Embedded Market Forecasters Study Finds Commercial Middleware Reduces Cost and Risk

Research uncovers true costs of using custom communications and integrated middleware in embedded applications

Embedded Market Forecasters, the premier market intelligence and advisory firm for the embedded technology industry, released a report titled Choosing Between Commercial and 'Roll Your Own' Embedded Communication Integration Middleware and survey results that provide a cost-based evaluation framework for embedded developers evaluating the relative merits of developing in-house, or “Roll Your Own” (RYO), middleware or using a commercial alternative. The study marks the first time that ROI metrics have been developed from comprehensive data derived from an extensive survey of embedded developers. The findings show that middleware selection can have a very significant impact on a project’s cost, timeliness, risk and performance.

According to EMF’s research:

• Total Cost of Development: The average cost of application development was substantial for projects using RYO middleware ($1.61M), most commercial solutions ($1.34M), and OIS ($1.49M); however, projects using RTI enjoyed much lower costs ($0.89M).
• Average Cost Overrun:  The average cost overrun was similar for projects using RYO (11.3%) and commercial (10.1%) middleware. Projects using RTI finished closest to expected cost (6.0%) and projects using OIS ran significantly over budget (14.1%).
• Testing Costs: In projects where the cost of testing was less than 30 percent of the total development cost, RYO (72.5%) showed an advantage over commercial (65.5%) middleware. Projects using RTI’s commercial middleware, however, had testing costs less than 30 percent of the total development cost 84.6% of the time.
• Design Completion and Outcomes: Final Design outcomes using commercial embedded middleware in general, and RTI in particular, were much closer to pre-design expectations than RYO developments for performance, functionality, features and schedule.

This new complimentary report, Choosing Between Commercial and 'Roll Your Own' Embedded Communication Integration Middleware can be downloaded today at: http://www.embeddedforecast.com/EMF_freewhitepapers3.php

About Embedded Market Forecasters

The premier market intelligence and advisory firm in the embedded technology industry, Embedded Market Forecasters (EMF) is the embedded market research division of American Technology International, Inc. We specialize in providing high-quality data and expert analysis to support our clients’ ability to assess the opportunities, risks, and competitive issues involved with developing and deploying embedded technologies. EMF has extensive experience providing both multi-client and custom research on topics including embedded boards, buses, software, hardware and development tools markets as well as embedded technology applications including embedded systems, digital signal processors (DSPs), FPGAs, single board computers, communications/IT, and multimedia. Our clients range from startups to Global 100 companies worldwide. Founded by Dr. Jerry Krasner, a recognized authority on electronics markets, product development and channel distribution, EMF is headquartered in Framingham, Mass.