A decade in the IT industry is a whole era!
Time flies inexorably. It is a cliché as old as the world, and human life against the backdrop of the universe is very short; each of us tries to live it as best as we can. For this reason, we like to celebrate.
We celebrate various occasions. Personally, these include birthdays, name days or individual successes related to hobbies. As groups, we celebrate national or religious holidays. However, we are talking about large groups, and there are also smaller ones. Groups of people who share something common and unique. This ‘something’ can be the workplace, the common projects and the commitment they give to them, acting as a team. Such a team is the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Team that is part of Transition Technologies PSC. Our small team has a big reason to celebrate – 10 years of existence, development and customer delivery.
Many people may think that a decade is a short period, but in the IT industry, it feels like at least a century has passed. Ten years ago, Java was one of the most popular programming languages, being at version 7. Today, we have version 20 available, and the language itself is usually not among the top five most popular. Additionally, the topics of 3D printing, AR, and VR have developed strongly during this time. Not to forget the craze for cryptocurrencies or NFTs. The current hot topic is AI, its development, and its potential to be used in virtually every element of our lives. And these are just a few examples from the last ten years.
To conclude this (somewhat lengthy) introduction, I would like to emphasize that the ALM branch of the business is not lagging behind either. It is observing changes in IT and constantly trying to use them wisely. Here, it is not about “fireworks” but about delivering high-level solutions using proven approaches and unquestionable quality. The customer should be satisfied.
Once upon a time…when Windchill was named Integrity
We would not be celebrating today if it were not for a certain event. On May 31, 2011, MKS became part of the PTC. On that day, ALM became the new theme at PTC. With this move, the company acquired the rights to the Integrity tool, which, at the time, offered a number of possibilities regarding ALM. The standout feature was that requirements, testing, and change management could be managed from a single application. This was complemented by a built-in code repository, from which it was also possible to link requirements files, for example. The tool itself has undergone two name changes – first to Integrity Lifecycle Manager (Integrity LM for short), and now to Windchill RV&S (short for Requirements, Validation and Source). PTC continues to develop the application, currently heavily improving the WebUI and expanding the OSLC links.
Transition Technologies PSC, as one of PTC’s partners, responded quickly. After a series of discussions and arrangements, an official series of training sessions was launched, which took place in the Lodz office in May 2013. The trainers were Patrick Mullen and Scott Tomer. Under their guidance, a group of TT PSC employees learned about ALM issues in the Integrity solution, with all its strengths and weaknesses.
More than 30 ALM projects behind us
Since then, TT PSC has been involved in more than 30 ALM projects, delivering solutions to the requirements of industrial clients. A total of around 30 people have worked in the team during this period, currently there are 11 of us. We have had worse and better moments. Sometimes the team was less than 5 people, other times we had 15 members. There have been periods without projects, followed by an excess of projects. I myself am now the fourth ALM team manager.
As we know, he who does not develop, stands still. Every manager before me knew this and I also keep it in mind all the time. Over the past decade, the people building the team have continually expanded their competences using training courses organised by TT PSC, PTC and other sources. As a result, we have always been able to boast up-to-date and advanced knowledge. They also say that travel educates. Through delegations to customers, the team learned about the culture of France, Germany, Denmark, the United States, Brazil and Japan, among others. Unfortunately, the pandemic has severely curtailed the trips (hopefully they will return again).
What next?
The future of the team looks optimistic. The acquisition of Intland Software, and with it the Codebeamer product, by PTC in 2022 and making it the main ALM solution has made big changes. The team is taking all the training on the new tool and familiarising themselves with it. So we are looking forward to the first Codebeamer projects. We do not plan to slow down. We will continue to provide the best solutions for our customers. We will also not give up our support of Windchill RV&S. We are constantly looking at IT trends, because by keeping up to date with them we can use them wisely during projects. I therefore look forward with thrill to what is to come – especially in connection with Codebeamer.
A personal point of view
I never thought I would become an important part of the team’s history. I graduated from university 10 years ago. I made various career decisions, not always good, until I ended up at TT PSC. As a junior, I looked with admiration and respect at my teammates who had attended the ALM initiation training run by the PTC the year before. I even thought that this was a temporary condition, that I would soon find another job and disappear.
After 9 years of experience, being a team leader, I feel a responsibility to make sure this story can continue. The team has always been made up of unique, talented people and I would like to keep it that way.
Acknowledgements
Finally, I would like to thank the people who have made the existence and progress of the ALM team possible. I send a big “kudos” to my predecessors who started and developed this section of the TT PSC. Leszek, Jarek, and Sebastian, I send you my warmest thanks. I would also like to acknowledge current, as well as former, team members. Thanks to your hard work, this celebration would not have happened.
Greetings are also due to all the people at TT PSC, especially the senior managers (for not putting a dash on us), HR for helping us with all formal and organisational issues, and the secretariats who have always supported us with ideas. Of course, I send my thanks to all TT PSC employees, as we all create a unique working climate in this company.
To PTC I would like to express my gratitude for their continued support of the team, training and trust.
At the very end, I would like to thank all the clients for whom we have had the pleasure of working and for whom we continue to carry out assignments. We have spent thousands of hours together to ultimately deliver the best possible solutions. And for this patience, trust, willingness to get to know each other, thank you.
Thank you also to you, the reader (perhaps a future partner), for spending these few minutes. I hope you will also hear about the ALM TT PSC team in another decade. It may not be my words then, but count on you to not be disappointed. After all, this is only the beginning….
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