Press Release

BEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar. 23, 2009-- DataDirect Technologies, the unparalleled leader in data connectivity and mainframe integration and an operating company of Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS), today announced the availability of DataDirect Connect version 6.0. The latest release of the feature-rich suite of 32-bit and 64-bit ODBC drivers offers important new enhancements intended to streamline application development, boost performance and reduce application certification costs with the inclusion of DataDirect^® Bulk Load and DataDirect Application Failover.

With support for all major platforms and popular databases including Oracle, DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase and Informix, DataDirect Connect for ODBC version 6.0 extends its wire protocol design to the PostgreSQL and Greenplum databases providing open source users with reliable, high-performance database connectivity.

A provider of third-party ODBC drivers since the inception of the standard, DataDirect Technologies continues its commitment to superior application development with the introduction of DataDirect Bulk Load. The complete, driver-based implementation delivers the best performance for bulk-load scenarios without the need for database vendor tools or client libraries. With the DataDirect Bulk Load functionality found in DataDirect Connect for ODBC version 6.0, software developers can:

• Load bulk data into a database the fastest way possible through ODBC
• Export data from one database and import it into another
• Perform a variety of bulk operations without having to use or deploy load tools from the database vendor
• Boost the performance of existing batch operations without the need for application code changes

The new DataDirect Application Failover features in DataDirect Connect for ODBC version 6.0 offer enterprise quality failover with no application changes. Solving the mission-critical problem of what happens to an application if access to the database goes down, DataDirect Application Failover provides a consistent, interoperable, database-independent solution for all supported databases. The flexible implementation works with or without expensive data replication or clustering technologies from database vendors to deliver application reliability and uptime and help independent software vendors (ISVs) and corporate IT departments enhance the application user experience.

“Leading software vendors and corporate IT departments use the DataDirect Connect family of drivers to boost product performance and help customers realize advanced functionality out-of-the-box with no application code changes required,” said John Goodson, vice president and general manager for DataDirect Technologies. “During these fiscally challenging times the best-in-class data access and developer features found in the DataDirect Connect for ODBC version 6.0 are certain to help organizations improve programmer productivity, bring products to market faster and reduce customer support burdens.”

DataDirect Connect for ODBC consistently supports the latest implementation of the ODBC specification and offers robust security features including operating system authentication for creating a Single Sign-On environment and Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption to protect critical data. Wire protocol architecture allows the DataDirect Connect for ODBC drivers to deliver the fastest, most scalable and secure application connections to relational databases. By removing the need for database client-library software, time consuming and complicated deployment issues related to installing and maintaining different versions of the client software for different databases, database versions and operating systems are eliminated.

“To achieve stable, reliable and secure data access, we opted to embed standards-based drivers from DataDirect Technologies into the latest release of the StreamServe Persuasion product,” said Petter Eriksson, vice president of engineering for StreamServe, Inc. “DataDirect Technologies’ reputation for excellence, longevity and solid technical relationships with major database vendors made them the easy choice.”

Other notable features found in DataDirect Connect for ODBC version 6.0 include advanced connection pooling inside each driver vs. the driver manager. Unlike other ODBC connection pooling tools available, DataDirect Technologies’ unique implementation requires no application code changes to use the feature and provides a variety of options for monitoring, managing and tuning the pool itself. For a complete listing of all features found in DataDirect Connect for ODBC version 6.0 visit http://www.datadirect.com/products/odbc/index.ssp

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^TM 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.

Source: DataDirect Technologies

US Press
DataDirect Technologies
April Harned, 646-246-0484
april.harned@datadirect.com
or
UK Press
Strive Public Relations
Sherrilynne Starkie, +44 (0) 1624 613434
sherrilynne@strivepr.com