So. It finally happened. And for a career spent living out of airports, I marked the occasion by doing the most gloriously retired thing I could think of: I took the train to Paris. No security lines, no gate changes — just the countryside sliding by, a coffee that didn’t cost eight euros, and absolutely nowhere I needed to be in a hurry. Retirement, lesson one: take it easy.

As of Wednesday, April 8th, I am officially retired — after 25 years with Willert and later SodiusWillert (to April 11th, if we’re being precise about it, and after this many years I’ve earned the right to be precise). A quarter of a century. That is… a lot of models.

There’s a lovely bit of symmetry to the timing, too. April 8th also happens to be Jannie’s birthday — my wife, who came along for the trip (that’s her in the photos below). So this year I gave her a slightly unconventional present: a full-time husband. She is being remarkably gracious about it.

And fittingly, I didn’t sign the papers at some grey desk back home. I signed them in Paris — a city that does endings and beginnings better than anywhere, with good coffee, better views, and not a single license-server error in sight. If you’re going to draw a line under a career, do it somewhere with a proper terrace. Highly recommended.

The room in Paris where it happened

And before anyone starts writing the eulogies: I’m retired, not gone. There’s a difference, and it’s an important one.

Here’s what retired means for me: no more 6 AM alarms to catch a flight to a customer site. No more license-server tickets at 23:00 on a Friday (Classic Rhapsody veterans know exactly what I’m talking about). No more juggling five time zones in a single week. I’ve done enough of that — honestly, I’ve done plenty. It’s time for the quieter life: more time with Jannie, more time for the things I kept saying I’d get to “after this next project.”

Jannie in Paris

Here’s what not gone means: I’m still here. Still writing this blog — probably more of it, now that I actually have the time. Still an IBM Champion, still knee-deep in Model-Based Systems Engineering, because you don’t spend 25 years loving this stuff and then just switch it off like a license server (which, again — IYKYK). You’ll still find me at DCUG Day, at TechXChange, at MESCONF, at ESE, at the conferences, in the community. Just… without the alarm clock.

Think of it as going from full-time to full-enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, the world keeps turning — Rhapsody 10.0.3

And of course, the field doesn’t pause just because I clocked out. Right on cue, IBM Engineering Rhapsody 10.0.3 landed — and it’s a genuinely good release, aimed squarely at large models and distributed teams. A few things caught my eye:

  • One-Click Environment Setup. Cygwin and the Rhapsody transforms installed in a single click, turning what used to be an afternoon of yak-shaving into a couple of minutes. Every new engineer who never has to fight that setup owes 10.0.3 a quiet thank-you.
  • A load progress indicator that actually moves. Small thing, huge relief. No more staring at a frozen-looking Rhapsody wondering if it died or is just thinking. It’s thinking. Now it tells you.
  • Zoom (100–500%) and type-to-filter in tables and matrices. If you live in the big traceability matrices like I do, this is the quality-of-life upgrade you didn’t know you were allowed to ask for.
  • Auto-generated flowcharts from legacy code. Point it at the old code, get operational flowcharts out. Anyone who’s ever inherited a mystery codebase will appreciate this one.

And then there’s the one that made me laugh out loud: 10.0.3 ships an MCP server — read access to your Rhapsody models via the Model Context Protocol, near-instant analytics, “Bring Your Own AI.” Now… where have I heard that idea before? 😏 Those of you who’ve followed my little rhapsodymcp.com adventures know this has been my personal playground for a while now. So let me just say: it’s wonderful to see MCP go official in the product. Great minds, and all that. I’ll be poking at IBM’s version very soon — retired hobby project, meet enterprise feature.

One more chapter

The best part of retirement, I’m discovering, is that curiosity doesn’t retire. I get to play with Rhapsody 10.0.3 purely because I want to, not because a project needs it by Thursday. That’s a good place to be.

So: thank you — to everyone at Willert and SodiusWillert, and to everyone I’ve worked with, learned from, argued about UML with, and shared a stage (or a beer) with over these 25 years. This isn’t goodbye. It’s just the start of a slightly slower, considerably more enjoyable, verse.

Paris in spring

See you in the comments. And at the next conference.

P.S. — Yes, I’ll still answer your Rhapsody questions. No, not before coffee. Some things retirement will never change. And Jannie — happy birthday. Sorry the gift was me.

What’s your favourite 10.0.3 feature so far — and if you’ve stepped back from the daily grind but not the passion, how’s that working out for you? Let me know in the comments below.

Happy Modeling ( preferably with Rhapsody)!!

Walter van der Heiden
walter@vdh-informatica.com