Initiate Systems Standardizes on DataDirect Technologies' 64-Bit ODBC Database Drivers for Superior Performance and Reliability

Business Wire, June 13, 2007

Industry's Most Comprehensive Suite of ODBC Drivers for 64-Bit Applications Significantly Reduces Development Costs and Simplifies Customer Installations for Immediate Return on Investment

BEDFORD, Mass. -- DataDirect Technologies, the leader in data connectivity and mainframe integration and an operating company of Progress Software Corporation (Nasdaq: PRGS), today announced that Initiate Systems Inc., a leading international provider of customer-centric master data management solutions, has standardized on the DataDirect Connect64[R] for ODBC product to reduce development costs and eliminate data connectivity problems caused by home-grown solutions and changes to native database drivers.

The DataDirect Connect64 for ODBC product is a comprehensive suite of highly scalable ODBC drivers with support for major databases including Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, DB2, Sybase and Informix. DataDirect Connect64 for ODBC drivers enable developers to take full advantage of the scalability and performance gains of 64-bit applications with equally powerful database connectivity.

Initiate's customer-centric master data management software and services are used by customers with multiple versions of leading databases running on a variety of platforms including Linux, AIX, Solaris and Windows. To access the ODBC layer, Initiate Systems relied on a variety of proprietary and vendor-supplied ODBC drivers. This approach proved problematic as vendor-supplied drivers changed, causing Initiate to retest and recertify new versions. Furthermore, Initiate customers often had trouble identifying and installing the correct driver, resulting in system downtime and increased support costs. To avoid further loss of valuable development and QA time, Initiate sought a standard solution for ODBC database connectivity.

"DataDirect Technologies' ODBC drivers provided the technology we needed to replace our old mix of database drivers with a single, consistent solution," said David Wilkinson, vice president of engineering at Initiate Systems. "This reduced our development costs, simplified customer installations, and eliminated problems caused by database versioning, freeing the development team to concentrate on our core business and meeting the needs of our customers."

Built on the market-leading technology of its 32-bit predecessor, the DataDirect Connect64 for ODBC product uses the same wire protocol design that eliminates the need for database client libraries - simplifying installation and administration while improving performance. With longstanding technical relationships with major database vendors, DataDirect Technologies is able to maintain a deep understanding of product direction, new features and release schedules, ensuring that its data connectivity products keep with the latest database versions and features - including added support for Oracle 10g R2, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and Sybase 15.

"DataDirect gives our customers the broadest set of platform, database and chipset support available anywhere," said John Goodson, vice president of product operations for DataDirect Technologies. "As more software vendors and enterprises look to reap the advantages of 64-bit platforms, DataDirect is there to offer the most sophisticated and best performing architecture for 64-bit data access. Combined with our award winning technical support, this is an unbeatable offering for customers."

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([R]) 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 DataDirect Technologies Corp. 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.

About Initiate Systems

Initiate Systems, Inc. is the leading provider of customer-centric master data management solutions for companies and government agencies that want to create the most complete, real-time views of people, households and organizations from data dispersed across multiple application systems and databases. Initiate Identity Hub[TM] software is more accurate, scalable, rapidly deployed and widely used than any other solution. Many organizations in the financial services, government, healthcare, hospitality and retail sectors are using Initiate[TM] software to deliver the right data at the right time to all critical touch points. Initiate Systems' proven experience makes it uniquely qualified to enable strategic initiatives that allow organizations to increase revenue and efficiency and reduce operating costs and risks. Initiate Systems operates globally through its subsidiaries, with corporate headquarters in Chicago and offices across the U.S., a Canadian office in Toronto, an EMEA office in London and a Pacific Rim office in Sydney. For more information, visit www.initiatesystems.com.