The Neverfail Group, a leading global software company providing affordable high application availability and disaster recovery solutions designed to keep users continuously connected to business critical applications, today launched support for Microsoft SQL Server 2005. Now, organisations that want to leverage the increased functionality of SQL Server 2005 can enjoy “cluster-class” data protection and high availability at a fraction of the cost of clustering solutions.

With Neverfail for SQL Server, end-users stay seamlessly connected to this comprehensive database platform. Even if a disruption occurs in the server, operating system, application or network, users experience no awkward transitions or indications of problems. Neverfail for SQL Server can automatically perform failovers when disruptions occur (with no IT staff intervention required) and also proactively monitor the health of the entire SQL environment. In addition, Neverfail for SQL Server enables easy, manual failovers to allow for maintenance without disrupting the productivity of end-users.

“In business today, any downtime is simply unacceptable. And while there are a number of replication solutions available that can protect data or that claim to provide high availability, only Neverfail ensures a reliable server environment – which is the foundation of true high availability, ” said John Posavatz, vice president of product management for Neverfail. “Neverfail for SQL Server not only protects data, but also ensures that end-users continue to have access to both the application and their data – without interruption. And now with our support of SQL Server 2005, businesses can enjoy all the advantages of this powerful platform – even if the application or the operating system crashes.”

Prior to the release of SQL Server 2005, a number of organisations around the world have purchased Neverfail for SQL Server in the last year, signifying a growing recognition of the importance of true application availability. These customers include Marblehead Savings Bank, a community bank in Massachusetts; the American Urological Association, a professional association that serves more than 13,000 members around the world; Harvard Magazine, the magazine of Harvard University; and DCA Design International, one of Europe’s leading product design consultancies.

“After using a cluster architecture for seven years, we were increasingly unhappy with the complexity and the cost,” said Scott Klocker, IT manager for Marblehead Savings Bank, which installed Neverfail for SQL Server in July 2005. “We evaluated several alternatives and found Neverfail to offer similar functionality to clustering, without the expense of buying the additional licenses that clustering requires.”

One key differentiator of Neverfail products is the company’s Server Check, Optimisation and Performance Evaluation tool, or SCOPE, which provides a thorough analysis of each customer’s entire server environment prior to installation. SCOPE identifies issues, pinpoints opportunities to gain power and recommends actions to help optimise the environment. Before any of Neverfail’s more than 400 partners and distributors installs one of the company’s high availability solutions, SCOPE is run to ensure a robust and reliable server environment.

In addition to Neverfail for SQL Server, the company offers a comprehensive line of data protection, application availability and disaster recovery software solutions for the Microsoft technology platform, including Neverfail for Exchange, Neverfail for File Server, Neverfail for BlackBerry, Neverfail for IIS and Neverfail for SharePoint.

“High availability is a phrase being used by an increasing number of companies when promoting their data replication solutions, but only Neverfail keeps end-users seamlessly connected to their working applications” said Dave French, Neverfail CEO- the Americas. “By offering support for SQL Server 2005, Neverfail provides organisations with the assurance that, even if a disruption occurs, end-users will not lose access to this vital data management platform.”

About the Neverfail Group

The Neverfail Group is a leading global software company providing affordable data protection, “cluster-class” high application availability and disaster recovery solutions for the Microsoft technology platform. Neverfail’s software solutions enable users to remain continuously connected to the live software application irrespective of hardware, software, operating system, or network failures. Neverfail’s mission of eliminating application downtime for the end user delivers the assurance of business continuity, removes the commercial and IT management costs associated with system downtime and enables the more productive use of IT resources. More information can be found at http://www.neverfailgroup.com