PROGRESS, or OpenEdge according to its later name, is a high capacity relational database management system (RDBMS) and programming language (ABL). Its first public version was issued in 1984 under the name of PROGRESS 2.1. It is currently at version 11, under the brand name of OpenEdge.
Key features of OpenEdge include:
- scalability
- high performance
- high availability
- reliability
- flexibility
- platform independence
The PROGRESS database has been designed to be able to smoothly serve the business administration of any company ranging from small businesses with a few users to large companies with several thousands. The users can access the database via a divided memory, which can minimise direct reading of the disk subsystem, guaranteeing quick service.
The history of Progress
The start dates back to the 1980s, when Data Language Corporation created the base of the 4 GL programming language, to rise to fame later as the OpenEdge Advanced Business Language (ABL).
In 1987, when more than 60,000 organisations were using the 4GL technology worldwide, Data Language Corporation was renamed to PROGRESS Software Corporation.
It had by then become a household name among enterprise resource planning systems as well, several ERPs were PROGRESS based.
In 2002, by the acquisition of eXcelon Corporation PROGRESS got hold of an integrated XML development environment, i.e. Stylus Studio.
This tool was used for the planning and editing of XML documents, EDI (Electronic Data Interchange files), CSV (comma-separated values files) and relation data.
From 2004 onwards PROGRESS products continued to be marketed under the brand name OpenEdge.
In 2008, by acquiring the Xcalia and Mindreef companies PROGRESS got hold of data integration and SOAPscope solutions.
In 2010, through the acquisition of the SAVVION company, PROGRESS further extended its portfolio with the Business Process Management technology.
Progress technology
Currently Progress leads the market with the following products:
OpenEdge: Application Development Platform
Progress OpenEdge is a developer programme that significantly accelerates application development, as it is well scalable, platform independent and compatible with all operating systems and databases.
OpenEdge ABL is the only language with the help of which an entire business application may be created, encompassing business logic, user interface and complex data management.
Brief description of the technology:
- Transparent: it facilitates the utilisation of business terminology with the help of business rules.
- Productive: a simple programming statement in ABL, several hundreds of lines of codes in Visual Basic or Java.
- Flexible: ABL includes all programming methods that enable connection of departments and procedures for the developer.
- Strong: it is the only developer language capable of manipulating and storing data from various sources (relation databases, XML, structured and unstructured files).
QAD Inc. selected the Progress OpenEdge product as the basis of its own implementations for this very reason as the QAD Enterprise Applications uses the Progress OpenEdge relation database management system supporting a wide range of platforms and operating systems for data storage and the 4th generation Progress language to develop programmes implementing business logic.
Progress success stories
LocalTapiola Group
LocalTapiola Group is Finland’s biggest non-life insurance company. With 4000 employees, it manages one and a half million clients and two million insurance policies. The sales revenue of the company is 1 billion EUR.
We use the Progress OpenEdge based WinSure application, a system serving more than two thousand concurrent users. The total size of the databases is 2 TB, with the largest one being 500 GB. The application runs on various platforms and operating systems; HP-UX, AIX and Windows servers can all be found in its structure. WinSure also makes use of the replication capability of OpenEdge; it is therefore available 24/7/365.
Claims Management Services Provider
The company manages the data of 10 million clients with the help of Progress OpenEdge. Half a trillion transactions are performed daily, through 11 databases.
Due to sensitivity of data, the OpenEdge Transparent Encryption technology is used, which keeps their databases of several terabytes safe. To their satisfaction, they have found stability, 24/7/365 availability and speed in Progress OpenEdge, corroborated by the opinion of their many thousand users.
TIE KINETIX
Using OpenEdge Advanced Business Language (ABL) technology, TIE KINETIX can develop and sell new functions ten times faster than its competitors. Hence the names among its clients such as T-Mobile or KPN.
Other database management systems have also been tried, among others Oracle and MySQL, but only Progress OpenEdge could provide the flexibility and speed they needed to remain competitive.
Berg-Hansen
Berg-Hansen, Norway’s largest travel agency handles 300 000 clients. The company implemented online sale of air tickets, now accounting for more than 60% of orders, using the Progress OpenEdge technology.
Selecting the technology was subject to two main conditions, i.e. high availability and reliable data backup. With the help of the Progress OpenEdge, the reservation process has accelerated greatly, while the system makes backup savings in the background on a redundant failover system, which the company implemented using OpenEdge Replication. The company currently uses Progress OpenEdge version 11.2, along with its replication and Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) capabilities.
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