The Second-Annual JamaCon Europe

On December 5th we held the second-annual JamaCon Europe – a one-day customer event held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. And in short, the event was one for the books.

With over 50 companies representing 13 countries, the collective knowledge and experience present in the room at JamaCon 2019 was incredible. And getting the opportunity to spend a full day talking with our valued customers, loyal partners, and industry-leading experts was invaluable.

Last year was the first time we’ve gathered our overseas customers for an event strictly devoted to connecting with each other, sharing our vision for the future of product and systems development, and enhancing knowledge of our platform, company, and values. And this year we built on that momentum and success, drawing guest speakers from globally recognized, industry-leading organizations like INCOSE.

And while JamaCon 2019 was attended only by our European customers and partners, we felt that it’s worth sharing some incredible moments from the event with the rest of our customers and readers

Here’s a quick overview of some of the highlighted sessions that took place at JamaCon 2019.

Keynote Presentations at JamaCon 2019

INCOSE: Where Next for Systems Engineering?

Paul Schreinemakers, EMEA Sector Director at INCOSE, discussed how systems engineering as a discipline is changing, challenges identified by INCOSE, and the ways that systems engineers must adapt in order to keep up with the future of complex product development, including AI, big data, and autonomous systems. He touched on topics such as conducting verification and validation (V&V) early and often, taking ownership of the entire system, and adapting to an environment that is indeterministic.

Our favorite quote from Schreinemakers’s presentation: “A very interesting observation by Steve Welby is, ‘If the degree of change within your own organization is much lower than the degree of change in your surroundings, you’re doomed to fail as an organization.’ Always be aware of all of the changes that are taking place. And that goes for systems engineering as well.”

Jama Software Product Update

Jama Software’s newly appointed CPO, Josh Turpen, took the stage to announce key themes and needs that we’re hearing from customers as well as recent release highlights, areas of investment, and roadmap considerations.

What Turpen hopes attendees took away from presentation: “As an organization, we are committed to our core features of requirements, risk, and test management, and are focused on enhancing our product and services to help customers build the next generation of smarter, safer products.”

From Waterfall to Scrum: Keeping Waterfall Documentation

Harold Hotz-Behofsits, Product Manager at Frequentis, delivered a detailed presentation on ways that teams in regulated industries can move to an Agile development methodology while keeping waterfall documentation in order to deliver working, safe software, quicker. Hotz-Behofsits used his own company as a success story as he demonstrated what his team is creating, how they are delivering it with an Agile methodology, and — most importantly — why it works.

One quote that stood out in Hotz-Behofsits’ presentation: “Winston Churchill is a great source of wisdom that fits with our area. He once said, ‘To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.’ And an Agile approach allows you to change very often.”

Expanding Jama Connect Knowledge with Breakout Sessions and User Groups

Following the keynote presentations, JamaCon attendees were given the option of attending two different tracks. In the first track, Jama in the Ecosystem, attendees learned about common scenarios and best practices for integrating Jama Connect into the broader development ecosystem. In the second track, Removing Obstacles to Adoption, attendees received information about processes and configurations that support the use of Jama Connect and how to remove the obstacles and hinderances that stand in the way of end-user adoption.

As the day came to a close, we offered three different user groups that attendees could participate in with our in-house consultants. The user groups covered topics like taking a system approach to ISO 14971 risk management, documentation automation, and using Jama Connect as a single source of truth for system development.

We heard from many attendees that this was their favorite part of the day as they received invaluable training and knowledge that was directly applicable to their day-to-day jobs.

Looking Toward the Future of Complex Product and Systems Development

As we look toward a new decade and a new era for product and systems development, we as a company remain committed to helping our customers and partners build smarter, safer products that revolutionize the way that we travel, work, play, and care for ourselves.

Based on the success of JamaCon 2019 and consistent feedback from our customers that they want to connect with other professionals on the topics of test, risk, and requirements management, we’ll be visiting multiple cities across the United States and Europe in the coming year as part of a 2020 Ask Jama Live roadshow. Stay tuned for more information…

We want to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who attended JamaCon 2019. We look forward to building on the momentum of the experience and sharing more with you next year.

We’re already hard at work planning for JamaCon 2020, but until then, we’re looking forward to finding new and improved ways to invest in the success of our customers and do more together.