Progress Pushes Partner Perks
The Bedford, Mass.-based vendor will offer three new partner programs, one to help ISVs expand into new countries, another to mentor ISVs on their go-to-market plans and an application transformation jump-start program to help ISVs move packaged software to a services architecture, Progress executives said. The news will come at Progress' Exchange 2005 Conference in Orlando, Fla.
NEW AND IMPPROVED FOR ISVs
\
>> Internationalization: Helping ISV partners take their products to new markets.
>> Go-to-market help: One-to-one or one-to-many workshops with partners, depending on their goals.
>> Application transformation jump-start: Methodologies, aid in building new apps or adapting packaged applications to SOAs.
>> Categories: Segmenting partners into technology, services, reselling spaces.
David Richard, vice president of IT at FARA Business Systems, a Mandeville, La., insurance application ISV, said his company uses Progress' 4gl language and database. "There's an opportunity—they alone can't bring a solution to the table, but together we can attack these markets," he said.
Product focus at the show will be on the upcoming OpenEdge 10.1 release and that toolset's ability to expedite transitions to services-oriented architectures, said Jeff Clark, director of product marketing.
Rod Anderson, CTO of Purple Cactus, a specialty retail ISV, said Progress tools effectively straddle the Microsoft/non-Microsoft divide. And he said his business has benefited from Progress consultants' advice. Progress has also underwritten some of his costs.
Observers laud Progress for focusing on products and channels, rather than hype. "From a balance sheet perspective, Progress is stunning," said Gartner analyst Joanne Correia. It has also made smart buys to fill in its stack. Progress CEO Joe Alsop "knows his stuff," she said.