Three years ago, Rick Parry, sales director at Realtime Computer Services, then South African distributor for Progress Software, decided it was time to expand the company`s scope of operation in South Africa from merely a distribution vehicle to a full sales office.

The next three years saw Progress SA deliver 65 percent growth. The parent company, founded in 1981, has been listed for about 12 years on America`s Nasdaq index, favourite capital market for technology companies. The latest year-end results show a healthy $273 million in revenues - about 1.3 percent of that originating in South Africa.