The Taipuva Polarion Days 2024 examined diverse themes, such as navigating the evolving cybersecurity landscape and utilizing AI in requirements engineering. Practical examples demonstrated Polarion’s versatility and innovative ways of working, providing attendees with the chance to gather perspectives from various companies and industries to enhance their working methods.
An explosion of complexity
The event took off with opening remarks from CEO Tord Ringenhall, who outlined the conference objectives and agenda. Following the introduction, Jiri Jandl from Siemens Digital Industries Software discussed the 2024 Polarion Strategy Outlook. He outlined plans for seamless integration of Polarion into companies’ toolchains, enabling scalable software as a service for large enterprises. Jiri underscored the competitive advantage of software complexity by pinpointing its relevance:
– Software is driving the products more and more. We’re seeing an explosion of complexity in all industries. Some say it’s bad, but we believe it should be used as a competitive advantage.
-Jiri Jandl
Handling compliance and cultural changes
Dan Mattsson, Head of Technical Product Management at Envirotainer, stressed the importance of traceability in regulated industries, noting Polarion’s role in ensuring compliance and transparency in product development.
During his presentation Dan also outlined various challenges faced by the company including rapid growth, regulatory constraints and the transition from a mechanical to a software-centered culture. He discussed the ongoing process of unifying their working methods and managing cultural change within the organization. Moreover, he touched upon the importance of tracking external requirements across departments at Envirotainer – and the role of Polarion in assisting with verification, risk management and safety systems. When asked about managing the cultural changes within the company, Dan responded:
-We’re not there yet, but we’re making progress. Having an integrated system has its benefits, and letting people choose their toolstack helps. It will take time, change is rather hard.
Dan Mattsson
The power of co-creation – and best practices
Kimmo Frondelius from Innokas focused on the power of co-creation and its seamless integration into product development processes. When talking about the importance of compliance with regulations across various markets, he mentioned the significance of tracing information and implementing electronic signatures. He also shared his best practices for initiating work in Polarion:
– Begin with a Polarion kick-off meeting to establish consensus on template usage, operational procedures, and roles such as document owners, users, reviewers, and approvers.
Kimmo Frondelius
Andrea Lundkvist from Taipuva shared insights from her extensive experience as a Polarion Super-user. She too offered a valuable piece of advice:
– Introducing a project timeline can accelerate progress, but beyond that, the adoption of new tools like Polarion often make us reassess our processes and procedures, leading to improvements. It’s crucial to review processes early in project planning to ensure alignment with the tool’s implementation, as this can enhance both implementation and efficiency when utilizing Polarion.
Andrea Lundkvist
Challenges of traceability
Taipuva’s speakers, including Ola Larses, Carl-Philip Forss, Tord Ringenhall and Pasi Ahola, talked about the challenges of traceability in cybersecurity, safety, and sustainability. They discussed how Polarion can help create operational management systems, with Ola demonstrating its use for ISO 27001 compliance.
The session covered various risk management methods, including Carl-Philip’s demonstration of fault-tree analysis within the Polarion platform. Accentuating the value of meeting regulatory requirements, the speakers stressed the need for traceability in Polarion to ensure compliance and effective risk management.
Dr. Jad El-khoury, founder and CTO of Lynxwork, discussed managing data and links within a federated engineering setup, introducing LynxWork – a platform tailored to address configuration challenges across various engineering tools. He shed light on Polarion’s role in establishing seamless traceability links and proposed solutions based on LynxWork’s modularity and standard interfaces.
The potential of AI – and managing safety risks
Dr. Bernt Andrassy from DRIMCo GmbH looked into the potential of machine learning and generative AI in conjunction with Polarion. He introduced an AI-assisted knowledge management platform designed to optimize bidding processes and boost revenue. The presentation demonstrated the potential of AI integration with Polarion.
Jiri Walek from Nextedy focused on enhancing the usability and functionality of Polarion. He introduced Nextedy RISKSHEET, aimed at managing cybersecurity and safety risks with user-friendly features. He emphasized its structured data management and historical traceability, pointing to the advantages over traditional Excel-based methods:
– It’s more than a risk tree. It’s a comprehensive record detailing probabilities from situations to harms. It has an Excel-like interface and is as easy to use, but in the background we create a risk record which you can adjust to manage any data.
Upcoming release and concluding remarks
Radek Krotil, Senior Polarion Technical Product Manager at Siemens Digital Industries Software, revealed insights into the latest Polarion release, bringing attention to its new features, usability improvements and performance optimizations. Additionally, during a coffee break, Krotil shared his reflections on Polarion Days 2024.
– Events like these are incredibly valuable for both us and our customers. They provide a forum for sharing detailed knowledge about Polarion usage and best practices, allowing us to better understand how our customers utilize the product and gather valuable feedback. By understanding the unique needs of their industries, we can tailor our solutions accordingly
Radek Krotil
– For our customers, I recommend fully embracing the new functionalities available and avoiding fragmented adoption. It’s important to align your processes with the capabilities of the tool rather than trying to fit them elsewhere, as this approach ensures maximum efficiency.
Radek Krotil
In his concluding remarks, Taipuva CEO Tord Ringenhall offered a glimpse into the workshops scheduled for the following day, promising deep dives into best practices, expanding Polarion’s capabilities and exploring the potential of AI.
Finally, fifteen-year-old racing driver Milla Sjöstrand shared her dreams of Formula 1. She also recounted her journey, pointing on both teamwork and perseverance to overcome challenges. This sentiment resonated throughout the atmosphere at Taipuva Polarion Days 2024.
See you again next year
At Taipuva Polarion Days 2024 we aimed to support individuals and organizations by building a collaborative ecosystem around the Polarion solution, encouraging new ideas and empowering users to tackle ever-changing legal and regulatory standards more effectively. A big thank you to all who contributed to the event.
We look forward to seeing you again next year!