Progress Software has released OpenEdge 11.1, its cloud application development platform with performance and productivity tools. This release is distinguished by ramped up security and simplified user authentication options, plus a central management console for the administration of accounts deployed via the SaaS business model.

As we know, companies use the term "updated developer tools" fairly cheaply and often lack substance in terms of real point release enhancements. Progress says that it has improved password administration, provided additional regulatory support, and opened access to external data sources (such as big data, cloud and/or on-premise data sources).

Customers using this platform report that they experience better application performance across multi-tenancy environments. This, they say, works well due to the way the Progress multi-tenant database allows users to organize data into regions for improved reporting and maintenance.

Progress Software's VP of SaaS Colleen Smith asserts that the company has now "removed the hurdle" that was blocking data security and compliance in cloud environments. Once again, talk is cheap and these are big words — but what we do see with this OpenEdge release, which comes within six months of the previous release, is the company working to ensure that its application development tools meet the needs of current SaaS ISVs.

Aiming to provide some verification for its technology's worth, the company describes the journey that the OpenEdge platform has evolved on over the last 30 years, incorporating new technologies such as multi-tenancy, data encryption and auditing, security/compliance, and user-interface flexibility. "More than four million people use applications built on the OpenEdge platform and there are 600+ applications based on the OpenEdge platform running in the cloud with more than 400, 000 subscribers," said the company.