In this new blog series we introduce you to the Uptrends team! From development to sales, from finance to marketing, and from ops to support: we’re a group of passionate people on a mission to help improve your website performance.
This month, we would like to introduce you to one of the people who works tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure our software and architecture are operating 24 hours a day: Jean-Pascal van der Endt.
Meet JP
JP lives in the Netherlands and works out of our Dutch office. He has been with Uptrends since the very beginning.
“I was already working with Niels (CEO) and Coen (CTO) with our web analytics solution,” JP said. “After a while we thought, ‘Why don’t we start a brand new product?’ This was back in 2007. We started building and designing a new product. I remember thinking about product names. It’s one thing to have the idea but then another to find a good name for it. We came up with Uptrends, and it has seemed to stick quite well.”
When we started out we were very small, really just the three of us.
Over the last decade JP has been involved in many different departments including development of online reporting, alert messaging, and our browser-based monitoring technology, as well as customer support and product deployment.
Always be shipping
One of his primary passions is keeping the product updated and getting new versions pushed out fast.
“We are steadily putting out a new version every other week,” JP said. “That is a fast pace, and it’s something that I am very passionate about.”
JP’s strategy for product management and updates can best be defined in one term – Always be shipping.
“It’s a good phrase, but a challenging one,” he said. “The t-shirt I’m wearing today says it too. I always think about how to get stuff out there as soon as possible to give the best value to our customers.”
Of everything JP has worked on at Uptrends, he did have one project that was particularly rewarding once it was finished.
“A big one was when we moved from our previous product version (Uptrends 3) to Uptrends 4. That was a really big project and took quite a bit of time. It paid off and created a user interface and reporting environment that our customers seem to be really happy with.”
That version gave Uptrends customers a lot more freedom in combining data and generating reports that can be more customized to their needs.
When not in the office, JP keeps his time filled with personal projects and hobbies.
“I definitely like 3D modeling and 3D printing,” he said. “I love finding new techniques to build and paint things. I also like to get out of the house and go mountain biking every once in a while. I’ve involved technology by tracking the routes I follow and keeping statistics. I also like music, and I will occasionally play along to a song on my bass guitar.”
What’s next?
For the future JP is continuing to work towards a better product everyday.
“Web technology is constantly evolving. We are keen to keep our own web application systems updated according to the latest technology and security practices. Our monitoring capabilities should reflect that, so we can help our customers stay up to date, too.”
Want to get to know the rest of our team better? Keep an eye out for more posts like this one!
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