With software engineering and tool expenses consuming even more of total product development costs, many engineering organizations find themselves reevaluating their incumbent development processes. This key corporate initiative to address the business development reality and inject the engineering lifecycle with new efficiencies is driving more OEMs to consider the strategic use and implementation of software and system lifecycle management (SSLM) tools. As a result of the growing importance of these tools, the related evaluation and purchase decisions are moving up the organizational ladder.