Solution
virtic weighed different development and database platform options for the realization of the mobile SaaS time tracking solution. The company’s programmers were quick to agree on the path they would take in developing the solution, however. “Based on many years of experience in numerous projects, we decided to use the Progress® OpenEdge® development environment and application platform. That gave us a speed advantage of up to 50 percent over other development options,” noted Paul Bömer, Software Developer for virtic. The virtic team was able to launch an initial version of the software within months, a rapid cycle for a project of this complexity and novelty.
The Progress OpenEdge platform provides the foundation for the ongoing development of virtic’s software. “Multi-tenant support is essential for cloudbased solutions designed to handle numerous users simultaneously,” Bömer explained. “Progress OpenEdge provides multi-tenant tables at the database level, thus permitting the physically separate storage of data. Multi-tenancy therefore does not need to be supported by the application itself. Having the database deliver this functionality simplifies the program code.” Multitenant support also delivers major advantages for clients, letting them easily create custom evaluations and reports based on their own data and analyze them further in Excel or other applications.
virtic also took advantage of Progress OpenEdge data security features. The software uses OpenEdge Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) to ensure privacy. The advantage of TDE is that it does not require any changes to the application itself. TDE has authentication, authorization and audit capabilities, making it a key component of a seamless approach for data in transit and in storage.
In the datacenter, OpenEdge’s integrated relational database management system ensures 24/7 availability. The virtic solution takes advantage of this, as well as automatic database replication for failover or disaster recovery in real time. They can guarantee security and reliable access to time tracking data by making it available on at least two servers at all times. In scenarios where an organization needs to track when and where data was entered or edited - and by whom - virtic’s developers take advantage of auditing functions to ensure that applications conform to statutory auditing or other compliance requirements.
virtic selected Progress partly based on the consistent strength of the partnership. “Progress has always been very responsive to our needs over the years. Our direct contact fosters a close relationship that gives rise to innovative approaches. They also support us very well in terms of technology expertise,” said Bömer. Progress has continuously expanded its OpenEdge development environment and application platform in recent years, addressing the current requirements of its partners and their clients. Wolff added, “We are in close contact with our key technology vendors and find that they are very responsive to our needs. Their outstanding technical support helps us grow continuously and strengthen our competitive position. And ultimately, it is our clients who benefit.”