Progress Software Aims To Simply SaaS for ISVs 
Progress Software is working on a new portal that will help ISVs take the cost, complexity and aggravation out of moving applications to the cloud. Progress Arcade, a rich cloud-based portal of services, will simplify testing, demonstrating and deploying applications as cloud-based SaaS offerings for apps using Progress’ OpenEdge database.
Progress Software is working on a new portal that will help ISVs take the cost, complexity and aggravation out of moving applications to the cloud. Progress Arcade, a rich cloud-based portal of services, will simplify testing, demonstrating and deploying applications as cloud-based SaaS offerings for apps using Progress’ OpenEdge database.
Progress Arcade will provide devs and ISVs capabilities to test, demonstrate, and deploy their cloud-enabled applications built on Progress’ OpenEdge SaaS platform. The portal will house a range of educational resources for moving applications to the cloud, including best practices, white papers and step-by-step lab exercises.
“Progress has more than 2,500 software partners using OpenEdge for their applications, and they will now have some very powerful ways to move their businesses to the cloud,” Colleen Smith, Vice President of SaaS for Progress Software, told IDN. In her post, Smith is responsible for developing Progress’ SaaS strategy, marketing initiatives, and assisting application partners and ISVs execute their SaaS business.
“For all the discussion of the cloud, getting from the initial idea to a real SaaS offering can still be a big challenge for many smaller and mid-sized firms, “Smith said. “So, our goal with Progress Arcade is to help our partners with a comprehensive resource that will address many of the issues that may be holding ISVs back from exploring cloud and SaaS opportunities.”
Progress Arcade will include technical and information resources, including:
- Access to a complete “in the box” integrated SaaS platform
- A public cloud infrastructure sandbox
- A one-stop environment for evaluating Progress products
- A comprehensive list of best practices, whitepapers and technical papers
- A venue for tapping into knowledge from fellow ISVs and cloud experts
Beyond technology assistance, Progress Arcade will also help ISVs explore the “business” impact of the cloud, Smith told IDN. “It’s not always apparent what the best go-to-market strategy, pricing structure or business model is for cloud offerings,” she said. “So, Progress Arcade will also offer a community of other experts for asking questions and sharing ideas.”
“Progress wants to help ISVs move into SaaS prepared with technical expertise and an appropriate business plan,” Smith said. “And that includes technical, business, and even sales and marketing.”
“Our goal with Progress Arcade is to address many of the issues that may be holding ISVs back from exploring cloud and SaaS opportunities.”
Colleen Smith
Vice President of SaaS
Progress Software
Progress’ Other Recent SaaS-Enablement Offerings
Progress Arcade will be the latest SaaS-enablement offering from the company.
Earlier this year, Progress rolled out its OpenEdge SaaS platform certified for use in Amazon EC2, which features encryption to allow ISVs to include encryption in their cloud-based applications without complex coding.
Also this year, Progress enhanced OpenEdge’s multi-tenancy support to cloud-enable some very key database functionality including queries, indexes, sequences, and storage of tenant data. Further, the capability will support reporting for multiple clients from within the cloud. OpenEdge also gained encryption support with TDE (Transparent Data Encryption), which encrypts data on a disk, whether the data is in the database, a backup, or a binary dump. The data stays encrypted throughout its lifecycle using industry-standard encryption libraries. TDE adheres to payment card industry data security standards, which are important for every company that processes, stores, or transmits credit card information, or any company with a Merchant ID.
Smith said she expects non-OpenEdge ISVs looking for cloud options will find Progress Arcade and OpenEdge SaaS-focused upgrades worth considering. “Our goal is to make it very easy for ISVs to move to the cloud, and we expect our SaaS-enabling options will prove attractive for many ISVs not now using OpenEdge,” she said.
