DataDirect Technologies Raises the Standard on Data Connectivity for the .NET Platform

May 16, 2006; 07:02 AM

DataDirect Technologies, a leader in data connectivity and mainframe integration and an operating company of Progress Software Corporation (Nasdaq: PRGS), today introduced the latest version of its DataDirect Connect(R) for ADO.NET data providers enabling developers using the most recent version of Microsoft's .NET development platform to securely, quickly and efficiently access application-critical data from any major database.

Forward-thinking organizations like Lillian Vernon, a pioneer in catalog and online retailing, have been using .NET for some time to increase the speed and reliability of their internally developed software applications. Relying on DataDirect's data-connectivity products to provide the critical link between online customer orders and its warehouse fulfillment operations, the retailer has been able to improve its order-taking processes and the accuracy of the millions of products it ships that require personalization with a monogram, name or special message.

"At Lillian Vernon, we pride ourselves on being able to offer our customers unique products, with free personalization, at a good value," said Elvis Cernjul, director of technical services at Lillian Vernon. "With DataDirect as the conduit for our customer-order transaction data for our .NET applications, we know we are using the best possible connectivity technology to ensure superior reliability, application performance and security - all critical customer-facing qualities that help us to fulfill our mission as a company."

DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET 3.0 meets or exceeds the latest specifications for ADO.NET version 2.0 and has added new functionality as well:

-- Common Programming Model: Now that Microsoft has made generic its connection to databases, DataDirect is the only data connectivity vendor offering a database-independent ADO.NET product suite. This enables seamless interoperability between applications and any major database where critical information resides.

-- Visual Studio 2005 Integration: One of the most popular development tools used to build .NET applications, Visual Studio 2005 provides drag-and-drop, graphically based capabilities to simplify .NET development. Now DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET adds development aids integrated into Visual Studio 2005, further improving developer productivity and software performance in one, easy tool.

-- Metadata Management: Only DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET provides the most extensive level of support for developers to best understand and use their data sources. As ADO.NET 2.0 improves support for metadata management and use, DataDirect continues to provide the most comprehensive support for metadata for Oracle, DB2, Sybase and SQL Server.

"Generally speaking, database vendors offer the bare minimum in terms of data connectivity, and this just isn't enough for large scale, complex applications," said John Goodson, vice president of product operations for DataDirect. "For nearly 20 years, DataDirect has offered data connectivity for the world's most critical business applications and we're very excited about extending our leadership in ADO.NET."

DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET is the industry's only comprehensive suite of ADO.NET data providers built on 100 percent managed code. This unique architecture eliminates dependencies on database vendor client library software and offers enhanced performance, reliability, and security as well as simplifying deployment. The product is available for Oracle, DB2, Sybase, and Microsoft SQL Server databases.

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.