Press Release

BEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 13, 2009-- DataDirect Technologies, the unparalleled leader in data connectivity and mainframe integration and an operating company of Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS), today announced that it has qualified to receive the NorthFace ScoreBoard Award^SM from Omega Management Group Corp. The award is presented annually to companies who, as rated by their own customers, achieved excellence in customer satisfaction during the prior calendar year. DataDirect Technologies’ SupportLink^SM Technical Services Program is an eight-time winner of this prestigious award.

“Receiving this award year-after-year underscores DataDirect Technologies’ commitment to superior customer service and dedication to maintaining a world-class support organization for the thousands of corporate IT departments and leading independent software vendors (ISVs) we call customers,” said Carol Esau, vice president worldwide SupportLink. “In a down economy when resources are thin and return-on-investment critical, DataDirect Technologies’ support organization is there to ensure customers get the most from our products.”

Established in 2000, the NorthFace ScoreBoard Award measures overall customer satisfaction and recognizes organizations for excellence in product quality, service, training and account management. Omega’s methodology is comprehensive, measuring customer satisfaction levels on a 5.0 scale at least twice during the year. Award recipients are those who, based on survey responses from their own end users, achieved a 4.0 or above in the categories measured. This year, more than 200 projects, many international in scope, were judged from 75 companies based in the U.S. and abroad. The majority of companies are repeat recipients, which shows that, despite the tough economy, implementing a Customer Experience Management (CEM) strategy is a reliable, proven way to achieve business success.

“Due to its unique customer-only vote criteria, the NorthFace ScoreBoard Award has been viewed from its inception as the only true objective benchmark for recognizing excellence in customer service,” said John Alexander Maraganis, president and CEO of Omega. “Our research indicates that companies like DataDirect Technologies that consistently achieve a 4.0 rating or above year-after-year are succeeding in locking in profitable, long-term customer relationships.”

DataDirect Customers Talk Service

Patrick Langlais, president of Kleinmundo Solutions, a provider of data transformation and automation technology and services for the legal market and a new DataDirect customer shares:

“We’re extreme about customer service. It’s absolutely critical that we get excellent customer service from our technology partners, because that’s something that can make or break our own ability to provide the level of service we give our customers. From environment set-up to best practices, DataDirect delivered support in a timely and helpful manner. I would recommend DataDirect Technologies without hesitation.”

Wayman Ka, director of application development at the technology consulting firm, Corporate Network Services, explains his engagement with DataDirect customer, The Resource Network:

“The Resource Network implementation required a great deal of creativity. DataDirect Technologies’ support team worked with me so closely I was on a first-name basis with many of their members.”

Omega will formally present the NorthFace ScoreBoard Award during ceremonies at the annual SCORE Conference 2009, being held at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, April 16. This conference is the only event in its industry that explores best practices in developing a loyalty management strategy as well as incorporating such a program within an organization’s many customer-facing operations. For more information, visit www.omegascoreboard.com.

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 SupportLink 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

DataDirect Technologies
April Harned, 646-246-0484
april.harned@datadirect.com