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Microsoft/EMF position statement regarding sources and access to databases
2003-08-01 Article Rating:  / 0
WindowsForDevices.com received the following two-page statement from Dr. Jerry Krasner, author of the EMF report titled "Total Cost of Development", in an email titled "Microsoft/EMF position statement" . . .
White paper Statement regarding sources and access to databases Microsoft contracted a 3rd party market research survey firm to collect the data, which in turn was given to Embedded Market Forecasters (EMF) for analysis and interpretation. Microsoft stands by the results that the firm obtained. All major firms outsource data collection and surveys to specialist third parties telephone survey people, which they don't in turn disclose, since they are subcontractors. Microsoft forwarded to EMF all of the raw data from this study, including a significant amount of other data besides TCD. Included in the data were the names of the company and the contacts interviewed for EMF to validate and interpret as they saw fit. EMF and Microsoft reaffirm their commitment to the integrity and methodology of the data and the study, respectively, while encouraging other companies and research firms to provide similarly quantitative data that describes the development experience and how it translates into total cost of development. Our data was based on 100 OEMs. We have responded to customer interest in this area. Perhaps other firms have Total Time to Market and TCD data, and they should share it as we have done. Requests for access to the database cannot be granted nor can the data presented in Appendix A-3 be broken out by the Linux version used since such information can easily be used to identify the OEM that provided information under the promise of confidentiality. This study moves the embedded industry debate from slogans and promises to data and results. Participants in the debate need to bring data to the table not accusations or arguments that assail the integrity of those they disagree with. The data is what the data is. If others have different data we encourage them show it. If there is no other data, we encourage others to produce such and to report on it. EMF and Microsoft believe that this would be helpful to the debate. a white paper written by Jerry Krasner, Ph.D. Microsoft engaged Embedded Market Forecasters (EMF) to develop a "Total Cost of Development (TCD)" framework from which comparisons could be made for any embedded operating system. EMF was provided with the results of two extensive surveys conducted by the an independent third party market research firm contracted by Microsoft to conduct the phone survey and collect the data. The data was used in part to develop the TCD framework. A comparison of the Windows Embedded OS and the Linux OS as used for embedded applications was conducted and published. Two surveys were performed. The first survey was of 100 OEMs; the second was survey of embedded Linux distributors and software vendors that license software for embedded Linux use. Both surveys were conducted by the same independent third party market research firm. The first survey of 100 OEMs was conducted over a seven-month period from March to October 2002 - 50 of whom use Windows Embedded (20 companies that used Windows XP Embedded and 30 companies that used Windows CE.NET version 4.0 or 4.1) in their designs and 50 that use various distributions of Linux for embedded applications based on the Linux 2.4 and later kernel. 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. Companies were selected from OEM publicly announced use of either Linux for embedded applications or Windows Embedded as indicated by press releases and/or listing on linuxdevices.com, windowsfordevices.com, or included as reference customers from embedded Linux distributors or Microsoft. Respondents answered over 100 questions that explored multiple aspects of the design process. Of particular interest to this report is the number of embedded software developers per project of each design team and the duration of the design effort as measured by "total time to market". The second survey of embedded Linux vendors and distributors and software vendors that license software for embedded Linux use was conducted over two months from December 2002 to January 2003. 8 embedded Linux distributors and 20 software vendors that license software for Embedded Linux were surveyed and selected based on publicly known or advertised products. Each vendor was asked a set of questions to determine pricing and licensing terms and conditions for their products including development tools, maintenance and support policy, and runtime royalty costs for their products and services. Data for Microsoft's Windows Embedded operating systems were obtained from Microsoft's Windows Embedded web site and interviews with distributors of Microsoft products. The data derived from OEMs as compiled by the independent third party market research firm was consistent with the results of surveys of embedded developers conducted by EMF over a two year period. The 2003 survey had 947 respondents, whereas the 2002 survey garnered 457 respondents. EMF believes that the consistency and correlation between surveys of two different groups (i.e., OEMs and embedded developers) supports the results published in the paper "Total Cost of Development". Do you have comments or questions on this topic? talkback here
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