ALM Tools without a Process Results in a Disconnected Engineering Workforce

Functional Safety + Industry Standards + Autonomous and Electric Vehicle Complexity =
Exponential Workload That Needs to Be Managed Efficiently

There are a multitude of ALM tools in the marketplace. An organization must make an important purchase decision on tools when the options are endless. In addition to this, the emerging standards for autonomous and electric vehicles - such as ISO 26262, ISO 21448 SOTIF, ASPICE, AS 9100, DO-178, DO-254, IEC 61508, CENELEC, and other FAA, FRA or regulatory standards - overlap and sometimes conflict, causing an array of problems in your engineering workflow. Is there even one tool that can meet all of the organization’s needs?

When considering an ALM toolchain and workflow, typical global OEM’s considerations are as follows:  

• The Enterprise Cost of Tools
  • The range of costs can vary significantly. For a small organization, some of the larger toolchains may not be affordable. There are less expensive tools that don’t have the feature set required for enterprise rollouts.  
• Global and Regional Engineering Teams' Requirements Across the Enterprise
  • Engineers across different locations will need to adhere to a global process while maintaining an individual organizational structure. Engineers need a framework under which they can operate that gives them the flexibility to deliver products across the globe.  
• Product Size, Complexity, and SLOC
  • Requirement size and code size drive the requirements for process and efficient ALM implementation. ISO 26262, ISO 21448 SOTIF, ASPICE, and other standards, drive work product which increases exponentially with lines of code. 

• Current Organizational Structure and Tools
  • The selection and integration of a new tool will inevitably impact the use of the existing toolchains. Tools such as PTC Codebeamer, IBM DNG, Siemens Polarion, JAMA, Helix, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Project, MATHWORKS, configuration control, and data management tools, must all be integrated, obsoleted, connected, or defined within the new ALM workflow.