Software Spending in This Rapidly Changing World - Report Example

CIT 492 links – Emerging Technologies Software Spending Through 2014, software spending resulting from the proliferation of smart operational technology will increase by 25 percent. Previously "dumb" operational devices or objects, like a vending machine, medical device, marine engine or parking meter, are now having software embedded in them, and sensors are being linked to the Internet to create and receive data streams. This machine-to-machine communication has the potential to trigger significant new software costs for four reasons: (1) because of the amount of software like light databases or operating systems embedded within large numbers of operational devices; (2) because of the traditional software vendors starting to charge license fees, in certain circumstances, if the devices even indirectly hit their applications; (3) because operational technology vendors are developing IT-like platforms and getting away from hardware sales and into annuity software sales; (4) because the people buying and paying for this may not even be in IT, are not experts in software procurement, and may make expensive mistakes signing license agreements with hidden, or not so hidden, costs and risks. Names: Saeed Ahmed Al-Shehhi 200790070 Mohamed Ahmed Al Tamimi 200817741 Waleed Ai Al-Shehhi 200790179 Instructor: Dr. Anthony Rhodes Date: 18th of July, 2013 Table of Contents Introduction 4 Research Problem 5 Aim of the report 6 Report Question 6 Literature review 7 What are Embedded Software Systems? 7 Benefits of Embedded Software Systems 9 Organizations Suited to Embedded Software Systems 13 Conclusion 14 Companies in Abu Dhabi recommended to use embedded software systems 15 References 15 Executive Summary There are many emerging technologies in this rapidly changing world. Among these technologies is the incorporation of embedded software system in such operational devices as the vending machine and medical devices. The embedded software system in these machines serves the most crucial work of automating the machine. The automation of the machine brings many benefits. First, it makes it possible to detect errors earlier so that they can be corrected before they blow out of proportion and become a huge problem or disaster. Second, the machines with embedded software systems are easy to maintain and use. This is because the software system itself does most of the work. The work of the operator is just to observe the operation and ensure that all is well. The embedded software systems are also not very scalable. They are limited to the machines or components they came with. Last they can be used in a constantly changing and dynamic environment. However, this study discovers that there are a number of costs attached to this. The costs are related to the software itself. For instance, there may be the need to embed large amounts of software in the device. While this will make the device efficient, it is costly since each of the different software comes with a cost. At some point, the different software operations embedded in the device may require different vendors to license them. This further adds to the cost of software spending. The company may also be faced with the cost of phasing out the hardware sales to pave way for the software sales. This process is very costly. Last, there are different hidden costs in the license agreement that may be signed in by the managers especially if they are not well versed with the emerging technology. These are among the factors that are established in this report as being the cause of higher software spending in organizations. Despite these costs, the benefits still outweigh the costs. Therefore, different companies in Abu Dhabi have embraced the use of the embedded software systems. Among these companies are those in the communications, consumer devices, military and aerospace, process control and industrial automation. The specific companies are Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat), Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), United Electronics Company - UAE (UNITCO) and Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT). These companies are involved in communications, energy transmission, electronics and aerospace respectively. The embedded software systems are very beneficial to these forms of companies. Introduction This paper focuses on the cost of incorporating software technology into the conventional hardware devices like the vending machine, medical devices among other operational devices. The paper will therefore, go a head to highlight on the impact of incorporating the software technology in terms of economic risks and opportunities. Analysis into this technology shows that, adoption of on-premises and software as a service (Saas) would increase the spending on the software worldwide through 2014 and beyond. Many features can be used to distinguish the embedded software systems from the conventional applications. One of these factors is that the embedded system is distinct from the conventional Personal computer. The limits of the embedded software systems do not usually exist in conventional desktop world. The use of embedded software systems require that the operator has a diverse set of skills that go beyond conventional disciplinary boundaries. The operator should therefore, have skills as far as the application domain, interface electronics, algorithms, software and computer hardware are concerned (Bignall & Rahman, 2001). Some embedded software systems have performance constraints that are real-time. These performance constraints have to be met if usability and safety of the system has to be guaranteed. However, some may have no or low performance requirements. These low performance requirements allow the hardware of the system to be simplified for cost reduction. The embedded software systems are also praised for their reliability. This is because the systems can be relied upon to accomplish the particular task well. In addition, the embedded systems have program instructions that are written and are known as firmware. These instructions are stored in flash memory chips or in the read only memory. These program instructions run the systems with limited or less computer hardware resources, non-existent or small screen and/or keyboard and little memory (Tyrväinen & Mazhelis, 2009). This therefore means that despite the fact that the embedded software systems are reliable and safe, they are costly both in monetary terms and in terms of the need for trained and competent engineers or operators who can run them. Therefore, software spending is an important item for discussion as far as the embedded software systems are concerned. The paper goes deeper into the exploration of the state of the software spending for the embedded software systems (Popovici, 2010). Research Problem Several organizations have acknowledged the input of incorporating an embedded software system in such operational devices as the vending machine, medical devices, among other devices. However, despite this potential importance of the software, the emerging technology has some cost attached to it. This cost, which may be hidden within the emerging technology, has ended up raising the software spending of the company. For instance, the cost may come in form of the lack of clear licensing and procurement policies from the concerned staff, the need to incorporate large amounts of embedded software system in the operational device for it to be fully functional or operational, and the difficulty in phasing out hardware sales and substituting them with software sales. The organizations therefore, face a big problem embracing the emerging technology. The research question is therefore on: How does the embedded software system as seen in the emerging technologies increase the cost of software spending by organizations? Aim of the report From the research question, the aim of this report is to determine the way the embedded software system incorporated in such operational devices as vending machines or medicinal devices increase the cost of software spending in an organization embracing the emerging technology. Report Question The report will focus on a number of research questions. Among these questions is: a) Does the amount of software like light databases or operating systems embedded within large numbers of operational devices increase software spending? b) Does the idea of the traditional software vendors beginning to charge license fees, in some circumstances, even if the devices indirectly hit their applications increase software spending? c) Does the idea of operational technology vendors to develop IT-like platforms and get away from hardware sales and into annuity software sales increase software spending? d) Does the habit of the people buying and paying for the emerging technologies yet they may not even be in IT, or may not be experts in software procurement, and may make expensive mistakes signing license agreements with hidden, or not so hidden, costs and risks increase software spending? Literature review What are Embedded Software Systems? Embedded software systems imply that at least a given computer software can be found inside a given operational device. This makes an embedded software system to be a special-purpose or a role-specific system that has a computer that is completely dedicated to or encapsulated by the system or device it controls. The personal computer dedicated to the particular system does not operate like a general purpose computer. Instead, it performs one or a few customized or predefined tasks that are bear very specific requirements. Because the embedded system is focused on specific pre-defined tasks, software design engineers have the freedom of optimizing it in order to reduce the cost and size of the product. The production of the embedded systems is often done in mass, thus bringing in the benefits of economies of scale. Research statistics reveal that over ninety five percent of software systems are embedded. For instance, the different devices found at home constitute the embedded software systems. These devices include the DVD player, car motor controller, Cable Box, Satellite Receiver, PDA, i-pod and cell phone (Tyrväinen & Mazhelis, 2009). The design of the embedded systems is done in such a way that they perform some specific task rather than multiple tasks like those performed by a general-purpose computer. There are real-time performance controls in some embedded systems that have to be met for such reasons as usability and safety. On the other hand, other embedded systems have no or low performance requirements, which allow the simplification of the system hardware hence bringing cost reductions (Roychoudhury, 2009). The embedded software systems do not exist as standalone devices. This is because most of these systems have small, computerized parts embedded within a larger operational device that does a more general task. A good example is the Gibson Robot Guitar. This device has an embedded system that tunes the strings. However, the overall purpose of the device is to play music. In the same way, an automobile has an embedded system which offers a particular role as the car’s subsystem (Strassmann, 1997). Embedded software systems, an emerging technology Embedded software is an emerging technology for numerous organizations in that, they have been under immense pressure to integrate most of these devices so that they could be able to reduce the intermittent cost of operation in terms of size, and the complexity of operation. Therefore, the development of such applications as Empresent, for instance, which is embedded with multilingual graphical user interface, will probably give independence of operation most organization and thus it is an emerging technology to these organizations (Tyrväinen & Mazhelis, 2009). In medical industry for instance, medical devices have been developed to enhanced better medical attention and better lives in general through the use of inflexion user interfaces good example being the pacemakers and cardioverter defibrillators. In aerospace and automotive industry, embedded software is regarded an emerging technology because it has improved operation such as requests of part numbers, and aircraft configuration control managed at a central control database through an automotive embedded electronic control units ECUs Embedded software system is also an emerging technology to most organization in that most operations have been shifted from conventional programming to the use of programming language. Reliable domains have emerged and enable direct access to interfaces and memories with the use of or C++ degree. Thus high reliability and quality of this system has led to many companies labeling it as an emerging technology because the function design and operation of the system enable the organization to trace the quality of system operation when rated with the conventional systems (Strassmann, 1997). Embedded systems in many organization has enhanced model –driven design and test which can cheaply be applied in automotive and aircraft industry in testing of avionics components and devices. In industry automation for instance, embedded software systems is regarded as an emerging technology in that, automated static code, inspections , analysis, performance and security has change the mode of operation in the in the sector that has been highly characterized with manual operations(Tyrväinen & Mazhelis, 2009). Benefits of Embedded Software Systems The adoption of the embedded software in many organizations has reduced the cost of production and operation while at the same time increasing the efficiency of operation in the organization. Therefore cost and efficiency are the major drivers of the embedded software in modern industries and organizations (Roychoudhury, 2009). The use of embedded software has also enabled many industries and organizations to handle complex management issues while at the same time mitigating risks that comes with this software that enabling the state-of-the-practice environment in the organization. Furthermore, safety and security of operation in the industry has been boosted with the use of embedded software. The use of disciplined traceability enables many organizations to run without any fear of system breakdown and even if it breaks down it can easily be traced and handled and repaired (Kemper, 2010). Another factor that makes embedded software to outstand is the fact that it is energy efficient. Energy consumption has been a major challenge to most organization and the use of this software saves much of the cost to the organization that it adopts. The other benefit lies in the reliability of the embedded systems. These embedded systems are often found in machines that are needed to run or operate continuously for many years without making errors. If errors occur, the machines are expected to recover. Therefore, in order to guarantee this, the software is usually, designed, developed and tested with a lot of care than that accorded for personal computers. The unreliable movable or mechanical parts like the buttons, switches and disk drives are avoided. Because of this, the embedded software systems are usually very reliable (Kemper, 2010). The life critical systems, medical applications, security and safety, fire safety and transportation use embedded systems because the systems can be singled out from hacking and therefore, are more reliable. The systems are designed in such away that they have greater ability to not only handle higher temperatures but also continue to operate after being subjected to these temperatures in fire safety. The embedded systems also have self sufficiency and ability to deal with interrupted communication and electrical systems while dealing with security(Strassmann, 1997). Software Spending Studies show that the emerging technologies involving embedded software in operational devices are of great demands of the users and the enterprises. The emerging technologies call for the chief information officers and the Information technology technocrats in the organizations to be strategically position themselves financially for the rapid changes of the operational technology to come since the high demand for the software over traditional hardware comes with high spending. The emerging technologies will for instance, cause the chief information officers to phase out the traditional hardware so as to replace it with the software. This can be a costly process since the sales of the hardware may stall (Strassmann, 1997). In addition, since most of these emerging technologies have not yet been proofed to work, the most challenging thing about them is their management. The fact is that, consumers of these technologies will be companies that might not necessarily be oriented in Information technology but still require this technology in their organization so as to operate some of its activities. In such a case, it may cost the company a great deal of finances before it obtains the necessary expertise to handle and manage the technology (Tyrväinen & Mazhelis, 2009). In another study most of the software projects incorporated by companies can be seen as fail and cause a lot of software spending if they do not meet their requirement objectives, quality, schedule or cost. If a project fails, it costs the company a lot of money. One good example of the failed software project is the military software system project. In this project, hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in the project. It however took several years behind the schedule for the first phase of this big military system software project to take off. This long delay before the commencement of the project was caused by quality problems. This means that software may be quite costly if there is no expertise in the end users. Software requires expertise that will ensure that quality issues do not arise. Like the military system software project therefore, several other projects involving embedded software will cost a lot to the company in terms of the acquisition of expertise who will come and guarantee the recommended quality after operating on the machine with the embedded software (Kemper, 2010). The adoption of embedded software systems comes with a lot of costs. This is because the embedded software systems will demand that some hardware and software costs be incurred. The hardware costs include the money necessary in consumer market and the recurring engineering cost. The software cost on the other hand includes the nonrecurring engineering cost. The hardware costs include the money necessary in consumer market and the recurring engineering cost. The software cost on the other hand includes the nonrecurring engineering cost (Barr, 1999). However, on an encouraging note the key feature of the embedded systems that involves their dedication to handle a specific task can be harnessed to reduce costs. The fact that the embedded software systems are dedicated and designed to perform specific tasks means that design engineers can modify and optimize them to reduce the cost and size of the product while increasing their performance and reliability. The mass production of some embedded systems ensures that there are some benefits from economies of scale, which cut down the cost of acquiring them (Strassmann, 1997). Organizations Suited to Embedded Software Systems This discussion has highlighted the fact that embedded software systems are indeed shaping our world. It is hard to imagine a daily life without it. They are very suitable, for instance as automotive components like the antilock brakes, satellites, energy generation and distribution, home appliances, cell phones and pacemakers. Therefore, the organizations like the car manufacturing companies, electricity generators and distributors, mobile phone manufacturers, satellite designers and cardioverter defibrillators manufacturers. This is because the devices manufactured by these organizations demand a lot of software control (Kemper, 2010). Cell phones for instance require a lot of software programs to run the different applications they offer. Satellites on the other hand require an embedded software system that guides and controls it accordingly in space. The cardioverter defibrillators require pacemakers that can ensure that the pace corresponds to the heart beat. In energy generators and distributors, they need the embedded software systems to monitor the production and distribution of the energy. Therefore, each of these organizations has to apply the embedded software systems in one way or the other to streamline their operations (Kemper, 2010). Apart from the above types of organizations, embedded software systems can also play a crucial role in the aerospace and military organizations. Such embedded software systems include the navy avionic programs, the naval open architecture programs, the United States Army programs, the Air force, the NASA programs, the Commercial/FAA avionics programs. Conclusion From the report, research has shown that software spending has continued to increase due to a number of reasons. First, different devices require large amounts of software so that they can fully execute their roles. Since each of the different software needed costs a lot of money, the incorporation of embedded software systems makes software spending to be high. Second, the software embedded in the device may be serving a number of applications licensed by different traditional software vendors. In this case, these vendors may each charge license, arguing that their operation is used in the device. This increase in license charges further increase the software spending. Third, the emerging technologies will cause the chief information officers to phase out the traditional hardware so as to replace it with the software. This can be a costly process since the sales of the hardware may stall. Last, it was obtained that people paying or buying the particular software may in many cases, not be in the information technology sector, and may end up making costly mistakes by signing license agreements that have hidden costs and risks like that of training the users (Barr, 1999). Companies in Abu Dhabi recommended to use embedded software systems The report also highlighted the organizations that can use the embedded software systems. In this regard, it is important to conclude by giving the companies in Abu Dhabi that can use the embedded software systems. One of these companies is the Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat). This company deals with phones and in order to have an edge over other competing companies; it has to ensure that its phone products are embedded with superior software systems that can perform many applications needed by customers. The other company is the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). This is in charge of energy distribution. As explained in this discussion, energy distribution requires a lot of monitoring, which is offered by the embedded software systems (Strassmann, 1997). The real-time operating systems of the embedded systems have the tracing feature, which can trace the events of operating system. The system has a recording behavior. Software in the real-time operating system performs the trace recording. This real-time operating device makes it possible for developers to understand the software system’s performance and timing issues. The tracing of these issues is very important in the telecommunications and energy transmission companies as described above. United Electronics Company - UAE (UNITCO) This company deals with a wide variety of consumer electronics. The examples of these consumer electronics are the printers, GPS receivers, DVD players, digital cameras, videogame consoles, mobile phones, mp3 players and personal digital assistants. In addition many household appliances like dishwashers, washing machines and microwave ovens have embedded systems incorporated in them to provide reliability, efficiency and flexibility features. Besides, networked thermostats are used in advanced HVAC to more efficiently and accurately control daily or seasonal temperature change. Wireless and wired-networking are used in home automation for surveillance, audio/visual control, security, and climate and lights control. All of these features use embedded systems for controlling and sensing. Therefore since the United Electronics Company - UAE (UNITCO) is involved with these different consumer goods, the application of embedded software systems is indispensable (Strassmann, 1997). References: Barr, M. (1999). Programming embedded systems in C and C++. Cambridge: O'Reilly. Benlian, A., Buxmann, P., & Hess, T. (2010). Software-as-a-Service: Anbieterstrategien, Kundenbedürfnisse und Wertschöpfungsstrukturen. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien. Bignall, R. J., & Rahman, S. M. (2001). Internet commerce and software agents: Cases, technologies, and opportunities. Hershey, Pa. [u.a.: Idea Group Publ. Corrado, C., Haltiwanger, J. C., Sichel, D. E., Conference on Research in Income and Wealth., & National Bureau of Economic Research. (2005). Measuring capital in the new economy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. IMF (Washington, DC). (2001). The information technology revolution. Washington, DC: International monetary fund (IMF. Kemper, A. (2010). Valuation of network effects in software markets: A complex networks approach. Heidelberg [u.a.: Physica-Verlag. Kozmetsky, G., & Yue, P. (1997). Global economic competition: Today's warfare in global electronics industries and companies. Boston [u.a: Kluwer. León, G., & IFIP TC8 WG 8.6 International Working Conference. (2008). Open IT-based innovation: Moving towards cooperative IT transfer and knowledge diffusion. Berlin: Springer. Morris, J. M. (2001). Software industry accounting. New York: John Wiley. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2012). OECD internet economy outlook 2012. Paris: OECD. Popovici, K. (2010). Embedded software design and programming of multiprocessor system-on- chip: Simulink and System C case studies. New York: Springer. Roychoudhury, A. (2009). Embedded Systems and Software Validation. Burlington: Elsevier. Schaarschmidt, M. (2012). Firms in open source software development: Managing Innovation beyond firm boundaries. Wiesbaden: Springer Gabler. Strassmann, P. A. (1997). The squandered computer: Evaluating the business alignment. New Canaan, Conn: Information Economics Press. Tyrväinen, P., & Mazhelis, O. (2009). Vertical software industry evolution: Analysis of telecom operator software. Heidelberg: Physica-Verlag. Read More

The embedded software systems are very beneficial to these forms of companies. Introduction This paper focuses on the cost of incorporating software technology into the conventional hardware devices like the vending machine, medical devices among other operational devices. The paper will therefore, go a head to highlight on the impact of incorporating the software technology in terms of economic risks and opportunities. Analysis into this technology shows that, adoption of on-premises and software as a service (Saas) would increase the spending on the software worldwide through 2014 and beyond.

Many features can be used to distinguish the embedded software systems from the conventional applications. One of these factors is that the embedded system is distinct from the conventional Personal computer. The limits of the embedded software systems do not usually exist in conventional desktop world. The use of embedded software systems require that the operator has a diverse set of skills that go beyond conventional disciplinary boundaries. The operator should therefore, have skills as far as the application domain, interface electronics, algorithms, software and computer hardware are concerned (Bignall & Rahman, 2001).

Some embedded software systems have performance constraints that are real-time. These performance constraints have to be met if usability and safety of the system has to be guaranteed. However, some may have no or low performance requirements. These low performance requirements allow the hardware of the system to be simplified for cost reduction. The embedded software systems are also praised for their reliability. This is because the systems can be relied upon to accomplish the particular task well.

In addition, the embedded systems have program instructions that are written and are known as firmware. These instructions are stored in flash memory chips or in the read only memory. These program instructions run the systems with limited or less computer hardware resources, non-existent or small screen and/or keyboard and little memory (Tyrväinen & Mazhelis, 2009). This therefore means that despite the fact that the embedded software systems are reliable and safe, they are costly both in monetary terms and in terms of the need for trained and competent engineers or operators who can run them.

Therefore, software spending is an important item for discussion as far as the embedded software systems are concerned. The paper goes deeper into the exploration of the state of the software spending for the embedded software systems (Popovici, 2010). Research Problem Several organizations have acknowledged the input of incorporating an embedded software system in such operational devices as the vending machine, medical devices, among other devices. However, despite this potential importance of the software, the emerging technology has some cost attached to it.

This cost, which may be hidden within the emerging technology, has ended up raising the software spending of the company. For instance, the cost may come in form of the lack of clear licensing and procurement policies from the concerned staff, the need to incorporate large amounts of embedded software system in the operational device for it to be fully functional or operational, and the difficulty in phasing out hardware sales and substituting them with software sales. The organizations therefore, face a big problem embracing the emerging technology.

The research question is therefore on: How does the embedded software system as seen in the emerging technologies increase the cost of software spending by organizations? Aim of the report From the research question, the aim of this report is to determine the way the embedded software system incorporated in such operational devices as vending machines or medicinal devices increase the cost of software spending in an organization embracing the emerging technology. Report Question The report will focus on a number of research questions.

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