CIMdata enjoyed attending Mendix World 2021: a virtual event delivered the 7th through 9th of September 2021. MendixTM, a global leader in low-code application development, was acquired by Siemens AG in August 2018. It is a strategic component of Siemens Digital Industries Software’s solution and technology portfolio—Xcelerator. Mendix is being leveraged throughout the portfolio, with a particular emphasis on enhancing and extending Teamcenter and MindSphere. At the same time, use of Mendix is continuing to expand within multiple industries and is not limited to working only with Siemens solutions.[1]
The event keynote, entitled “Assemble Your Digital Business with Low Code,” was presented by Mr. Derek Roos, Mendix’s CEO. Mr. Roos stated that they now have over 250,000 makers (a term Mendix uses for persons of all development skill levels that can now create applications) who have developed over 200,000 applications on the cloud, being accessed by 50 million end users. He then discussed the four steps a company must execute to assemble their digital business, as well as how Mendix is enabling each of these steps:
- Assemble all makers
- Assemble building blocks
- Assemble solutions
- Assemble your digital ecosystem
Mr. Roos’ keynote highlighted the depth and breadth of new capabilities Mendix is rapidly bringing to their customers, which is a significant reason why Mendix is consistently ranked as a leading low-code platform.
In a session titled “Assemble the Future with Mendix,” Mr. Johan den Haan, Mendix’s CTO, talked about how new forces are creating opportunities for different business models. Beyond the traditional Business and Consumer relationships, Things (connected physical products) and Agents (autonomous agents driven by Artificial Intelligence) enable business models such as B-T, T-C, T-T, B-A, T-A, and others. He noted that with all these new options, companies have to determine what they want to consume and what value they want to deliver. Mr. den Haan stated that success requires an enterprise to be able to assemble and reassemble itself and its ecosystem more rapidly than ever before.
Throughout his presentation, Mr. den Haan, who was joined by guests from the Mendix R&D team, used an example of an e-bike company to describe the latest Mendix product capabilities. They illustrated how Mendix technology can be applied in each of the four steps described by Mr. Roos to assemble (and reassemble) a responsive, flexible, and digital business. During the course of their session, Mr. den Hann and his team described ten new solutions and capabilities that have dramatically expanded the capabilities of the Mendix portfolio. These new, expanded capabilities are shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1 New Solutions and Capabilities Announced at Mendix World 2021
(Courtesy of Siemens)
Mendix World 2021 also included a number of very thought-provoking presentations. Ms. Sheryl Koenigsberg, Mendix’s Head of Global Product Marketing, led a discussion with Ms. Neri Oxman, Sony Corporation Career Development Professor and Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, MIT Media Lab, titled “Nature X Humanity.” Ms. Oxman addressed architecture and construction issues facing our planet and talked about the relationship between built, natural, and biological environments, by employing design principles inspired and engineered by nature, and implementing them in the invention of novel design technologies.
In a session moderated by Mr. Johan den Haan, Mr. Simon Sinek, author and visionary thinker, explored how understanding the rules described in his book, “The Infinite Game,” and changing your perspective is essential for anyone who wants to stay ahead and outlast any competitor, forever. Mr. Sinek asked, “How can we win a game that has no end?” His simple answer is we can’t. However, Mr. Simon says that’s precisely what so many companies are trying to do. The problem is there is no such thing as “winning business.” In a game with no finish line and no agreed-upon rules or metrics it is impossible to “be number one,” “be the best,” or “beat our competition.” In this Infinite Game there is only ahead and behind.
CIMdata found Ms. Oxman’s and Mr. Simon’s discussions to be insightful, informative, and timely. Listeners were challenged to reimagine what can be done to sustain our planet and how to manage businesses more effectively and rewardingly.
CIMdata participated in Mendix World 2021 with Mr. Peter Bilello, CIMdata’s President and CEO, participating in a roundtable discussion on low-code platforms and their future, and with Mr. Kenneth Amann, CIMdata Executive Consultant, delivering a presentation titled “Empowering a Flexible Enterprise Value Chain.”
Mendix World 2021 was an exciting event and this highlight presents only a small window into its 80 sessions. Many customers showcased how Mendix is helping them solve real-world problems by enabling makers to create and extend business-unique tailored applications ranging from sales and marketing, through product development and manufacturing, to inventory and service. Mendix, and its new capabilities, is enabling companies to better integrate all aspects of the product lifecycle including the extended heterogeneous ecosystem and assemble their digital business. CIMdata is glad to see the expanded use of the Mendix platform throughout the Xcelerator portfolio. It is significantly improving their customers’ ability to easily and rapidly tailor and extend both Siemens-delivered and third-party solutions and deliver digital businesses.