We’re excited to announce the latest release of Progress® OpenEdge® 11.6 + Mobility, which we’ve packed with powerful and highly requested new features. Here at Progress we’ve been working with our customers and partners for over three decades, and we understand that many have built successful solutions for their business that have been getting the job done for years. While we’re proud of the potential longevity of our software, we also know a simple truth: If you’re not modernizing, you risk falling behind.
A recent report from Gartner revealed that worldwide spending on enterprise application software will grow tremendously over the next five years, with growth projected to be driven primarily by modernization, functional expansion and digital transformation projects. This year's growth will be 7.5% to nearly $150 billion, and it will be over $201 billion in 2019. If you're not thinking about this and how to offer a better experience to your customers and users, it's time to start, because increasingly your competitors are.
Technology has moved forward in a number of ways in recent years—it’s not just about faster processing speed these days. At Progress, we envision a digital transformation that harnesses the engaging experience users crave, the versatility of the cloud and business analytics. At the same time, businesses must break down barriers and be able to collaborate across their organization, the developer community and their customers. These are all key elements that a modern company needs to focus on to stay relevant.
There are many ways to approach these issues, and business leaders know that they face unique challenges and want solutions that work for their needs. We’ve made it our mission to deliver a comprehensive suite of digital business software, from rules engines to data connectivity to UX tools and more. The latest release of OpenEdge builds on our strong foundation of applications, allowing you to extend and enhance existing apps to seamlessly take advantage of the newest capabilities. Progress is proud of our reputation for support, and no matter the solution you need or the approach you start with, we’re right here to support your digital business transformation.
The list of upgrades stemming from our latest release is a long one. Enhanced WebSpeed means your existing WebSpeed apps can now be migrated to the Progress Pacific Application Server (PAS) for OpenEdge, improving performance and server scalability. Security is strengthened by the latest TLS (Transport Layer Security) and other security standards, minimizing your risks and supporting a foundation for PCI compliance. With our new custom install utility, you can create a tailored installation image, reducing your footprint and increasing efficiency. SQL improvements bring optimized performance for OpenEdge Analytics360 and the OpenEdge RDBMS.
We’ve also been engaging with our community. Top requested upgrades like an application performance profile, OO support for enumerations and reflections, and more have been added as a direct result of community feedback. The new OpenEdge Developers Kit: Classroom Edition will increase awareness of the OpenEdge Platform and bring in a new audience of students and future entrepreneurs.
Another compelling aspect of this release is the ability to extend your apps with the new Telerik Platform for OpenEdge, which enables you to take your operation—including all your current data—into the mobile world. There’s no better time to start building engaging business applications and modernizing your business. Don’t wait until your customers have moved on or you’ve missed opportunities, because you know your competitors won’t.
We look forward to helping guide you through this process and any questions you may have. You can read more about the improvements here, and as always, we welcome you to contact us at any time.
Tanya O’Connor
Tanya O’Connor is a former senior director of product marketing at Progress.