PUG UK&I Conference on 18th March 2026

This year we have 3 tracks of technical sessions.

There will be plenty of time for networking with free refreshments and lunch provided.

Free to all PUG UK & Ireland members only! If you are not a member please register as a non member and we will advise you of your options.

The evening before there will be a networking Dinner at the hotel cohosted with Progress for registered attendees.

• Soumaya Eddahech (Progress Software)
• Mike Fechner (Consultingwerk)
• Paul Koufalis (White Star Software)
• Nick Finch (DataPA)
• James Palmer (Vertu Motors)

Info: Commercial session

Info: OpenEdge database startup parameters are at the heart of performance, stability, and manageability—but let’s face it, some should never be used (we’re looking at you, -i and -F), while others are simply misunderstood or often overlooked.

This session takes a look at both the well-known and the lesser-known parameters, providing practical insights that go beyond the documentation.

We’ll cover old favorites, newer parameters, outdated defaults, and important configuration settings that aren’t technically “parameters” but still have major impact.
You will also learn when to be cautious with powerful tools like -diagEvent, how main and secondary brokers differ, and what changes (as well as what doesn't change) when you modify parameters online with proutil increaseto or _dbParams.

Whether you’re tuning an existing system or configuring a new one, this session will help you make informed decisions—and avoid common pitfalls.

Info: The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an emerging standard for connecting AI agents and large language models with tools and enterprise systems. In this talk, we focus on the OpenEdge MCP Server, introduce the core concepts of MCP, and discuss general use cases for integrating OpenEdge applications with AI-based workflows. The session covers building an MCP server based on existing OpenEdge business logic, enabling AI-driven processes to both retrieve data from OpenEdge applications and invoke transactional logic to update data. With the availability of the Progress MCP Connector and MCP Server for OpenEdge, this integration has become significantly easier. Typical scenarios include exposing OpenEdge data to AI assistants or chatbots, supporting natural-language access to business data, and integrating OpenEdge systems into user- and customer-facing AI workflows.

Info: Modernizing OpenEdge applications requires more than adding new interfaces or technologies - it starts with structured refactoring of the existing ABL codebase. This session shows how legacy OpenEdge systems can be systematically refactored to enable modern architectures while preserving existing business logic.

Using the SmartComponent Library as a full-stack framework, the talk demonstrates practical refactoring approaches: identifying modernization candidates, decoupling legacy structures, introducing clear architectural boundaries, and enabling REST-based integration and modern web frontends. Modern tooling, including AI-assisted analysis and refactoring support, helps accelerate code understanding and identify suitable refactoring paths within large ABL codebases.

The session highlights where AI can effectively support modernization tasks - and where human architectural decisions remain essential to ensure predictable, sustainable results.

Info: Everyone knows they need to "do something with AI." But where do you actually start? In this session, Nick Finch shares hard-won lessons from building agentic solutions on real business data, including an expert system that helps coffee buyers at TikTak Segafredo decide when to purchase green coffee beans.

Buying coffee at the right moment means synthesising weather patterns, crop forecasts, demand, and market timing. Exactly the kind of complex, data-heavy decision-making where agents excel. We'll use this as a lens to explore the patterns that reveal agent opportunities in any organisation, where experts become bottlenecks, where research consumes more time than decisions, and where valuable data sits unused.

This isn't theory. It's a practical framework drawn from projects across document ingestion, operational monitoring, and decision support, all built on the kind of business data Progress developers work with every day. You'll leave with a clear approach to identifying your own

Info: In any reasonably busy application the content of logfiles can be overwhelmingly difficult to
analyse. And even if you have a way to make sense of the volume of data, what should you even be looking for in them. Join me on a journey through the challenges of root cause analysis of system problems and problem prevention using Copilot as a tool for analysing logfile data.

We will look at determining what has caused PASOE current connections to increase, establishing which program calls are taking too long to complete, what impact application changes have had on performance, and finding poorly tuned queries, all without looking directly at code.

Whether you're a DBA, a SysAdmin or a Developer there will be things of note to help you improve the way your application works.

Info: Join us for an in-depth look at where OpenEdge ABL development tooling is heading & how to ensure code quality in modern workflows.

We'll start with a tour of recent enhancements to the ABL extension for VS Code, showcasing new features that improve daily productivity. The focus then shifts to our roadmap and what's coming next for the extension, planned integrations with modern development practices, & how we're positioning ABL development for the future.

The session also addresses emerging development workflows, including AI-assisted coding. While these tools can accelerate development, they introduce important questions about code quality and security. We'll demonstrate how SonarQube and CABL (Code Analyzer for Business Logic) provide the safety net you need—automated quality gates, security vulnerability detection, and coding standards enforcement that work regardless of how your code is written.

Info: Free built-in extensions for VS code: CrossWayAI and ABLUnit runner. We’ll go through both extensions’ capabilities and functionality.

CrossWayAI: A VS Code extension that visualizes code dependencies to help developers understand project structure, navigate relationships between files and modules, and identify coupling and architectural issues. Visualize file, module, and symbol dependencies in VS Code with AI-assisted analysis. The extension uses AI to generate and update dependency graphs, enabling faster code comprehension, refactoring, and architectural insights.

ABL unit runner: Run ABLUnit tests directly from VS Code and view the results in the Test Results view. The extension automatically detects and uses your project's configuration. It supports: OpenEdge Developer Studio workspaces and OpenEdge ABL Extension workspaces.


The following 2 are included in the “VS Code extensions: CrossWayAI and ABLUnit runner” but we could go in more details for each of them:

Info: Would you like to increase income from existing customers and make your application more attractive to new customers? Cyberquery can seamlessly integrate feature rich reporting into your application.

Do your customers struggle to produce accurate, consistent, fast, high quality and timely financial reports? Our powerful, interactive financial report writer puts financial reporting back into the hands of Finance.

Are your customers looking to create high quality, ad-hoc reports, and dashboards? Cyberquery offers a rapid development solution, freeing up your developers to focus on application development rather than reports.

We look forward to seeing you at our session, where we will be discussing the above and demonstrating:

· Creating, maintaining, and publishing Financial Reports with our Financial Report Writer

· Integrating spreadsheet data with your OpenEdge database, in Operational / Management Reports and Charts with Cyberquery

Info: Codeless test automation is picking up speed with advancements being made in AI.
There are hopes that it could extremely simplify the testing process and save costs.
• What really is codeless test automation?
• What different strategies do codeless test automation frameworks use and how effective are they?
• How to they compare to traditional methods?

Info: The OpenEdge MCP Server is a core component for modernizing OpenEdge applications. It enables you to expose OpenEdge business logic as services, integrate with external AI systems, and adopt API-driven architectures, without sacrificing performance or security.
This workshop is practical and experience-driven. We’ll focus on how the MCP Server actually works in real projects: how requests are processed, how OpenEdge logic is exposed and executed, and which patterns are effective for integration and modernization.
Over three hours, we’ll combine concise technical explanations with live demos and guided, step-by-step walkthroughs to show how the MCP Server is configured and used in realistic development and production scenarios.
Topics covered
- MCP Server architecture and its role in a modern OpenEdge 12.8 deployment
- Core components, request flow, and execution lifecycle
- Exposing OpenEdge business logic as MCP services
- Configuration for development and prod

Info: Cybercriminals don’t knock, they probe for weaknesses. As a mission-critical platform, OpenEdge is built and maintained with security as a core requirement.

In this session, we’ll explain how Progress secures the OpenEdge product itself. We’ll cover OpenEdge certification, penetration testing, vulnerability remediation, patch delivery, and third-party component security. You’ll get a clear view of the processes used to continuously test, harden, and maintain the platform against evolving threats.

Join us to understand how OpenEdge is validated, tested, and patched, so you can confidently rely on the platform that runs your most critical applications.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Leicester Marriott Hotel, Smith Way, Leicester, United Kingdom

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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