| Total Cost of Development: A comprehensive cost estimation framework for evaluating embedded development platforms |
by Jerry Krasner (Updated Aug. 1, 2003)
Total Cost of Development:
A comprehensive cost estimation framework for evaluating
embedded development platforms
Jerry Krasner, Ph.D., MBA
July 2003
Embedded Market Forecasters
American Technology International
www.embedded-forecast.com
Executive summary
The embedded marketplace is in a constant state of change -- with new and disruptive markets emerging while some traditional markets fall by the side. The embedded marketplace is also characterized by an irrevocable trend towards greater software complexity -- complexities that not only complicate the world of embedded software developers but also create financial pressures to complete designs on-time, have final designs closely approximate pre-design expectations, and meet product windows of opportunity.
The selection of an operating system and the tools that support it has broad implications in determining the total cost of the design/product -- as measured from design inception to product shipment. It is important for embedded software developers as well as CFOs to have a quantitative evaluation framework to definitively express the cost of the design process. This can be achieved with a data-driven and results-based comparative framework.
A "total cost of development" evaluation framework is presented by which an OEM, systems integrator or embedded product development vendor can enhance their design results and minimize financial risk. This framework embodies a cost-based analysis of factors-factors that include the total time to market (TTM), the cost of development, development tool cost, maintenance and support costs, the cost of runtime licenses, and the cost of cancellations between different embedded operating systems.
This paper presents a comparison between embedded designs that have used the Windows Embedded (Windows CE.NET and Windows XP Embedded) and the embedded Linux development platforms using the "total cost of development" framework. A survey of 100 OEMs was conducted between March and October 2002 -- 50 of whom use Windows XP Embedded or Windows CE.NET in their designs and 50 that use various distributions of embedded Linux. OEMs surveyed were randomly selected from OEMs that had chosen either a Windows Embedded or embedded Linux platform, across a wide range of device types and application that utilized a 32-bit microprocessor architecture. Respondents answered over 100 questions that explored multiple aspects of the design process. Of particular interest to this report was the number of embedded software engineers per project of each design team and the duration of the design effort as measured by "total time to market." In a separate survey, 456 embedded developers responded to a survey designed to comprehensively explore the embedded design process. Of particular interest were the calculated number of design starts, design cancellations, number of months between the design start and cancellation, and a comparison of final design results to pre-design expectations for "performance", "systems functionality" and "features and schedule". Survey data was cross-tabbed according to embedded developers using XPE, CE and Linux, thereby enabling a comparative analysis to be made.
A survey of distributors and software vendors was also performed to understand the cost of development tools, maintenance and support cost for both embedded Linux and Windows Embedded operating system.
Using the "total cost of development" framework, there was a large and clear distinction illustrating the development cost and time to market (TTM) advantages of using Windows Embedded to build devices than embedded Linux. This would result in a much quicker ROI. There was a 4:1 total cost of development advantage of using Windows Embedded platforms compared to embedded Linux. The average Total Cost of Development for OEMs using Windows XP Embedded, Windows CE.NET and embedded Linux was $438,000, $510,450, and $1,888,458, respectively.
Consistent with this finding, a different EMF survey of embedded developers showed that a Linux design cancellation is twice as costly as that of a Windows XP Embedded or Windows CE.NET cancellation.
Certainly Linux has a distinct appeal to a certain subset of embedded developments and embedded developers for whom the Linux platform has attributes that mitigate against the increased associated cost and larger software engineer team size. While there exist an understandable enthusiasm and interest in using Linux for embedded designs as expressed from a number of OEMs, this does not translate into lower cost or faster development solutions. The use of Linux SE (security enhanced) is an example wherein Total Cost of Development might not be a deciding factor.
The development experience of embedded Linux appears similar in character and cost to the development experience of traditional in-house proprietary operating systems. The data indicate that rich integrated commercial operating systems and development environments such as Windows Embedded (Windows XP Embedded and Windows CE.NET) provide a clear total cost of development advantage to embedded software developers.
Read full whitepaper
The full 28-page research report is available from the Embedded Market Forcasters website . . .
Total Cost of Development
A comprehensive cost estimation framework for evaluating
embedded development platforms
Update:
Subsequent to publication of this article, we received a two-page statement from Dr. Jerry Krasner, author of the EMF report, in an email titled "Microsoft/EMF position statement." That statement is available here.
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