Portfolio Managers Focus Group UK edition in Windsor

During the first week of October, we held our third edition of the Portfolio Managers Focus Group. The first one was in Hunedoara, next to the Corvin Castle, one of the largest in Europe, and famous as  Vlad the Impaler, Prince of Wallachia, was held prisoner there, and it was a source of inspiration for Castle Dracula in Bram Stoker’s 1897 horror novel Dracula. That first edition took place around Yonder 30 in 2023.

Earlier this year, we held a Portfolio Managers Focus Group (“PMFG”) in Montreal, Canada, and now we returned to our castle theme in Europe and welcomed our guests in Windsor. We were thrilled as almost all operating groups within Constellation Software Inc. were represented. The two main objectives of the PMFG are to discuss R&D content with the Portfolio Managers, providing insights into these technical topics that can help them run their businesses more efficiently and effectively. And to host discussions whereby all participants can share their expertise and insights on these topics across the attending operating groups.

So networking is an essential element of the group, and we began with an opening dinner on October 6th. During the day on October 7th, we divided the group into two, so that each group was small enough to facilitate engagement and discussion. Our CTO, Remus Pereni, opened and closed the day together with the other two hosts, Bogdan Chiorean and Paul Cirstean. The R&D topics covered were:

• R&D Metrics Reloaded: The impact of code and technical debt
• Product management maturity: Putting a number on software waste
• Artificial Intelligence: Too early or too late?

We closed the day with a nice dinner at Guildhall, where the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles took place, and the first same sex civil partnership ceremonies to be held in England, that of Sir Elton John and David Furnish.

Not only did we, the Yonder colleagues who attended, think that the event was a great success. If the thank-you emails we received are an indication, the guests also felt the same. We are glad they enjoyed the event and surroundings, but we are thrilled that they valued the content. So now we have to find the right castle for the next event.

Meet you at the Castle!