Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS), a global software company that simplifies and enables the development and deployment of business applications, today announced the new Progress® OpenEdge® 11.2 cloud application development platform, featuring the cloud-based OpenEdge Mobile App Builder product.

A recent study of enterprise IT organizations worldwide, conducted by independent market research firm Vanson Bourne and sponsored by Progress Software, found many organizations are planning to connect end-users with enterprise approved mobile applications – thereby bridging an ”App Gap”. However, many of these organizations anticipate the need to address potential roadblocks, including security risks, additional investment required and the need for ongoing support.

Officially launched at the Progress Software Global Partner Conference taking place this week in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Progress OpenEdge Mobile App Builder product will help organizations bridge the app gap by allowing independent software vendors (ISVs) and developers to “write once, run anywhere,” providing a quick and easy way to get applications up and running on all mobile operating systems, including iOS and Android. It also allows developers to continuously and efficiently update applications as the mobile market evolves and new devices are introduced. The OpenEdge Mobile App Builder product provides a highly productive, simplified development experience from start to finish enabling end-user access to critical business applications using multiple mobile devices.

More than 1,400 ISVs actively build their business applications based on the award-winning Progress OpenEdge platform and there are hundreds of applications based on the OpenEdge platform running in the Cloud.

The OpenEdge Mobile App Builder product is fully integrated with the Progress OpenEdge backend, eliminating the need for developers to recreate existing services. This also provides an optimized development environment for transactional applications.

New OpenEdge 11.2 platform features include:

• Mobility Capabilities: Visual Designer and UI toolkit for phone and tablet applications, REST support for the OpenEdge application server, JavaScript Data Binding support libraries, and write-once, run anywhere support for iOS and Android;
• Productivity and Performance Improvements: Session-level Structured Error Handling, improved performance for AppServer invocations, support for SQL offset/fetch statements, Progress Developer Studio: Scratch Editor, and sub-Second PAUSE support for Processes from ABL; and
• Added Platform Support: Windows 8, SQL Servers 2012 certification and Eclipse 3.7 support.

Supporting Quotes:

Mike West, vice president and Distinguished Analyst, Saugatuck Technology: “Through 2017, a majority of Cloud business solutions for the enterprise, whether SaaS or in-house developed, will be designed to enable mobile access and interaction. A mobile development platform -- such as in Progress Open Edge 11.2 -- is the most reliable way to ensure the productive development and ongoing enhancement of mobile solutions across multiple platforms.”

Giles Willey, president, Vermont Systems (VSI): “As a leader in parks and recreation software, VSI is committed to providing our more than 1,100 customers around the world with leading capabilities. Many of our solutions, by their nature, require secure mobile access. As a Progress Software partner, we have extensive expertise with the OpenEdge platform. The new OpenEdge features will help us maximize our development time and resources, get solutions to market faster, and provide customers with the confidence that their applications will be ready for whatever is next in mobile technology.”

Karen Tegan Padir, senior vice president and business line executive: “Application Development for Progress: “More than 4 million people use applications built on the OpenEdge platform and mobile access is now a requirement rather than a convenience. We’re delivering a platform that takes the complexity out of mobile application development without losing the seamless tie to our OpenEdge platform, which helps our ISV partners and developers bring apps to market quickly.”

Additional Resources:

Forrester Research, Inc. White Paper: Designing mobile apps from the outside in

Blog Post: Mobility changes the shape of app development

Blog Post: 5 reasons customers want mobility

Nucleus Research: Guidebook for OE

Blog Post: OpenEdge 11.2 ESAP – A Quick Tour

About Progress Software Corporation

Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS) simplifies the development, deployment and management of business applications on-premise or on any Cloud, on any platform and on any device with minimal IT complexity and low total cost of ownership. Progress Software can be reached at www.progress.com or 1-781-280-4000.

Follow Progress Software on Twitter: @ProgressSW

Progress and OpenEdge are trademarks or registered trademarks of Progress Software Corporation or one of its subsidiaries or affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Any other names contained herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.