Progress Software Buys Apama

Cambridge, U.K.-based Apama's ESP infrastructure enables realtime monitoring and analysis of events. Its technology will become part of Progress' ObjectStore group, which focuses on data management for financial services, supply chain management and retail applications, including RFID, according to a spokesman for Progress.

This is Progress' fourth acquisition in the past three years. The Bedford, Mass.-based company also purchased XML database maker eXcelon in October 2002, DataDirect in December 2003 and Persistence Software last September.

With many businesses drowning in data, realtime analysis and computing is a hot tech area. The idea is to parse and direct the appropriate data to the right person or process at the right time. Virtually all software infrastructure and application players are rushing to include realtime enablement in their core products.

Progress, a leader in embeddable databases, also fields Sonic Software, known for its enterprise service bus and EAI work; DataDirect Technologies, with its database access drivers; and OpenEdge application development tools.