Most successful ever International User Group Conference
| Issue 2, 2018 |  Download PDF |
Berlin was buzzing last week, and not just because of it being one of the hippest cities in Europe. Software AG had taken over the grand Steigenberger Hotel, just off the Kurfürstendamm, to host our annual International User Group (IUG) Conference. A recordbreaking attendance of more than 500 from 40+ countries made this the biggest event yet, covering all Software AG product lines in almost 100 sessions spanning five days.
Ringing the changes
This year’s event marked several firsts and lasts. It was the first IUG attended by Dr. Stefan Sigg, Software AG’s new head of R&D. In his keynote Dr. Sigg talked about how R&D is becoming simpler, smarter and stronger and how it is evolving to support the next generation of Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud offerings.
A packed session in Berlin
This was also the first year with dedicated sessions on Terracotta and Cumulocity IoT, which were well-attended and well-received.
This year’s IUG was the last for Software AG CEO Karl-Heinz Streibich, who is retiring later this year. In his keynote, he emphasized that organizations need to become truly digital to survive, and he talked about some of Software AG’s customer successes.
IUG organizer Bernd Gudat will also be retiring this year and he symbolically handed the baton to his successor Felix Friedrich.
IUG organizer Bernd Gudat receiving a farewell gift from Karl-Heinz Streibich.
Tech Community in the spotlight
In the main keynote session, we marked the milestone of the Tech Community’s 70,000th member and honored Holger von Thomsen with our Most Valuable Contributor Award. In his 10 years as a Tech Community member, Holger has responded to more than 3000 forum posts from the user community, sharing a huge wealth of knowledge and experience to help others. We are extremely grateful for his continued engagement with Tech Community.
The Tech Community team was also present in Berlin with a booth, where attendees could provide feedback or become members if they were not already. The team also facilitated peer discussions at the event through CollaborationHub, bringing together attendees wishing to discuss specific topics with other customers or Software AG experts.
Holger von Thomsen with Software AG CEO Karl-Heinz Streibich (R) and DACH head of Sales Werner Rieche (L).
Q&A with Holger:
TC: I visit Tech Community to…
Holger: …find answers for issues which are not yet available in the KnowledgeBase
TC: My favorite Tech Community forum/category is…
Holger: Integration & ESB, Adapters, BPM
TC: The technologies/tools I use most are…
Holger: IntegrationServer, Designer, Deployer, MWS UI
TC: My best advice to someone who is just starting a career in technology is…
Holger: …to read the documentation and explore the trial versions
Holger von Thomsen's award from Software AG
User groups are the ideal way to network in person
While the Tech Community is your virtual platform for meeting your peers, nothing beats face-to-face contact. Apart from the annual IUG event, there are also many regional user group meetings that may be easier for you to get to. All are free to attend and they receive excellent feedback from those that come. Look out for announcements in our Tech Community newsletters or from your local Software AG office.
Toni Petrov from the Tech Community team at our booth