IoT & Embedded Technology Blog



Agile in Embedded: Opportunity for vendors to target this specific need (Part 2)

by Andre Girard | 06/17/2016

Just as embedded engineering organizations were slow to adopt new methods, so too have tool suppliers been slow to adapt to changing practices in embedded development. With limited options, many in the large and growing population of system developers using Agile either apply their incumbent lifecycle management tools in support of new practices OR employ tools designed for Agile development in IT to address the specific needs of the embedded realm.  Following either of these strategies can contribute to a number of challenges as our survey results suggest. 

Agile

VDC believes there is a compelling opportunity for lifecycle management tool vendors to offer solutions that simultaneously support Agile practices and address the particular requirements of embedded system development. During their recent LiveWorx 2016 show PTC announced the release of a tool, AgileWorx, targeting this application. The announcement came without much fanfare, but could be transformative if AgileWorx can deliver on the stated goals of providing variant management, cross-discipline integration, and security support. We look forward to observing the market traction AgileWorx and analyzing the ratings of initial users. As collaborative development strategies like Agile, cross-engineering domain integration, and DevOps gain more traction in the embedded market we expect more tool suppliers will respond with solutions targeting the intersection of collaboration and rigor in systems development.

View the 2017 IoT & Embedded Technology Research Outline to learn more.