Progress Software
Progress Software Corporation is an American public company that produces software for creating and deploying business applications. Founded in Burlington, Massachusetts, with offices in 16 countries, the company posted revenues of $753 million (USD) in 2024.
 | |
| Formerly | Data Language Corporation |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| Nasdaq: PRGS S&P 600 Component | |
| Industry | Computer software |
| Founded | 1981 |
| Founder | Charles Ziering Clyde Kessel Joseph Alsop Mary Davis  |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Key people | Yogesh Gupta (president & CEO) |
| Revenue | US$753 million (2024) |
Number of employees | 2,815[1] |
| Subsidiaries | Ipswitch (as of May 1, 2019)[2] |
| Website | www.progress.com |
Progress Software Corporation is an American public company that produces software for creating and deploying business applications. Founded in Burlington, Massachusetts, with offices in 16 countries, the company posted revenues of $753 million (USD) in 2024.[3]
History
[edit]1980s: DLC to Progress Software
[edit]Progress Software was co-founded by several MIT graduates, including Joseph W. Alsop, Clyde Kessel, and Chip Ziering in 1981.[4] Originally called Data Language Corporation (DLC), the company changed its name to Progress Software in 1987, the same name of its main product, Progress.
1990s: Public company
[edit]In 1991, Progress Software joined the NASDAQ.
2000s: Broad expansion
[edit]In 2002, Progress Software acquired Stylus Studio developer eXcelon Corporation for approximately $24 million.[5] In 2003, Progress Software acquired DataDirect Technologies for $88 million.[6] In 2004, Progress Software acquired Persistence Software for $16 million.[7] In 2005, Progress acquired complex event processing company Apama.[8] In January 2006, Progress Software acquired Actional Corporation.[9] In 2006, Progress Software acquired Neon Systems, a company specializing in modernizing 3270 applications.[10][11]
In 2008, Progress Software acquired Xcalia, a data integration company, and Mindreef, which developed SOAPscope products. In September 2008, Progress acquired IONA Technologies, developer of service-oriented architecture platforms Artix and Orbix, for $146 million.[12][13]
2010s: Focusing and rebranding
[edit]In 2010, Progress Software acquired business process management vendor Savvion Inc.[14][15] In April 2011, Progress Software sold its SWIFT integration product "ADS" (formally Iona's "Artix Data Services") to C24 Technologies Ltd. The product was re-branded to its former name "Integration Objects".
In 2012, Progress announced its shift to become a much more narrowly focused specialist vendor, looking to sell or decommission most of its existing products.[16][17] In June 2012, the company sold its open source division FuseSource, which was spun out from the IONA business in October 2010, to Red Hat.[18] In October 2012, Progress Software sold the brands Sonic, Savvion, Actional and DataXtend (DXSI) to Trilogy which created the company Aurea Software.[19] In December 2012, the Orbix, Orbacus and Artix product lines were sold to Micro Focus International for $15 million.[20]
In 2013, Progress Software acquired Rollbase Inc.[21] and Software AG acquired Apama activities from Progress Software.[22] In 2014, Progress acquired Cincinnati-based Modulus.[23] Also in 2014, Progress acquired Telerik, a provider of application development tools.[24][25] In 2019, Progress Software acquired Ipswitch, Inc., an IT management vendor known for its MOVEit managed file transfer platform.[26][27]
In May 2016, Progress Software re-branded as "Progress" in an effort to "shed any doubts it was not living up to its name".[28]
2020s: Targeted expansion
[edit]In 2020, Progress Software announced the acquisition of Chef Software Inc., the developers of the Chef configuration management tool. The acquisition was completed by October 2020.[29][30][31] In 2021, Progress Software acquired Kemp Technologies, who build load balancing products.[32] The acquisition was completed on November 1, 2021.[33] In 2023, Progress Software acquired database vendor MarkLogic Corporation.[34] In 2024, Progress Software acquired ShareFile from Cloud Software.[35] The acquisition was completed on October 31, 2024. In 2025, Progress Software acquired Nuclia, a provider of agentic Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technology.[36]
Products
[edit]The Progress portfolio includes solutions for enterprise integration, data interoperability, and application development, including Software as a Service (SaaS) enablement and delivery.
Current products
[edit]- Sitefinity[37] – web content management.
- Sitefinity Insight – a customer data platform (CDP), seamlessly integrated with the CMS enabling customer journey analysis, personalization, and optimization.
- NativeChat – an AI platform for creating and deploying chatbots.[38]
- Corticon[39] – business rules engine.
- Kendo UI – UI toolkit for web development.[40]
- Telerik – UI tools for .NET development.[41]
- Test Studio[42] – test automation.
- Fiddler Everywhere
- DataDirect Connectors[43] – connectors to integrate data across relational, big data and cloud databases.
- DataDirect Hybrid Data Pipeline[44] – hybrid connectivity to data in the cloud or on-premises.
Data breaches
[edit]In 2023, a security vulnerability in Progress-owned file transfer software MOVEit was exploited in a data breach affecting various companies and government organizations.[46] A running total maintained by cybersecurity company Emsisoft showed that more than 2,500 organizations were known to have been impacted as of October 25, 2023 with more than 80 percent of those organizations being US-based.[47] The cybercriminal organization Clop was alleged to have been partially responsible for the attacks,[48] and claimed responsibility for breaches of 1st Source, the BBC, British Airways, the New York City Department of Education,[49] Putnam Investments, and Shell among others.[50][51]
References
[edit]- ^ "Progress Software Corporation - Annual Report 2024" (PDF). Retrieved December 30, 2025.
- ^ "Progress Completes Acquisition of Ipswitch, Inc". Progress Software Corporation. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
- ^ "Progress Software Revenue 2010-2025 | PRGS". www.macrotrends.net. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
- ^ "MIT-Related Companies with 10,000 Employees or More". Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on March 23, 2007. Retrieved April 2, 2007.
- ^ Service, Scarlet Pruitt, IDG News (October 21, 2002). "Progress buys XML tool maker eXcelon". Computerworld. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "SEC Form 8-K: Progress Software Corporation". United States Securities and Exchange Commission. December 5, 2003.
- ^ "PROGRESS SOFTWARE CORPORATION TO ACQUIRE PERSISTENCE SOFTWARE TO ACCELERATE GROWTH OF OBJECTSTORE OPERATING COMPANY". bobsguide. September 28, 2004. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
- ^ "Progress Software acquires algorithmic technology vendor Apama". Finextra Research. April 7, 2005. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
- ^ Gardner, W. David (January 1, 2006). "Progress Software acquires Actional for US$32 million". itnews.com.au. Archived from the original on September 17, 2006. Retrieved April 2, 2007.
- ^ "Progress Software Acquires NEON Systems". March 23, 2006. Archived from the original on February 23, 2012.
- ^ "Progress Software Corporation to Acquire NEON Systems Creating Unparalleled Data Connectivity Leader". Finanzen.net. December 20, 2005. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
- ^ Phelan, Andrew (June 26, 2008). "Trinity boys sell college firm for $162m". Irish Independent. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
- ^ eWeek Wed, 25 June 2008
- ^ "Progress Software Corporation Acquiring BPM Leader, Savvion Inc. - PC World Australia". PC World. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
- ^ Reading 1/12/2010, News Wire Feed Light. "Progress Buys Savvion". Light Reading. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Empowering Organizations Through Digital Transformation - Progress". Progress.com. Archived from the original on January 14, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
- ^ "John R. Rymer's Blog". blogs.forrester.com. April 29, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
- ^ Morgan, Timothy Prickett (June 28, 2012). "Red Hat snaps up open source SOAer FuseSource". The Register. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
- ^ "Progress Software Announces Agreement to Sell Four Non-Core Product Lines to Investment Arm of Trilogy Enterprises (NASDAQ:PRGS)". investors.progress.com. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
- ^ Micro Focus International plc Archived 4 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine 2012-12-24
- ^ "Progress Software buys a new front-end for its PaaS play". June 12, 2013.
- ^ "Software AG buys complex-event processing technology from Progress". PCWorld. June 13, 2013. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
- ^ "Progress Acquires Modulus; Enables Fast, Scalable Node.js and MongoDB App Development and Deployment (NASDAQ:PRGS)". investors.progress.com. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
- ^ "Progress Completes Acquisition of Telerik and Expands Executive Management Team (NASDAQ:PRGS)". investors.progress.com. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
- ^ "Progress Software Buys Telerik for $262.5M As Buying Spree Continues". October 22, 2014.
- ^ "Progress acquires Ipswitch for $225 million, tops first quarter targets". ZDNet.
- ^ "Progress Completes Acquisition of Ipswitch, Inc".
- ^ Hofherr, Justine (November 8, 2016). "After 35 years, Progress Software introduces a new name and vision". Builtinboston.com. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
- ^ "Progress Announces Acquisition of Chef". Progress. September 8, 2020. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
- ^ "The Fourth Chapter of Chef Has Arrived: Progress to Purchase Chef". Chef Blog. September 8, 2020. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
- ^ "Progress snags software automation platform Chef for $220M". TechCrunch. September 8, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
- ^ Yogesh Gupta (September 23, 2021). "Progress To Acquire Kemp". Progress. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
- ^ "Progress Completes Acquisition of Kemp". Progress. November 1, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
- ^ Yogesh Gupta (January 3, 2023). "Progress to Acquire NoSQL Database Pioneer, MarkLogic". Progress. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
- ^ "Progress Completes Acquisition of ShareFile". Progress. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
- ^ Mellor, Chris (July 3, 2025). "Progress snaps up Nuclia for agentic RAG tech". Blocks and Files. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
- ^ "Progress ups front-end & back-end developer tools - CW Developer Network". www.computerweekly.com.
- ^ Bridgwater, Adrian (March 20, 2018). "Progress Teaches Chatbots To Talk". Forbes. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
- ^ "Progress: Pennsylvania automates IT processes and modernizes human services systems". www.americancityandcounty.com.
- ^ "Progress Adds Support for React and Vue in Newest Release of Kendo UI". September 15, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
- ^ Bridgewater, Adrian (February 9, 2018). "Progress Goes on Louder on React, Xamarin & Fluent – themed design". ComputerWeekly. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
- ^ "Progress Test Studio: Automated Testing Made Easy". Telerik.com.
- ^ "Progress Releases New DataDirect Connector for Apache Cassandra" (Press release). December 12, 2016.
- ^ "Deploying Progress DataDirect Hybrid Data Pipeline on Amazon Lightsail - DZone Big Data". dzone.com.
- ^ "Progress OpenEdge 11.7 Delivers New Capabilities to Strengthen Mission-Critical Business Applications". Database Trends and Applications. April 6, 2017.
- ^ Goodin, Dan (June 5, 2023). "Mass exploitation of critical MOVEit flaw is ransacking orgs big and small". Ars Technica. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
- ^ Simas, Zach (July 18, 2023). "Unpacking the MOVEit Breach: Statistics and Analysis". Emsisoft | Cybersecurity Blog. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
- ^ Service, CISA (June 7, 2023). "CL0P Ransomware Gang Exploits CVE-2023-34362 MOVEit Vulnerability" (PDF). CISA.gov. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
- ^ "Clop ransomware gang obtained personal data of 45,000 New York City students in MOVEit hack". Engadget. June 25, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
- ^ Lyngaas, Sean (June 7, 2023). "Russian-speaking cyber gang claims credit for hack of BBC and British Airways employee data | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
- ^ Page, Carly (June 15, 2023). "Ransomware gang lists first victims of MOVEit mass-hacks, including US banks and universities". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 24, 2023.