Progress in Forbes 200 Best Small Companies list second year running

Progress Software has been recognised as one of the 200 Best Small Companies by Forbes magazine.

Progress, the only Massachusetts-based software company or application infrastructure provider on the list, moved up 28 spots to number 148 this year.

According to the October issue of Forbes, the companies on this year's list are "small, but growing, businesses designed to survive the ups and downs of market volatility".

Other leading public companies making the list include Idexx Laboratories, Noegen, Interactive Data, Micros Systems and Tetra Technologies. The entire Forbes 200 Best Small Companies list can be viewed online at: http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/23/biz_06200best_The-200-Best-Small-Companies_Company.html.

The annual Forbes 200 Best Small Companies list is a compilation of financially successful small-cap businesses. In order to be considered for the Forbes 200, companies must have revenue between $5 million and $750 million, net profit margins greater than 5% and share prices above $5 as of 29 September 2005.

"As evidenced by its ascent in the Forbes 200 Best Small Companies list, Progress Software continues its growth by expanding into new markets with innovative technology," says Rick Parry, MD of Progress Software South Africa.

"Progress continues to be at the forefront of next-generation technologies, such as service-oriented architecture and event stream processing, providing customers and partners with powerful applications to meet their business needs.

"With a successful acquisition track record and long history of sustained organic growth with 21 consecutive quarters of year-on-year revenue growth, Progress is well positioned to capitalise on current and emerging market trends."

This announcement is the most recent in a series of honours Progress Software received in 2006, including:

* Intelligent Enterprise named Progress one of the top 12 most influential technology companies. In awarding Progress the publication's Editors' Choice Award, Intelligent Enterprise noted that Progress's "enterprise service bus (ESB), process management, SOA and other new technology for event stream processing enables organisations to rise above the chaos and respond to changing business conditions as never before".
* Boston Globe included Progress Software in "Globe 100", its list of top performing companies in Massachusetts for the fourth year in a row. Progress moved up six spots to number 42 on this year's list.
* SD Times included Progress in the SD Times 100, declaring Progress a winner in the "SOA & Integration" and "Data & Host integration" categories. SD Times noted that Progress "recognised the significance of data stream processing to the ability to analyse and report business activity".