A Recap of a Transformed ProgressNEXT

This year’s ProgressNEXT Partner Conference was like no other, from the Star Trek room to the incredible feedback we received. We recap the highlights of the event.

From January 31st to February 3, over 300 individuals from Progress partners joined Progress Executives, sales, marketing, and channel teams for the 2016 ProgressNEXT Conference for Partners. From all accounts it was a resounding success—following the conference, 91% rated the event either better than other Partner Conferences they’ve attended or as the best one they’d ever attended.

Of special note, this was the first ProgressNEXT Conference attended by our Digital Agency partners, of which over 30 attended from around the world. This included Americaneagle.com, the 2015 North American Partner of the Year, which was kind enough to sponsor this year’s event.

This year’s NEXT conference, run by Vice President of Worldwide Partners and Channels Kimberly King, was a new experience for everyone. The session-based “death by PowerPoint” schedule was replaced by a series of interactive sessions where attendees could really dig into a solution, ask some great questions of Progress and other Partner attendees and have a little fun when they did it.

Some highlights included:

• A Star Trek themed “Digital Enterprise” room, complete with unformed crew members and Tribbles
• A “Race to The Future” room, where users could drive race cars with tablets and see how Progress enables Partner’s clients to Modernize their business 
• A “Globalization” room with a full spread of international delicacies and detail on why Globalization is critical, and how Progress can help you get there<

Digital Agency feedback was great. Longtime partner Falafel Software CEO Lino Tadros said in a blog post “I went back home refreshed and energized about our relationship with Progress and I can’t wait to see what the future brings.” Bayshore Solutions SVP Keith Neubert recommended that Sitefinity users get to know DataDirect, Corticon, DevCraft, and RollBase.

Overall, expectations were exceeded from all sides. Partners were impressed to see the vision and full solution set that Progress can deliver to clients, while Progress loved the excitement and commitment showed by all of the partners in attendance. There was no shortage of frank conversation, and everyone came away even more dedicated to delivering success to our mutual clients.  

Traditionally, a main highlight of the ProgressNEXT Partner Conference was the Partner Awards Ceremony where Progress presented the 2015 Global Partner Awards.  Congratulations to Digital Agency partners Americaneagle.com (North America), Itineris (EMEA), A8 (APJ) and F5 (CALA) for receiving the Sitefinity Partner of the Year Awards for their respective regions, which acknowledge their achievements and contributions throughout 2015.