Forging links
A reliable development process strengthens links between product development and global suppliers.
Today, embedded software development involves a supply chain of engineers, offshore outsourcers, open source and third party software vendors; all delivering hundreds of software components.
In a recurring pattern, software development appears to progress smoothly to the implementation phase. From that point, however, projects enter long and unpredictable integration and system test phases. This indicates companies are struggling to integrate and verify so much software from so many sources. As a short term fix, managers add more engineers and resources, with limited effectiveness and high cost. Software releases are still often delivered late and with compromised quality.
