The next version of SQL server, code-named Katmai, will be released next year, Microsoft announced in Seattle at its first Business Intelligence Conference. Katmai is designed to meet the coming "data explosion," Microsoft said, and will enable large-scale data warehousing and information delivery through Microsoft Office.

Also, Microsoft said it acquired SoftArtisans' OfficeWriter, software that allows users to author reports in Word and Excel. "Delivering BI and performance management functionality into Office applications that millions of people use every day will go a long way toward breaking down barriers toward broader deployment," said Jeff Raikes, president of Microsoft's business division, speaking at the conference.

That acquisition may help Microsoft achieve an ambitious goal. "Microsoft's BI solutions will bring intelligence capabilities to 10 times the number of workers, and we will be able to do that because we deliver BI exactly where the information workers work every day," Raikes said.

That will be a big change from the state of the BI industry today, he said. In the traditional structure of the industry, tools to use BI require specialized knowledge and are complex and difficult to maintain, he said. By allowing users to access business data in programs they're familiar with like Excel, more workers in organizations can use important data in order to help drive the business, he said.

Microsoft's SharePoint and PerformancePoint servers already make it easier for more workers to access important business data, he said.

More than 6,000 enterprise and mid-market customers are currently using PerformancePoint Server 2007, which is scheduled to launch in the second half of the year.