This December will mark the 10 year anniversary of DataDirect being acquired by Progress Software.  During this time, Progress DataDirect R&D has developed wire protocol technology for OpenEdge ODBC and JDBC drivers enabling premium standards based data connectivity.   This really opened up the world to Progress Application Partner (AP) data from recognized organizations such as CSC, EMC, Eclipse, EDS, Epicor, Fiserv, IBM, Infor, HP, Microsoft, NEC, Software AG, QAD, Apprise Software, ASA Tire, Bluebird Auto Rental Systems, Business Management Systems (BMS), York, proAlpha, MobileTec, Skyward, SNEDA, Supercorp and more.

What else is DataDirect doing for OpenEdge Application Partners

As a Systems Engineer for DataDirect, my team has recently been engaged with several OpenEdge Application Partners to talk data connectivity beyond the existing ODBC/JDBC connectivity built by DataDirect.  Progress has an ecosystem of more than 2,000 Partners supporting more than 4,000 applications with 6 million+ users, so you know this data is important and needs to easily flow throughout every enterprise.

Here are the top use cases for expanded SQL data access (ODBC,JDBC.ADO.NET,OLEDB)

1. Direct SQL access to Advanced Business Logic (ABL)

This has been the most common use case to date among OpenEdge Partners.  DataDirect OpenAccess provides OpenEdge Partners SQL access and security to the business logic (ProDataSets,temp tables, etc) rather than the physical database schema.

You may be asking why??  Coins Global says it better than anyone with their Business Intelligence & Reporting Application Adapter (built on OpenAccess):

Security - No matter how a user accesses coins data, security is applied through the Business Logic layer, to menus, functions, contracts, GL accounts, cost heads, etc. Validation - The Business Logic layer ensures that standard coins validation is carried out on any data transaction, no matter what the source. Calculated Data - The key to the power of coins Business Intelligence (BI) and Reporting tools, the Business Logic layer provides access to calculated and summarised information without the need to incorporate complex queries and logic into the reports themselves.

Read the case study for complete details.

In addition, this approach can significantly improve performance from query tools since the ABL does the heavy lifting for complex joins as described above.

2. Model your OpenEdge schema without ETL

DataDirect OpenAccess provides the ability to model your physical database schema to be more friendly to reporting and analytics.  The existing schema may be highly normalized and less intuitive to business intelligence and data warehousing professionals that develop solutions based on SQL metadata.   Further, easy SQL access for business analysts is critical for self service data visualization and discovery tools such as Tableau, Qlikview, Tibco Spotfire, Microstrategy Visual Insight, SAP Lumira, SAS Visual Analytics, IBM Cognos Insight, etc.  We also hear a lot of Progress shops running Actuate BIRT.

You can also eliminate an ETL step for clients running SSIS to extract data into SQL Server, for example. Get one version of the truth!

3. Extend OLEDB and ADO.NET support

We have heard the most interest in getting ADO.NET access to OpenEdge data, and DataDirect OpenAccess extends ODBC, JDBC, ADO.NET and OLEDB clients for complete data connectivity.

4. Expose XML, JSON data through JDBC

ABL has rich capabilities including XML and JSON methods to return data.  DataDirect OpenAccess connects directly to the business logic exposing those methods; and providing XML, JSON data exchange through a SQL interface, such as JDBC.

5. Expose virtualized data from disparate OpenEdge and non-OpenEdge sources such as Oracle and SQL Server using DataServers

This is also possible by accessing the ABL layer using DataDirect OpenAccess, and helpful for shops executing on the growing operational business intelligence trend.  The end result for your customers is an unrivaled data federation capability similar to SQL Server Linked Server and Oracle Database Gateways that comes out of the box WITHOUT additional configuration or having to physically move data from disparate sources.  Again, one version of the truth.

6. Provide multi-tenancy to hosted applications

While OpenEdge 11 leads the database market in multi-tenant architecture, what about hosted versions of OpenEdge and Progress prior to version 11?  Watch a video on how easy this can be done using DataDirect OpenAccess.

7. 64-bit ODBC access to Progress 9.x, 8.x

Ever get asked for 64-bit ODBC access to Progress 9.x, 8.x data sources?  DataDirect SequeLink can help extend 64-bit ODBC clients since only 32-bit ODBC drivers were available for Progress 9.x, 8.x databases.

Moving your OpenEdge application to the cloud?

Learn more about how DataDirect can provide a complete data access strategy to prevent blocking adoption of your hosted solution.  Leave no customer behind.

How can we predict what your clients will ask for next?

Will they ask to connect to your OpenEdge data from Ab Initio, DataStage, Informatica, SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), SAP Data Services, Oracle Data Integrator, Teradata Parallel Transporter, Talend, Pentaho Data Integrator, Business Objects, Cognos, Oracle OBIEE, Microstrategy, Pentaho, JasperSoft, SSRS, Tableau, Qlikview, Spotfire, Crystal Reports, SQL Server Linked Server, Oracle Database Gateway, Sybase ECDA, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, Unica Campaign Affinium, Toad, DB Visualizer, CA Erwin, WinSQL, Aqua Data Studio, SAS, SPSS, or something else?

We have 20 years of running data to help answer your question by industry vertical and company size.

Getting started

Contact your OpenEdge account manager today to schedule a learning session with your dedicated team of system engineers.