Services: White Papers

	Services: White Papers
	Wireless Automated Meter Reading Application Development and Deployment
	Low data rate, short to medium range wireless networking is a dynamic, high-growth, multi-billion dollar industry. Standards are rapidly emerging, semiconductor firms supply a wide range of products, system software and development systems are available, and system integrators are deploying a wide range of applications. Future growth for wireless monitoring and control solutions will be driven by applications such as industrial control, health services, building automation, logistics management, and asset management. ArrAy, Inc., a global software services firm, works with clients to design, develop, deploy, and support wireless solutions. ArrAy’s expertise and experience with wireless technologies, products, and standards enables us to help our clients enhance their quality, standards compliance, and time-to-market. Download white paper.
	Delivering Storage Services
	Computer storage and its management have become dominant IT issues, with significant business impact for organizations of all sizes. The scope and importance of these issues lead users to assess their current capabilities and future requirements, and users frequently bring in outside storage services providers. Experienced providers with the right expertise can help architect, design, and install storage solutions that leverage new technologies while satisfying business requirements. This white paper describes the key issues that should be addressed during an engagement with a storage services provider. The paper is based on our experience at ArrAy, Inc. in numerous client engagements as well as our work with major system and storage vendors. ArrAy, Inc., a global software services firm, works with clients to design, develop, deploy, and support storage solutions. ArrAy’s expertise and experience with storage technologies, products, and standards enables us to help our clients enhance their quality, security, and user satisfaction. Download white paper.
	Software Porting Best Practices
	Software developers are frequently asked to deliver their product on different operating systems and processor architectures, requiring a software porting project. Porting is an important part of the lifecycle of most successful software products, and porting projects should be planned, managed, and executed carefully. The resulting software porting projects may be very simple in some cases, but frequently, porting projects require significant specification, planning, and management efforts in order to assure success, to deliver a quality product, and to create an integrated code base supporting all target platforms. Furthermore, a porting project is an opportunity to improve overall product quality, maintainability, flexibility, and performance. With proper planning, these extra benefits can frequently be realized with little or no extra cost or time. This paper describes proven best practices for planning and executing successful software porting projects. Download white paper.
	How to Optimize Your Product on Linux
	Linux has emerged as an important target and deployment platform for software vendors. There is no longer any question that Linux-based systems can deliver reliability, performance, and efficiency, and that Linux can be used for servers, desktops, and embedded systems. Consequently, software vendors and developers can no longer ignore Linux; customers are demanding it, and the market for Linux systems is expanding rapidly. With reliability and performance that is increasingly seen as fully competitive with Windows and UNIX, the fact that Linux is free, with no licensing fees, is the primary factor driving its popularity. It enjoys wide industry support. As hardware price-performance ratios continue to improve, Linux can minimize commercial software licensing fees that would otherwise become a dominant percentage of system costs. Software vendors and developers are finding it essential to develop plans and strategies to migrate their software from UNIX, Windows, and proprietary systems to Linux in order to meet market demand and to exploit the Linux opportunity. This white paper, after quickly exploring the current Linux environment and factors behind its success, describes the project and technical challenges that must be considered when migrating to Linux, and provides solutions to those challenges. Download white paper.
	The Short Life of a Bug. How the ArrAy Team Operates.
	Bill left the staff meeting and sat down to scan the morning Customer Service Reports. His presentation to the R&D VP on customer satisfaction and response metrics had gone well. In particular, things had really improved with the legacy RigaTech server systems; the decision to partner with a software engineering services firm looked like a winner. The VP had asked Bill to perform a feasibility study on offloading the maintenance of some current products as well, such as AntaresServer 1.0. "If only I could stop spending so much time on continuing engineering, maybe I could focus on our new product development," thought Bill, even as he pondered improvements over the last year or so. A year ago, the job of Software Development Director was a thankless task; it seemed as if all his attention had been going into CE, and new development was stalled. To make matters worse, the software engineers were unhappy, as were the customers who had been fed up with how long it took to get serious software bugs fixed. An ace software engineer had quit at a bad time, and a couple of customers had been looking elsewhere. Partnering with ArrAy to do the RigaTech system maintenance had seemed like a risk at first, but the risk was paying off. Bill's staff no longer worked on legacy maintenance problems. All Bill had to do was call the ArrAy Team Dispatcher to get the latest status or to change priorities. As the staff meeting report showed, the improvements were real and measurable, and on track with the goals he had negotiated with ArrAy. Customer satisfaction was way up. Best of all, the contract called for a fixed cost, so strategic new product development was getting the time and resources it deserved. Outsourcing all continuing engineering seemed a logical next step. Download white paper.
	A Complete Software Maintenance Methodology
	Successful software requires successful software maintenance. During its lifecycle, a useful software system will require enhancement, extension, porting, and bug fixing as it is used, stressed, applied in new ways, and moved into modern operating environments. Maintenance is neither cheap nor easy; costs to maintain successful systems frequently exceed 50% of the total lifecycle costs, and many studies report significantly higher costs. Professional programmers spend comparable amounts of their time performing maintenance activities, and similar amounts of management time and attention are frequently diverted away from strategic activities. Despite the difficulties and expense, however, effective maintenance is essential for business success. Slow, non-responsive, or low quality maintenance causes customer dissatisfaction and lost business. Effective maintenance not only helps to assure customer satisfaction along with new and repeat sales, but maintenance services can also generate revenue. Given the importance and expense of maintenance, business success requires efficient, predictable, high quality software maintenance processes and organizations. Unfortunately, maintenance in many organizations is often not efficiently organized, lacks repeatable, measurable processes, is not properly staffed, and frequently causes delays for high priority projects, resulting in customer dissatisfaction and decreased software quality. This white paper describes features of an effective, proven software maintenance methodology, which consists of a software maintenance process, combined with the supporting tools, team organization, and values that make it work effectively. The methodology has been used effectively both by internal teams and by outside service organizations. Download white paper.
	DECnet to TCP/IP Migration for OpenVMS Users
	HP OpenVMS, with its DECnet networking protocol, has created a loyal user base, but it is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to continue DECnet usage. By migrating from DECnet to TCP/IP for networked applications, OpenVMS users can continue to operate OpenVMS without wide area DECnet support. ArrAy, Inc. provides a set of comprehensive services to help OpenVMS users to plan and execute their DECnet to TCP/IP migrations. Download white paper.