REMINDER/Progress Software and Sonic Software Present Strategy for Continued Growth at Needham Investor Event.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

REMINDER...for Thursday (Jan. 8)

BEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 31, 2003

Co-Founder and CEO Joseph W. Alsop and Sonic Software President Greg O'Connor Speak at Sixth Annual Needham Growth Conference

Progress Software Corporation (Nasdaq: PRGS), a supplier of leading technology to develop, deploy, integrate, and manage business applications, today announced that Joseph W. Alsop, Co-Founder and CEO of Progress Software (PSC), and Greg O'Connor, President of Sonic Software, an independent operating company of PSC, will present at the Sixth Annual Needham Growth Conference. The conference will be taking place in New York City on January 6-9, 2004.

Progress Software has reported ten straight quarters of year-over-year revenue growth and eight straight quarters of year-over-year net income growth. Alsop will discuss the product and business strategy underlying this success, including PSC's growing focus on integration and data connectivity, particularly the recent acquisition of DataDirect Technologies (www.progress.com). O'Connor will discuss how the enterprise service bus (ESB) pioneered by Sonic, an emerging high-growth segment of the enterprise integration market, is changing the economics of integration. O'Connor will outline how Sonic customers are using the Sonic ESB and the Sonic Business Integration Suite to cost effectively integrate applications and orchestrate business processes across the extended enterprise.

Following are details for attending this joint presentation:

WHAT:

Co-presentation for investors by PSC Co-Founder and CEO Joseph W.

Alsop and Sonic Software President Greg O'Connor

WHEN:

11:30 a.m. (EST), Thursday, January 8, 2004

WHERE:

Sixth Annual Needham Growth Conference

The New York Palace Hotel (Holmes 1)

455 Madison Avenue 

New York City, NY 10022

[phone]

PSC's presentation with supporting materials will be accessible via Webcast located on the "Investors & Press" section of the company's Web site, www.progress.com/investors.

About Sonic Software Corporation

Sonic Software provides the first comprehensive business integration suite built on an enterprise service bus (ESB). The Sonic product line delivers a distributed, standards-based, cost-effective, easily managed infrastructure that reliably integrates applications and orchestrates business processes across the extended enterprise.

Sonic is the world's fastest growing integration and middleware company and counts global leaders among over 500 customers in financial services, energy, telecommunications and manufacturing. Sonic is an independent operating company of Progress Software Corporation (Nasdaq: PRGS), a $300 million software industry leader. Headquartered in Bedford, Mass., Sonic Software can be reached on the Web at www.sonicsoftware.com, or by phone at [phone] or 1-866-GET-SONIC.

About Progress Software Corporation

Progress Software Corporation (PSC) (Nasdaq: PRGS) supplies industry-leading technologies for all aspects of the development, deployment, integration and management of business applications. PSC, headquartered in Bedford, Mass., operates through the Progress Company, Sonic Software Corporation, PeerDirect Corporation, and DataDirect Technologies PSC can be reached at www.progress.com or [phone].

Progress is a registered trademark of Progress Software Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Sonic Software (and design) is a registered trademark of Sonic Software Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Any other trademarks or service marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.