The same end-of-one-year reflection that inspired our embedded software Top 12 of 2012 (part 1 and part 2), encouraged us to take a look back at a metric we continue to track: schedule performance.
In VDC’s 2012 developers survey, 35.3% of the respondents said their current project was behind schedule. Just last year over 40% reported schedule slippage. So perhaps 35% is an improvement; but it’s hardly a statistic worth boasting. With an average of twenty five embedded engineers per project, any delay can be detrimental to development budgets, not to mention the reputational damage.
Despite an understanding that adherence to schedule is crucial to project success and that management should focus on ensuring execution conforms to it, on-time delivery difficulties persist. In order to get the maximum benefit from minimal effort through the full development lifecycle, engineering organizations need to optimize the efficiency and accuracy of their team and resources.
The good news is our research suggests the schedule adherence improvement of this past year may be the start of a trend rather than an anomaly. We see more and more engineering firms applying the right tools, methodologies, and processes.
Some of our findings showing potential for improved schedule performance include:
- Embedded suppliers continue to make functional improvements to the software and systems lifecycle management (SSLM) tools they offer. Beyond these advances, there is broader use of SSLM solutions by developers which offers several potential benefits. For example, effective requirements management solutions help avoid misunderstanding and unrealistic expectations while modeling tools can encourage greater code reuse.
- There is increased adoption of Agile methodologies both in full adherence to the methodology and in a hybrid approach combining iterative aspects with elements from other methods.
- Improving efficiency in the development of today’s devices which often require a tight coupling of electrical, mechanical, and software elements requires an evaluation of processes across project boundaries. This reinforces the potential benefits of cross-domain engineering integration, which we see is increasing.
These trends are encouraging. Our findings have shown that organizations using SSLM tools are more successful in meeting deadlines. Likewise, less developers using Agile methods (28.8%) or investigating cross-domain integration (26.2%) report being behind schedule than the average for the industry at large (35.3%.)
If embedded suppliers continue to improve their offerings and provide the support to make sure they are implemented appropriately, perhaps our 2013 findings will confirm the schedule improvement value of these solutions.
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