Partner Exchange 2008 Wraps-Up!

Growth Opportunities through Innovation, Collaboration and Specialization

Partner Exchange welcomed more than 70 partner attendees, top analysts and leading business experts from around the world.  The invitation-only event brought together C-level experts from Progress’ Elite Partner organizations to discuss industry trends, business practices and new technologies while sharing their experiences and collaborating on key issues. Attendees joined Progress for expert presentations, case studies and panel discussions and had numerous opportunities for networking and collaboration.

After a relaxing evening at the welcoming Executive Reception held Sunday, participants shared in the Progress Exchange General Session held Monday morning. Afterward, Partner Exchange officially began with Bob Palumbo welcoming all.

Partner Exchange Opening Remarks

Bob Palumbo, Vice President Partner Development, Progress Software

Bob welcomed the global audience representing 15 different countries and almost every continent. The event promised to help Progress partners move their business ahead with valuable content, expert information and the chance to network. In his opening remarks Bob highlighted the importance of collaboration, embracing the Progress ecosystem to increase the possibilities for success and the importance of growth in the current climate of rapid change. Context for the meeting was set with the familiar, and apropos, analogy of Disney and Pixar—a successful collaboration of two industry leading companies that ultimately resulted in Disney acquiring Pixar for over $7US billion in 2006. Once merged, they delivered the blockbuster movie “Cars” which generated over $1US billion in worldwide sales.

Keynote Presentation: Competing in the New Application Landscape

John Chapman, Editorial Director, IT Europa

As an industry expert on the ISV channel across Europe, John provided a well-received discussion that focused on the forces of technology, competition, consolidation and innovation that are radically changing the direction of the application software business and ISV channel. In his opinion there will be more opportunity than ever for partners that are able to anticipate and respond to the future landscape. In closing, John challenged everyone to a decision. What is the future for your business—consolidation, collaboration or independence. In a later Q&A, John was asked what the top two trends are that affect ISVs and the future business application market. He answered with the trend toward unified communication and the changes required for application development in the SOA, on-demand world.

Panel Discussion: Consolidation or Independence? What is Right for an ISV in the New Landscape?

Moderator: John Chapman, Editorial Director, IT Europa

Panelists:

- Chris Dowse, CEO, Neochange, Inc.
- Jerome Fougerat, Regional Director, Corum group
- Ian French, CEO, Siceo Ltd.
- Bernard-Louis Roques, General Partner, Truffle Capital

This distinguished panel of merger and acquisition (M&A) specialists, member of the investment/venture capital community and industry specialists debated the options and considerations that partners must think about as they consider the future. Topics included what investors are looking for as they consider corporate investment, how M&A candidates are evaluated and what to consider for software innovation. The audience walked away with a greater understanding of their options, a new perspective on the future of their business and the growth opportunities available.

Peer Presentations and Discussions: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy for You

Moderator: John Chapman, Editorial Director, IT Europa

John led one of the most valuable and interesting peer discussions about successful growth strategies that are in process or have been deployed as well as how to leverage Progress technology and the Progress partner ecosystem to help grow their business. Presenters provided an overview of how Progress views growth strategies and partner growth stages. Select partners where then interviewed about their experiences.

Presenters:
Jerry Kelly, Director, Partner Sales US Operations, Progress Software
Peter Jansen, Regional Director, Benelux, Progress Software

Panelists:

• New Geography – Jeff Broadhurst, President, Apprise Software, Inc., discussed their expansion into China and how the Progress ecosystem helped make the transition to the new culture and environment.
• New Product  – Patrick Van de Looverbosch, Managing Director, Intris, described their successful growth enabled by a new product offering that increased developer productivity to more rapidly develop and deploy new applications and features.
• New Markets  – Paul Maillot, President & CEO, SNEDA, discussed how they leveraged the software and expertise gained in the public market and moved into property management  for the expanding private sector. Francois Mauny, Progress, described how Progress helped make the transition to a new market.

Changing the Playing Field – Approaches to Collaboration and New Ecosystems

Colleen Smith , Director, Software as a Service, Progress Software

Colleen’s discussion was designed to encourage partners to think differently about new growth opportunities, how to leverage new business models such as SaaS and how to leverage the Progress ecosystem in order to benefit from the anticipated changes in the business application market. After challenging the audience to “face their fears” about the new market and take the appropriate action now to expand their collaboration efforts with new partners, Colleen was joined by John and key Progress executives for a spirited round of question and answers.