Modernize Your Applications with the New OpenEdge 12.8

With the right migration plan, the upgrade can be done effectively, and your critical business applications will run on the latest, most secure, feature-rich Progress OpenEdge platform available today.

The newest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release, OpenEdge 12.8, will be out soon, and that means it's time to start thinking about how you will migrate your OpenEdge applications to the latest and greatest. Migrating to a new version from an existing OpenEdge version that has served an organization for decades might seem like a lot of work. As a result, some businesses in our OpenEdge community may opt to stay on their current versions even though they might no longer be supported.

Some common concerns customers have about migration include:

• Compatibility: Concern that the upgrade could disrupt their current workflows or result in application behavior changes. OpenEdge releases are backward compatible except on rare occasions when a change is required for security.
• Resources: New software versions demand human, financial and technological resources that might not be readily available. Getting these resources in place and training in new processes incurs expenses. But how much will a vulnerability cost?
• Reliability: If it isn't broken, why fix it? Newer versions have improved security upgrades and get patched when vulnerabilities are discovered. There are inherent security risks when staying on older, unpatched versions of any technology.
• Uncertainty: The fear of the unknown can lead customers to avoid migrating to newer versions. New OpenEdge releases include migration tools to simplify the migration process.

Why You SHOULD Migrate

Modernization and Future-Proofing

Technology constantly evolves, and legacy applications may struggle to keep up with the changing landscape. Migrating your OpenEdge application allows you to embrace the latest advancements, frameworks and architectures so your application remains relevant and adaptable in the long run. These newer versions help address known vulnerabilities, minimizing the chance of a breach that can devastate your business. By modernizing your application, you can leverage new features, improve performance and further harden your environments. This provides a better experience for your users and developers.

Scalability and Performance

As your business grows, the demands on your application often increase. Migrating your OpenEdge application enables you to take advantage of powerful, scalable and cloud-native architectures, allowing your application to handle larger workloads and adapt to changing user demands. By optimizing performance through migration, you can improve response times, reduce downtime and enhance the overall user experience, which can significantly impact customer satisfaction and retention.

Integration and Collaboration

In today's digital world, seamless integration with other systems and technologies is crucial. Migrating your Progress OpenEdge application can provide opportunities to integrate with other modern platforms, APIs and third-party services. This enables you to leverage the power of data and expand your application's capabilities.

How the OpenEdge Team Made Migration Easier

Support for WebSpeed, Including Mapped Web Objects

OpenEdge 12.8 supports all WebSpeed applications, including mapped web objects. This support simplifies migration by allowing businesses to seamlessly port their existing web objects to OpenEdge while preserving their functionality. Businesses can migrate and see a smooth transition to the new release environment.

Enhanced Session Monitoring and Profile Data

Looking for improved session monitoring capabilities? With enhanced session monitoring and the inclusion of session profile data in OpenEdge 12.8, businesses gain better visibility into the behavior and performance of their applications. This comprehensive monitoring functionality assists in identifying bottlenecks, optimizing resource utilization and facilitating a seamless migration experience while maintaining optimal application performance.

New and Enhanced Command-Line Utilities for Progress Application Server for OpenEdge

OpenEdge 12.8 introduces new and enhanced command-line utilities designed explicitly for the Progress Application Server for OpenEdge (PASOE). These utilities streamline migration by providing developers with powerful tools to manage and control their Progress Application Server for OpenEdge environment. Adding soft stop and restart functionalities for agents and sessions supports a graceful transition—minimizing disruption and maximizing uptime during migration.

Supports OpenAPI on REST and Web Transports

To facilitate seamless integration with modern systems and distributed services, OpenEdge 12.8 supports OpenAPI on REST and Web transports. This enables businesses to expose services within their OpenEdge applications, such as RESTful APIs, fostering interoperability and easy integration with various external systems. This feature simplifies the migration process by providing standardized and industry-accepted interfaces, which empowers businesses to leverage the power of their OpenEdge applications in a modern ecosystem.

Advanced Packaged Libraries (APL)

OpenEdge 12.8 introduces new, more secure and signed code packaging through the APL framework, which can be part of a modern CI/CD process. This feature helps enhance security during the migration process by furthering the integrity and authenticity of the migrated code. By packaging code, businesses can more confidently transfer their applications to the new environment with less risk of compromising security or introducing potential vulnerabilities.

At Progress, we are committed to simplifying the migration process to the latest OpenEdge versions and making it as seamless as possible for you. Don't miss out on the numerous benefits of upgrading your applications. With the availability of OpenEdge 12.8, your application will be fully equipped to thrive in the digital age. Don't be left behind.

Free Learning Opportunity!

Join experts Cameron Wright and Dustin Grau, Principal Software Engineers who have helped countless OpenEdge customers migrate successfully to the latest version with this on-demand webinar.

They will share best practices and tips on:

• How to make migration easier
• Possible challenges and strategies to streamline the transition
• Reasons why a migration is essential
• Ways the Progress team can help

Read our whitepaper to learn more about the benefits of migrating to OpenEdge 12.8!