Progress prevents data loss during largest blackout in history

Progress Software has reported that Progress customers reported no damage to their databases during the recent massive power outage in North America.

The blackout left an estimated 50 million people from New England to Michigan and in parts of Canada without power, and caused major disruptions for businesses heavily reliant on computers for day-to-day operations.

Progress is known for its "bullet-proof" database and low-maintenance technology, which is crucial to the success of more than 50 000 large and mid-sized businesses in more than 140 000 sites. The regional power outage validated the importance of these database priorities when disruptions challenge business continuity.

"Progress is a very robust relational database used by companies with complex business needs in over 100 countries around the world and accessed by millions of users," says Rick Parry, MD of Progress Software South Africa.

"On the Progress E-Mail Group, a discussion forum for Progress developers, also known as the PEG, the recent power outage sparked comments and praise for the database`s reliability. The technology just works - in a wide range of business environments. Progress handles system crashes, power outages and the occasional natural disaster with ease."

"We did not receive a single technical support call from our Northeast customers as a result of the blackouts," says Rick Borg, senior VP and GM of Epicor`s Manufacturing Solutions Group, which has more than 6 000 customers. "They were easily able to bring their databases back up with no corruption to their data. This confirms that we made the right technology choice for our customers."

One PEG member wrote in from a chain of distributed pharmacies located in Northern Ohio that was affected when the power grid failed to deliver the necessary electricity to keep computer systems up and running. Through a combination of forward thinking and solid technology, the pharmacies ensured that their systems would be fully functional once the power was restored at corporate headquarters and store branches. In the corporate office and the 48 pharmacy locations throughout the state, no errors or residual problems with Progress were reported.

"Once power was restored to the Albany location, our IT teams were brought in to bring all systems back online. Our 164 Progress databases were brought up and verified to be in good shape," says Roberta Schilhabel, Unix administrator at Albany International, a producer of paper machine clothing and high-performance doors.

Another Progress developer wrote: "Blackout? A non-event from an IT standpoint. However, we test for complete power outages (no generators) four times a year. The systems fail-over, crash recover and start up unattended. Not bad for 100-plus Progress databases."

Long known for its low total cost of ownership, flexibility and reliability, the Progress OpenEdge platform is popular in large enterprises, such as DaimlerChrysler and Kaiser Permanente, where efficiency has been established as a high priority, and with medium-sized businesses between 100 and 1 000 employees, such as Bell Automotive and Hudson City Savings Bank, where IT efficiency is a necessity.

The cornerstone of OpenEdge is its high-performance embedded database. The platform also includes application servers, data servers, a fully integrated application development environment and framework, Internet-ready messaging, and enterprise-class application management. More than 2 000 global Application Partners sell Progress-based solutions to the Fortune 100 and mid-market companies.

To boost business continuity, Progress has enhanced replication and added cluster support through its Fathom product set which provides technology for automated, guaranteed, real-time failover and data recovery.

Another new initiative that addresses business continuity, PeerDirect, an operating company of Progress, provides its customers with an added layer of business continuity insurance by automatically replicating, distributing and synchronising their corporate data across multiple locations. PeerDirect`s flagship product suite, PeerDirect Distributed Enterprise, enables companies to distribute their data and applications throughout the organisation, irrespective of geographical distance or heterogeneous database platforms.

"PeerDirect Distributed Enterprise allows organisations to distribute databases and applications across an enterprise, so employees are no longer dependent upon centralised systems for critical computing functions. The result is an inherent resiliency, providing a unique approach to business continuity and disaster recovery," says Parry. "Using PeerDirect Distributed Enterprise, companies affected by the blackout literally had to do nothing to restore their corporate databases. More importantly, customers with offices outside the blackout areas were not affected by temporary loss of access to their centralised systems."