Microsoft Snaps Up ActiveViews To Bolster SQL Server Business Intelligence

ActiveViews, Provo, Utah, is privately held and terms were not disclosed. The company has five employees, two of which are relocating to Microsoft's Redmond, Wash., location. The other three will remain in Provo, a Microsoft spokeswoman said.

Microsoft is making a big business intelligence push with its next-generation SQL Server, now due in 2005.

Bill Baker, the Microsoft general manager spearheading that effort, will discuss the acquisition later Monday at the Gartner Business Intelligence Summit 2004 in Chicago.

While embedding more analytics into databases is a trend among the Big Three database players--IBM, Microsoft and Oracle--Microsoft's decision to incorporate reporting services, first reported by CRN last year, caused a bit of a stir among other analytics providers such as Crystal Reports, Cognos and Business Objects. The fear was that the integral analytics and reporting in the database would dampen interest in stand-alone offerings.

For more on SQL Server, see related story.