Only in the last year did I start to truly understand the scale of the Atlassian community. I always knew the community website existed and have loved the openness and help received from it. But this last year I felt like I wanted to do more to give back. I felt like coming a community leader was the right step. Bring small intimate events to Atlassian enthusiasts like myself to the south outside of London.

Last week we managed to see this all the way through. We finally managed to launch the ACE Solent chapter last week. This week I just wanted to discuss a little on the community, why it is vital to product success and a little on this specific event.

Atlassian has been developing software for over twenty years, with Jira first coming out in 2002. Since then they have seen huge amount of ups with a few downs here and there. The trouble with all of this is that the software & therefore the business itself has a lifespan. An expiry date in which the product now is obsolete. So how does any company continue to not only make their existing products relevant, but continue to invest and create new products, keeping the company at the cutting edge?