Progress Software Application Partners Turn to OpenEdge as Their End U

Progress Software Application Partners Turn to OpenEdge as Their End Users Embrace SOA-Enabled Applications

    Business Editors/High-Tech Editors

    BEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 31, 2005--

    Significant Impact and Momentum of Next Generation Technology Inspires Creation of Progress OpenEdge Division, Supporting Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)

    Progress Software Corporation, (Nasdaq: PRGS), today announced that the demand for SOA-enabled business applications is driving rapid adoption of the Progress(R) OpenEdge(TM) 10 platform, the foundation for its component-based approach to building distributed applications. Since the first commercial version of OpenEdge 10 was made available in January of last year, more than 30 percent of Progress Software's 2,000 application partners (APs) have adopted OpenEdge 10. Progress Software Corporation also announced today that the operating unit for its flagship product line has been renamed "the Progress OpenEdge Division."
    As an integrated product suite targeted at implementing business applications for the extended enterprise, OpenEdge 10 gives professional application developers the ability to cost-effectively extend their applications by enabling them to reuse existing business logic while offering a wide variety of UI and operational choices. For example, this capability allows developers to quickly and easily expose their "best fit" applications as Web services, giving Progress APs a competitive edge in meeting their end users' demands for service-oriented business applications (SOBA).
    "While others talk about the potential benefits of emerging service-oriented architectures, Progress Software's extensive community of application partners and their customers are already realizing tremendous value from SOAs," said Niel Powers, vice president of products for the Progress OpenEdge Division. "The OpenEdge 10 platform makes it possible for our partners to quickly produce high-quality, service-enabled applications that enable businesses to gain significant competitive advantages in their respective markets. SOA is a key strategic differentiator and Progress Software and all of its operating companies, along with its partners, are delivering on that promise today."

    Rapid Adoption Leads to Partner Success

--	"I must compliment Progress Software Corporation on the excellent way in which Web services are handled in OE10," said Allan Green, vice president and chief technology officer for NeoSynergy, LLC. "Our programmers had no problem at all in developing numerous Web services from our existing application. It took hours and not days. We have achieved integration with third-party applications without writing one line of code. We currently have the only system available in the U.S. where a consumer can purchase a vehicle on-line from start to finish. This was all done using existing code in our application that the retail dealers rely on every day."
--	"To expose business logic as a Web service is easy when working with OpenEdge technology," said Brian Price, head of development for Business Computer Projects. "You just run the existing code through OpenEdge and literally 10 minutes later, it is transformed into a Web service that can be accessed from .NET or J2EE(TM). Unlike Microsoft .Net, OpenEdge 10 allowed BCP to expose existing business logic to Java(TM) and .NET clients in a secure way."
--	"We have been able to do some really amazing things with Progress OpenEdge technology," said Tom McGourty, vice president of sales and marketing for gomembers, a leading supplier of association management systems. "Not only were we able to quickly adopt a .NET front end to our Q application in record time, we are light years ahead of the competition in getting this next generation product to market."
--	"We opened the OpenEdge box, we installed it, and we migrated our application," said Geoff Crawford, president of Innov8 Computer Software, a leading supplier of financial software solutions. "That's it. Not a single line of code changed and we're instantly on OpenEdge 10. It really was that easy."

    SOA Commitment Reflected in New Name for Flagship Product Division

    The OpenEdge Platform is based upon proven capabilities and is renowned for its minimal DBA (database administrator) requirements. Continuing its heritage of rapid application development (RAD) resulting in high productivity and low total cost of ownership (TCO) for business application developers and users, the next generation OpenEdge technology supports the design and deployment of business applications as services with a service-oriented architecture. Its SOA foundation is built on standards-based Web services, JMS-based messaging, and Sonic Software's enterprise service bus, enabling comprehensive application integration across an enterprise. It supports a service-oriented approach to developing and deploying business applications. (For a more extensive discussion on the capabilities of the OpenEdge Technology, see white paper from Baroudi Bloor, http://www.progress.com/psc/investors/whitepapers/index.ssp )
    "The significance of the SOA-compliant OpenEdge platform, along with the OpenEdge Application framework, has inspired us to change the name of the flagship operating unit to the Progress OpenEdge Division," said David Ireland, president of the Progress OpenEdge Division. "Our new name and new web site reflect our reputation for high productivity and low TCO, and show the Progress commitment to technology that is SOA-compliant, OPEN and leading EDGE."
    "Progress OpenEdge supports possibly the widest deployment possibilities of any development environment we are aware of," said analyst Robin Bloor, partner in Hurwitz & Associates and president of Bloor Research. "Additionally the platform delivers operational management capability that optimizes the use of available resources without compromising quality of service. This reduces deployment costs. OpenEdge is probably the most comprehensive application development and integration environment currently provided by any vendor. The decision to have the company name reflect the power of its latest technology is understandable and logical."

    About Progress OpenEdge Division

    The Progress OpenEdge Division is an operating unit of Progress Software Corporation (Nasdaq: PRGS), a $300+ million global software industry leader. The Progress OpenEdge Division simplifies the development, deployment, integration, and management of the world's best business applications. The Progress OpenEdge Division and its 2,000 Application Partners offer more than 5,000 OpenEdge-based business applications that precisely fit customer needs and deliver competitive advantage. Customers purchase more than $5 billion annually in OpenEdge-based software and services from Progress Software Corporation and its partners.
    The Progress(R) OpenEdge(TM) platform enables its partners to rapidly build and deliver lowest cost-of-ownership applications. Progress Software Corporation also conducts business through its other operating units: Sonic Software, DataDirect Technologies, and ObjectStore. Headquartered in Bedford, Mass., Progress Software can be reached on the Web at http://www.progress.com or by phone at +1-781-280-4000.

    Progress, OpenEdge, and Progress OpenEdge are trademarks or registered trademarks of Progress Software Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Java and all Java-based marks are trademarks or service marks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Any other trademarks or service marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

--30--NC/bo*

CONTACT: Progress Software Corporation Candace Clemens, 781-280-4101 cclemens@progress.com or Schwartz Communications, Inc. Keith Giannini or Joan Geoghegan, 781-684-0770 progress@schwartz-pr.com

KEYWORD: MASSACHUSETTS INDUSTRY KEYWORD: SOFTWARE SOURCE: Progress Software Corporation

Copyright Business Wire 2005