This week, we are excited to footwear disconnected SQLCon 2026 alongside FabCon successful Atlanta. Bringing these SQL and Fabric communities unneurotic creates a unsocial accidental to learn, connect, and stock what’s adjacent crossed the Microsoft databases portfolio.
This twelvemonth is particularly meaningful, arsenic it marks the instrumentality of a Microsoft‑led SQL assemblage event, portion besides showcasing however SQL continues to germinate arsenic a captious portion of Fabric. It is not conscionable astir caller technology, but astir reconnecting with each different and gathering the aboriginal of SQL together.
It’s inspiring to spot the Microsoft SQL assemblage proceed to turn and engage, with idiosyncratic groups worldwide keeping conversations progressive crossed the SQL portfolio and a batch of customers utilizing Microsoft SQL to innovate each day. With a broad portfolio built connected strategical communal foundations and disposable crossed edge, PaaS, and SaaS, Microsoft databases signifier a unified level for modern endeavor needs, whether you are migrating and modernizing, gathering cloud-native AI applications, oregon unifying your data.
Migrate and modernize with Azure SQL
Many of our customers are not modernizing successful 1 large leap. You are evolving from SQL Server to hybrid and past to unreality services, and you privation that travel to consciousness familiar, predictable, and debased risk. That is precisely what Azure SQL is designed to deliver. Built connected a accordant Microsoft SQL instauration from connected premises to the cloud, Azure SQL brings AI capabilities straight into your database experience, on with enterprise‑grade security, precocious availability, and the flexibility to standard arsenic your needs grow. Azure SQL is afloat SQL compatible, delivers beardown show and debased latency, and supports hybrid scenarios done Azure Arc.
AI agents are becoming an important accelerator for database migration and modernization astatine Microsoft, helping our customers trim manual effort and determination faster with much guided experiences crossed the journey. The general availability of GitHub Copilot successful SSMS 22 is simply a large illustration of that concern successful action: you tin usage the aforesaid GitHub Copilot acquisition you already usage successful Visual Studio and VS Code, present wrong SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), with chat and codification assistance that helps you write, edit, and refactor T‑SQL much rapidly and confidently. Whether you are a developer oregon database head (DBA), caller to SQL oregon highly experienced, GitHub Copilot tin enactment communal workflows similar improving queries and assisting with troubleshooting and medication tasks close wherever you work, and we are continuing to grow what it tin do.
Today we are announcing savings program for databases, a flexible, spend-based pricing enactment that helps you save up to 35%1 vs. pay-as-you-go prices connected a one-year commitment. Savings program for databases is designed for modern, evolving database environments: Customers perpetrate to a fixed hourly walk for 1 twelvemonth and person little prices crossed eligible Azure database services. Savings are automatically applied to the highest-value usage each hour, helping trim costs portion supporting migration, modernization, and architectural change.
Build cloud-native AI apps astatine scale
Once you determination to the cloud, the questions shift. How bash you physique faster, standard smarter, and unlock much worth from your information without re‑architecting everything you person already built? That is wherever Azure SQL Database Hyperscale comes in.
With Azure SQL Database Hyperscale, customers summation amended price-performance, elastic standard and resilience for immoderate workload, without the outgo oregon disruption of rewriting T‑SQL oregon reworking operational models. Its unsocial architecture, built connected shared retention and aggregate replicas, allows you to standard reads independently from writes. With built‑in HTAP isolation, applications tin grip monolithic transactional and analytical workloads without analyzable redesign. New capabilities present successful nationalist preview widen that instauration adjacent further, including the SQL MCP Server for securely connecting SQL information to AI agents and Copilots, arsenic good arsenic larger 160 and 192 vCore options for high‑throughput workloads.
We’re delivering faster, much susceptible vector indexes to powerfulness AI applications. Recent enhancements amended vector hunt show and ratio with nary codification changes required. With afloat insert, update, and delete support, vector indexes enactment existent successful existent time, enabling dynamic applications. Features similar quantization, iterative filtering, and tighter query optimizer integration supply faster, much predictable results, helping teams physique responsive AI experiences straight connected their SQL data.
Temenos built its next‑generation banking platform, Temenos Core, connected Azure utilizing Azure SQL Database Hyperscale to execute planetary scale, precocious availability, and resilient performance. The level processes billions of transactions regular and much than 17,500 transactions per 2nd astatine peak. By gathering connected Hyperscale, Temenos reduced onboarding time, accelerated innovation, and shifted banks from worrying astir downtime to competing connected availability and integer innovation.
Unify your information property with SQL database successful Fabric
We proceed to rise the barroom connected endeavor readiness for SQL database successful Fabric by bringing enterprise-grade information and compliance capabilities straight into the platform. Today astatine SQLCon, we announced the wide availability of features including SQL Auditing, Customer‑Managed Keys, and Dynamic Data Masking, and the preview of workspace‑level Private Link. We brought these enhancements to assistance customers conscionable strict governance and regulatory requirements without adding operational complexity. The effect is assurance that your SQL workloads successful Fabric are secure, compliant, and acceptable for production.
SQL database successful Fabric is becoming adjacent much almighty for AI‑driven applications. The aforesaid vector indexing enhancements disposable successful Azure SQL Database Hyperscale are present built into SQL database successful Fabric arsenic well. Because some are powered by the aforesaid Microsoft SQL engine, customers payment from accordant performance, capabilities, and innovation crossed the SQL portfolio—making it easier to physique intelligent applications wherever their information lives.
Finally, moving to SQL database successful Fabric is simpler than ever. The Migration Assistant now supports SQL database successful Fabric arsenic a people destination. It provides a Copilot-assisted acquisition that helps SQL developers measure readiness, migrate schema, place compatibility issues, and transcript information with little manual effort. By preserving acquainted SQL skills and workflows, customers tin modernize astatine their ain gait portion accelerating clip to worth connected Fabric’s unified analytics and AI platform.
There is 1 much Fabric innovation that matters profoundly for however we present Microsoft databases arsenic a unified platform. As applications turn much sophisticated, astir organizations present trust connected a premix of SQL and NoSQL databases crossed cloud, on‑premises, and borderline environments. Provisioning, monitoring, and maintaining wellness crossed a increasing database fleet often requires aggregate tools and portals, making it harder to spot what’s happening and negociate astatine scale.
To code this, we are introducing the Database Hub successful Microsoft Fabric, present disposable successful aboriginal access. The Database Hub provides a unified database absorption acquisition that brings unneurotic databases crossed edge, cloud, and Fabric into 1 coherent view. From a azygous place, database teams tin explore, observe, govern, and optimize their full estate, including Azure SQL, Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc, and Azure Database for MySQL without changing however each work is deployed oregon operated.
Built for scale, the Database Hub introduces an agent-assisted, human-in-the-loop attack to database management. Intelligent agents continuously crushed implicit estate-wide signals to aboveground what changed, explicate wherefore it matters, and usher teams toward what to bash next, portion built-in observability, delegated governance, and Copilot-powered insights assistance teams determination from penetration to enactment with greater confidence. With the Database Hub, teams walk little clip navigating tools and much clip enabling what comes next: unlocking deeper integration crossed applications, analytics, and AI from a azygous power level for the Microsoft databases portfolio.
Database Hub is disposable contiguous successful aboriginal access. Sign up contiguous and spot however the Database Hub tin bring clarity and power to your database estate.
SQLCon is astir bringing the SQL assemblage together. It is astir rebuilding connections and shared learning. It besides reflects our semipermanent committedness to SQL. With a broad portfolio built connected strategical communal foundations and disposable crossed edge, PaaS, and SaaS, Microsoft databases supply a unified level for modern endeavor needs, whether you are migrating and modernizing, gathering cloud-native AI applications, oregon unifying your data. We are investing successful SQL for the future, alongside the assemblage that continues to signifier it.
Finally, SQLCon is coming to Europe! Join the planetary information and SQL assemblage from 28 Sep – 01st October, 2026 successful Barcelona, Spain for hands-on learning, adept insights, and real-world stories. Register to beryllium a portion of it. I can’t hold to spot you there.
Additional SQL resources
- Microsoft Azure Summit: Migrate and Modernize with Agentic AI
- What is caller astir SQL database successful Fabric
- Learn much astir savings program for databases
1Customers whitethorn spot savings estimated to beryllium betwixt 0% and 35%. The 35% savings estimation is based connected 1 Azure SQL Database serverless moving for 12 months astatine a pay-as-you-go complaint vs. a reduced complaint for a 1-year savings plan. Based connected Azure pricing arsenic of March 2026. Prices are taxable to change. Actual savings whitethorn alteration based connected location, database service, and/or usage.