Microsoft rolls out Exchange 2010 Service Pack 2

Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack (SP) 2 is available for download as of December 5. The latest SP includes functionality that is aimed at helping users navigate and manage their cloud-on-premises hybrid environments.

The newest SP adds new protection and compliance tooling; additional deployment options; and the return of Outlook Mobile Access (OMA). SP2 also includes a new hybrid configuration wizard, which, as Softpedia explained, can help automate "the setup of a hybrid connection between Exchange Online running in Office 365 and an on-premises Exchange 2010 organization."

Exchange 2010 SP2 is supported on Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Windows Server 2008 Standard.

Exchange 2010 SP2 isn't the only  Microsoft offering that bridges the cloud-on-premises gap. Microsoft is in the midst of a strategy shift in terms of how it intends to encourage customers to move from private to public clouds, officials have said recently.

On the SQL Server front, Microsoft is advancing and promoting one of its many sync technologies:SQL Azure Data Sync, The data sync technology can help customers share data between on-premises SQL Server and SQL Azure applications. It also can assist with cloud-to-cloud data sync. SQL Azure Data Sync is available in Community Technology Preview form.

One more SQL-related tidbit. Microsoft's SQL Azure Labs has released another project, this one codenamed "Data Transfer." Data Transfer allows users to move data from their systems to a SQL Aure database or Windows Azure Blob storage account. Data must be stored in comma-separated value (CSV) or Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) format.