Home:Company:Press Releases:April 17, 2007

DataDirect Technologies Powers Data Connectivity for the Software Industry

More than 300 Leading ISVs Embed DataDirect Technologies' High-Performance Database Drivers for Optimal Data Access and Connectivity to Heterogeneous Systems

BEDFORD, Mass. – April 17, 2007 – DataDirect Technologies, the unparalleled leader in data connectivity and mainframe integration and an operating company of Progress Software Corporation (Nasdaq: PRGS), continues to be the market leading provider of reliable, high-performance data connectivity components for the software industry. DataDirect Connect® database drivers and ADO.NET data providers are used by the world's top independent software vendors (ISVs) and 96 of the Fortune 100. DataDirect Technologies’ products are heavily leveraged throughout the software industry with more than 300 software companies embedding DataDirect components in over 400 commercial products.

Using the IDC research report, "Worldwide Software 2006-2010 Forecast Summary" (Document #203224) published in August 2006 to illustrate DataDirect Technologies' customer-penetration amongst the top software companies globally, the results are staggering. DataDirect customers dominate IDC's market analysis and listings of top 50 worldwide packaged software vendors, application development and deployment software vendors, systems infrastructure software vendors and application software vendors. A breakdown follows:

• Eight of the top 10 worldwide packaged software vendors including; 18 of the top 25 and more than half of the top 50.
• Nine of the top 10 worldwide application development and deployment vendors; 20 of the top 25 and more than half of the top 50.
• Eight of the top 10 worldwide systems infrastructure vendors and 10 of the top 25.
• Eight of the top 10 worldwide application software vendors; 14 of the top 25 and more than half of the top 50.

DataDirect Technologies' leadership in the software industry is underscored by its longstanding customer relationships with industry leaders such as BEA, BMC, Business Objects, CA, IBM, MicroStrategy, SAS and webMethods. All of these companies work with DataDirect to help them better serve their customers with high performance, highly interoperable data connectivity.

DataDirect Technologies' best-of-breed data connectivity components enable fast, reliable flow of information and interoperability between any application, running on any platform and any major database. Built on its unique clientless wire protocol technology, the DataDirect Connect line of ODBC and JDBC™ drivers and ADO.NET data providers enable ISVs unparalleled flexibility and database interoperability. Utilizing DataDirect products, ISVs are able to easily support multiple versions of Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, Sybase, MySQL, Progress, Informix and other databases. In addition, because DataDirect drivers are tested and shipped with the ISV application, proof-of-concepts and customer deployments are simplified because data access is no longer an issue.

"DataDirect Technologies prides itself on being the vendor of choice for the world's leading software companies," said Rick Reidy, president of DataDirect Technologies. “We give our customers the platform and database coverage, performance, and out-of-the-box simplicity that they need. We’re experts in data access, so our customers don’t have to be. They can focus on building great products for their customers with the confidence that when it comes time to connect to the database, it will just work.”

About DataDirect Technologies

DataDirect Technologies is the software industry's only comprehensive provider of software for connecting the world's most critical business applications to data and services, running on any platform, using proven and emerging standards. Developers worldwide depend on DataDirect® products to connect their applications to an unparalleled range of data sources using standards-based interfaces such as ODBC, JDBC and ADO.NET, XQuery and SOAP. More than 300 leading independent software vendors and thousands of enterprises rely on DataDirect Technologies to simplify and streamline data connectivity for distributed systems and to reduce the complexity of mainframe integration. DataDirect Technologies is an operating company of Progress Software Corporation (Nasdaq: PRGS). For more information, visit www.datadirect.com.

DataDirect and DataDirect Connect are trademarks or registered trademarks of Progress Software Corporation or one of its subsidiaries or affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Java and all Java based marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Any other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.