Progress Software Unveils DataDirect Connect Cloud Management Service

By Erin Harrison
Executive Editor, Cloud Computing

As more organizations seek out ways of improving the customer experience and analyzing data to focus on new revenue opportunities, they need highly efficient and performance data connectivity both on-premise and in the cloud.

With this escalating need in mind, Progress Software (News - Alert) Corporation has announced the launch of DataDirect Connect for JDBC 5.1 and DataDirect Connect XE for JDBC 5.1, which are designed to enable fast, secure and scalable connectivity for a broad spectrum of data sources.

The upgraded software is designed to improve performance with enhanced speed and throughput coupled with continued reduction of memory and CPU usage per unit of work, according to Michael Benedict, vice president and business line manager, Progress DataDirect.

“Building high performing applications is an art form, and many developers and business managers don’t realize the significant impact the JDBC driver has on the performance of the application,” Benedict said in a statement. “It also further widens the performance advantage that our drivers provide over others on the market. Enterprise’s using Progress DataDirect connectivity solutions see greater performance, scalability, and reliability – all with increased enterprise security.”

DataDirect JDBC supports cloud databases including Microsoft SQL Azure, IBM (News - Alert) DB2 10.1, IBM DB2 pureScale 9.8, and Microsoft SQL Server 2012. Improved drivers handle communications and memory usage in a way that results in increases in both performance and efficiency.

Memory and CPU usage is reduced overall, while throughput levels are raised, which translates into reduced operating costs, Benedict said.

The new releases of the DataDirect Connect drivers include the following features:

• Cloud database connectivity, with support for the Microsoft (News - Alert) SQL Azure database, enabling efficient SQL access to Microsoft’s relational database service in the cloud.
• Expanded database coverage, with advanced support and certification: IBM DB2 10.1 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows, including SQL enhancements and support for Time Travel Queries; IBM DB2 pureScale 9.8; and Microsoft SQL Server 2012, including SQL enhancements and protocol upgrade.
• Expanded native database security for Oracle (News - Alert) Advanced Security (OAS), including support for 10 additional encryption algorithms.

Earlier this month, Progress Software Corporation announced that executive chairman Phil Pead, has been named the company’s interim CEO, effective November 2, 2012. Pead replaces Jay Bhatt, who left the company to pursue another leadership position.

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