you-go licensing (PAYG) For eligible SQL Server workloads, PAYG should be the preferred licensing approach when moving away from licenses and Software Assurance. It aligns billing…
Event Recap – TechCon Seattle 2026
TL;DR TechCon 365, PWRCON and DATACON Seattle 2026 August 24–28. Five days. Three thriving technology communities. One shared destination for learning, innovation, and connection. TechCon 365, PWRCON, and DATACON Seattle 2026 brought…