 <p>Please make sure you have the same settings for <code>ansi_null</code> for both your local DB settings and your clients. style like "name is not null" will return the desired result, not like "name =/&lt;> null" that depends on ansi_null settings.</p> <p>check for ansi_null: <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms188048(v=sql.105).aspx" rel="nofollow">http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms188048(v=sql.105).aspx</a></p>