The Dublin, Calif., database software maker on Monday said its SDN (Sybase Developer Network) has increased in membership by 25 percent over the past year.

Sybase also on Monday announced a new relationship with Microsoft Corp., joining the software giant's Microsoft VSIP (Visual Studio Industry Partner) program and integrating its DataWindow .Net solution into the Visual Studio .Net 2003 IDE (integrated development environment).

Patrick Enright, director of partner development at Sybase, said he joined the company in March with the sole purpose of growing the Sybase developer ranks. He said he sees the Microsoft partnership as creating momentum that he expects to "surge as a result of the partnership."

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"This is a key new partnership with Microsoft," Enright said. "We're joining VSIP at the premier partner level, and our developers will benefit from the tight integration of DataWindow .Net and being able to access it directly from the Visual Studio IDE. By joining VSIP, Sybase can potentially reach millions of Microsoft developers."

Nick Abbott, group manager in the .Net Developer Product Management Group at Microsoft, said, "At Microsoft, we're really pleased to welcome Sybase, particularly for the DataWindow .Net product. Sybase will be joining more than 220 other partners" working with the Visual Studio platform.

Enright said Sybase also is about to join Sun Microsystems Inc.'s java.net Java technology collaboration site as a partner.

In addition, new Sybase programs include enhancements to the company's CodeXchange online forum with java.net; wireless developer resources in partnership with Orange, o2 and AT&T Wireless; and one-stop access to a wide range of Sybase partner developer networks, Enright said.

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Enright said participation in CodeXchange has increased by 70 percent over the past year. CodeXchange, based on CollabNet Enterprise Edition, features methods for SDN members to share content on development projects. The forum has more than 600 projects today based on products such as Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise, Replication Server, PowerBuilder, PocketBuilder, PowerDesigner, EAServer, Enterprise Portal and open-source technology for ebXML messaging, he said.

Meanwhile, Enright said, "When you put the 600 projects available on CodeXchange together with the 1,500 on java.net, you get more than 2,100 projects available to Sybase developers."

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