Progress Software Extends UAA to Fuel Business-to-Business Applications On the Internet.

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 24, 1999--

Central to strategy is industry's first application server to

combine EJB, XML and JMS 

Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ:PRGS), a leading supplier of application development, deployment and management products, today unveiled its Universal Application Architecture (UAA) development plans for 1999 and beyond. First announced in 1998, UAA now includes the tools and strategic framework required to build new, highly integrated, business-to-business applications that operate on the Internet.

Applications created and deployed within the UAA framework will enable the next generation of electronic commerce: fully automated business-to-business processes between vendors and their partners, suppliers and customers. The enhanced UAA centers on a next generation Apptivity application server code named "Vader," the first application server to combine a component-based programming model, standards-based data interchange and an Internet-resilient business messaging system.

"The 'Vader' release combines market-leading capabilities for developing new applications, transforming existing applications and integrating applications among different businesses over the Internet," said Joseph W. Alsop, founder and president of Progress Software. "These new applications will be either loosely or tightly coupled with both intra- and extra-enterprise applications in order to automate business processes and share information among companies."

In a related announcement, Progress Software also introduced today a new Application Service Provider (ASP) program that allows its 2,000+ independent software vendors (ISVs) to quickly ASP-enable their existing applications and leverage the fast-emerging application rental market. The company's product roadmap delivers equally important capabilities to ASPs, so that they can continually evolve their applications to meet Internet-based business requirements. (Editors, please see separate press release on Business Wire.)

Leading industry analysts agree that integration among business partners is key to a company's prosperity in the Internet age, and that highly-integrated applications provide the framework for success. "For much of this decade, organizations have faced the challenge of integrating internal applications. Now, that process is turning outward. Application integration is spilling across firewalls, across companies," said David Kelly, vice president at Hurwitz Group. "Application server and application development vendors must supply technologies that enable companies to integrate their supply and demand chains across companies to create applications that better serve their customers."

Application Servers Key To UAA Strategy

Application servers are central to UAA and to the next generation of business-to-business applications. Progress Software already holds a leadership position in this market with its current Progress(R) and Apptivity(TM) application servers, which give ISVs and organizations a set of integrated services to develop and deploy reliable, scalable and interoperable business applications.

During the second half of 1999, Progress Software will extend its leadership position with Apptivity "Vader," the first standards-based application server to combine all of the capabilities necessary for developing and deploying fully integrated, Internet-based business-to-business applications. These capabilities include:

--A productive, component-based programming model based on Enterprise Java Beans (EJB);

--XML, the industry standard for flexible, standards-based data exchange. Progress Software's XML implementation will connect multiple component architectures (via object adapters) and disparate business operations (via transformation services) and;

--A network-resilient messaging infrastructure based on the Java Messaging Service (JMS) specification, a publish and subscribe messaging system that guarantees the secure delivery of broadcast information among applications. As part of its JMS strategy, Progress Software's RDBMS engine provides the most cost effective, scalable and reliable message store.

"Most vendors have implemented only one of these technologies within their offerings. The combination of EJB, XML and JMS within one platform makes Apptivity `Vader' the most comprehensive solution for building, deploying and managing applications that automate Internet-based business-to-business operations," Alsop noted.

Future versions of Apptivity "Vader" will provide native support for Progress(R) 4GL(TM) application logic, further extending the capabilities of some 5,000 existing Progress-based applications developed by ISVs to include a universal, highly-integrated architecture that drives Internet-based operations. At that time, the existing Progress(R) Open AppServer(TM) will merge with Apptivity "Vader" to form a single, unified application server.

"Industry analysts estimate the market for application integration products and services will reach $1 billion within the next year. It's becoming increasingly important that applications talk to each other, inside and beyond the enterprise," said David McGoveran, founder and chairman of the Enterprise Integration Council (www.eicouncil.org), an industry association promoting enterprise application integration. "By adopting XML, a key industry integration standard, for its application development architecture, Progress Software will enable the quick migration of more than 5,000 business applications to highly integrated, Web-based applications, which will ease the path to automated business processes."

In addition to the application server, the UAA product set includes application management products and an embedded database that delivers high functionality and low total cost of ownership.

Internet Software Quality Products Monitor Health, Performance and Overall Availability of Internet Applications

Progress Software's Internet Software Quality (ISQ) products, first introduced in 1998, are focused on measuring Internet application performance, availability and recoverability. Progress Software plans to deliver additional ISQ products in 1999 specifically tuned for business-to-business applications on the Internet, including: an early warning system for monitoring the Progress(R) RDBMS(TM); and an e-commerce-focused, end-to-end transaction monitoring product that automatically monitors and measures the performance of transactions--from the client through the application server and the database. Ultimately, these products will allow IT managers to constantly gauge the health and availability of their Internet-based business applications and avoid costly downtime.

Highly Scalable Progress RDBMS Powers High-Transaction Business Applications

Just as application servers from Progress Software help deploy applications over the Internet, the Progress RDBMS delivers the robust scalability and reliability for managing highly distributed data. Together, application servers and embedded databases create a powerful combination for deploying future business applications.

Recently, Dataquest, a division of the Gartner Group, recognized the Progress RDBMS as the leading embedded database. With its 125,000 transactions per minute capability and lowest total cost of ownership in the industry, the Progress RDBMS provides the power and flexibility to handle the demands of Internet-based applications. In the second half of 1999, Progress Software will further extend its embedded database lead with the introduction of a Progress RDBMS with enhanced SQL capabilities designed to support both Progress and non-Progress development.

About Progress Software

Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ:PRGS) is a global supplier of software products and services for developing, deploying and managing business solutions across all computing and network environments. Our products, which are installed in over 60% of Fortune 100 companies, include application servers, databases, development tools and application management products for Internet/Web, extranet and intranet applications.

Our customers operate in 100 countries, are supported by 1,200 employees worldwide, and deploy annually over $1.5 billion in Progress Software-based applications built by more than 2,000 independent software vendors (ISVs). For more information, visit www.progress.com or [phone].

Progress is a registered trademark of Progress Software Corporation. Apptivity, Open AppServer and other products of Progress Software referenced herein are trademarks of Progress Software Corporation. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.