White Star Software

10/05/2026

To all the moms who keep everything running when it matters most: thank you.

In the OpenEdge world, we talk a lot about uptime, reliability, and catching problems before anyone notices. That sounds a lot like what moms have been doing for years.

Today we’re celebrating:
- Tech moms juggling deployments, deadlines, and drop‑offs
- All the moms supporting the people behind critical systems
- Everyone playing a “mom role” on their team, quietly keeping chaos under control

From all of us at ProTop: Happy Mother’s Day to the real heroes of “always on.”

08/05/2026

A huge thanks to everyone who came out to Progress User Group Germany in Cologne and packed the room for “A Day in the Life of a DBA.” The questions, war stories, and hallway conversations were exactly what makes this community so strong.

If you couldn’t make it (or want a second pass at the ideas), Paul Koufalis will be giving the same talk at PUG Baltic in Tallinn, Estonia on May 21st. Come see how a battle-tested OpenEdge DBA actually runs the day, keeps performance predictable, and turns “surprises” into non-events.

See you in Tallinn.

04/05/2026

If you run OpenEdge in production, you don’t want to miss this.

On May 6 in Cologne, at Progress User Group Germany, Paul Koufalis is presenting “A Day in the Life of a DBA.”

This isn’t just another feature tour. It’s how a battle-tested OpenEdge DBA actually runs the day. Join him to get expert-level insight into:

- What to watch every day (and what you can safely ignore)
- Where performance really disappears in OpenEdge
- How a ProTop mindset turns “surprises” into non-events

If your OpenEdge environment still surprises you, this is your chance to steal the playbook from someone with over 30 years experience keeping big, messy, real-world systems fast and predictable.

📅 May 6, 2026 – Cologne
🎤 Paul Koufalis, White Star Software
🔗 PUG Germany 2026 – Cologne: https://prgress.co/4tf0mDA

Develop the responsible AI-powered applications and experiences you need, deploy them where and how you want and manage it all with Progress AI-driven products.

28/04/2026

Every OpenEdge team hears it: “The system is slow,” but I’m always cautious about jumping to conclusions. I start by asking a quieter question: “What changed?”

Here’s how I triage it in ProTop:

- Scan the main dashboard (10‑day view)
I’m looking for anything that obviously shifted: big jump in connection counts, spike in workload (record reads or transaction commits), or a change in key wait states. The portal is what tells me the truth.

- Drill into the advanced dashboard
If something looks off, I move to the advanced view to get a clearer picture before I touch any k***s. This is where patterns emerge instead of random blips.

- Check the alert feed
Are there unusual alerts that just started firing? Is the user ignoring something they should not be ignoring? That context often explains “slow” before I ever open a log.

Logs come later if people are reporting errors, which is a different problem that users often blur together with “slow.”

The takeaway: start with “what changed?” and let your dashboards and alerts tell you where to look, then decide what to fix.

What do you check first?

23/04/2026

What’s your #1 OpenEdge monitoring headache?

Every OpenEdge shop we talk to is wrestling with something in their monitoring stack.

If you had to pick just one, which pain hurts the most right now?

- Noisy alerts (too many, not actionable)
- No visibility (blind spots, missing metrics)
- Slow root‑cause analysis (lots of guessing)
- Capacity surprises (running out of gas unexpectedly)

Vote for your top headache and, if you’re willing, add a one‑liner in the comments about what makes it painful in your world.

We’ll take the patterns we see in this poll and share a few concrete tips for each one in an upcoming post.

17/04/2026

We're thrilled to welcome Tharaka Deshan, our newest Senior Lead Developer, who just arrived in Montreal after moving from Atlanta!

Tharaka brings over 12 years of experience in Java and full-stack development, including time at Infor, where he helped build automation frameworks that grew into major enterprise solutions like Infor TaaS, now supporting over 200 customers worldwide.

Though new to OpenEdge, he’s already diving in with a curious, problem-solving mindset and a knack for turning complex ideas into scalable technology. His expertise in automation, ERP systems, and team leadership makes him a powerful addition to our dev squad.

Outside of work, Tharaka’s journey says a lot about his versatility: once a cricket player, he later represented his university in table tennis. Now he channels that same focus into troubleshooting production challenges and managing the “daily negotiations” between his two sons.

Oh, and here are some fun facts: Tharaka is a certified ethical hacker (even if he doesn’t do it for fun), and he can actually explain the 42 laws of cricket, including the 10 different ways you can get out!

We’re beyond excited to have Tharaka’s deep technical experience, collaborative spirit, and global perspective helping drive ProTop’s development forward.

Welcome to the team, Tharaka!

01/04/2026

It’s April Fool’s Day, but is a "surprise" in IT ever funny?

Office pranks are fine, but your OpenEdge system is no laughing matter. Don’t let slow response times fool you. We give you near real-time visibility to stop problems before they start.

No pranks. No guesswork. Just performance. 🛠️

23/03/2026

The room was full of energy, great ideas, and a lot of OpenEdge talk.

Last week at PUGUK, we saw something special. It wasn’t just about the sessions or the code. It was about the people. From Paul’s sessions to the busy booth, the best part was seeing this community in action.

Whether we grabbed a coffee with an old friend or met a new partner, we left feeling ready to build even better tools for you. 💪

To the organizers: thank you for a great event. To everyone we met: thank you for the conversation!

What was your favorite moment or "Aha!" from the event? 👇

17/03/2026

Is "hoping to be lucky" your primary failsafe? 🤔

As we’ve seen time and time again, “hoping for the best” is a risk, not a strategy. So, while a four-leaf clover is nice to have in your pocket, ProTop gives you something better than the "luck of the Irish": 24/7 visibility and proactive alerting that catches issues before they become disasters.

Some people rely on luck. We prefer data. 🍀

Spend your day focused on growth (or a pint! Or two!), and may your dashboards be forever green.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 🍻

11/03/2026

ProTop is heading to Leicester next week!

We are proud to be a sponsor of PUG UK&I. Our CEO, Paul Koufalis, will be on-site for both the OpenEdge World Tour (March 17) and the PUG conference (March 18) to share deep-dive technical insights.

Paul’s Sessions (March 18):
- Database Startup Parameters: Learn the good, the bad, and the ones to avoid (like -i and -F) to get your performance on track.
- What’s New in ProTop 5: A first look at our newest version, going live soon.

Paul will also be at dinner on the 17th, a perfect time to talk shop before the main event.

Learn More about the event here: https://bit.ly/3PdGSAQ

10/03/2026

Have you ever wondered what the "other side" of your dashboard looks like? 🖥️

It's Organize Your Home Office Day. We are pulling back the curtain to show you where we sit while we monitor your data.

Some of us work in a quiet room with one clean desk. Others work in a "command center" with glowing screens and messy cables. Every desk is different, but they all have the same goal: keeping your systems strong. 💪

Now it's your turn! Does your workspace look like a calm library or a busy tech lab?
We want to see the place where you get things done.

Drop a photo of your desk in the comments! 👇
(Bonus points if we can spot ProTop on your screen!)