In 2012, I started my first job after training as a software developer. As the only developer in an IT team of two people, I took over applications implemented in Delphi that managed processes in a small chemical company, with the goal of modernizing them and fixing some common issues.

When I left the company two years later, we had developed, based on standard JEE features, a warehouse management system with inventory mode, user interface for computers and handheld scanners, hazardous materials handling, reservations for production plans, printing functions for delivery notes and hazardous materials labels, ERP export, and shipping registration - all transaction-safe, on two Glassfish servers in a cluster and a database. Naturally, it was in productive use.

Almost 10 years later, I work on large projects for DAX-listed companies and government agencies. When I talk about "IT projects" in my environment, the first associations are blown budgets, missed deadlines, and many meetings. Indeed, looking back at the time described at the beginning, it shows me that higher productivity in software projects is possible. What was different in those projects? In this session, we will make a comparison and investigate whether we can learn something from my early days as a software developer for large software projects.