Customers Require More Tightly Integrated Approach to Software Development

British software house LDRA announced on 20 September it has opened an office in Munich to support new and existing customers in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The initiative is in response to what the company terms “pressing demand” for a more tightly integrated approach to software quality.

Companies in safety- and compliance-critical industries, such as aerospace and defence, are facing increased pressure and scrutiny in the development of high-assurance software that guarantees safe and secure operation in all environments and under all conditions. Many companies find that loosely integrated point solutions no longer adequately address the functional safety and security standards
adopted by original equipment manufacturers and required of their software development organisations. Standards such as D0-178C demand rigorous compliance and affect all aspects of software development and verification. Complying with these process and development standards using traditional manual methods is time-consuming, costly, and error-prone.

A tightly integrated approach, such as that provided by the LDRA tool suite, enables customers to more easily and cost-effectively address all compliance requirements for high-assurance software. The LDRA tool suite automates a completely bi-directional, traceable solution, which connects the entire workflow, from objectives of the process standards, through functional, safety, and security requirements, to static and dynamic software testing. The tool suite as a whole simplifies and reduces the cost of compliance, automates testing and artefact generation, and improves software quality. With the LDRA tool suite, customers can incorporate industry- and company-specific coding standards and can also leverage integrations with modelling tools such as IBM RHAPSODY, ANSYS SCADE, Mathworks SIMULINK, Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) and requirements tools such as DOORS, DOORS NextGen, and POLARION.

In addition, LDRA provides scalable solutions that enable customers to start with a single capability, such as static analysis, coding standards compliance, unit testing, or coverage analysis, and then build into the full tool suite to address certification requirements at the highest levels of assurance.

“As security and safety concerns become more urgent, companies recognise that the time is ripe for them to step up to ensure their products meet industry standards,” commented LDRA’s Operations Director, Ian Hennell. “Germany’s vital role in automotive and industrial [markets], as well as opportunities in medical and aerospace and defence across Europe, has created a need for software security and safety tools that streamline software testing throughout the product development lifecycle. Having an office on the ground in Germany helps our customers work seamlessly on a global basis and enables us to respond quickly and directly to companies that need a more cost-effective and complete solution.”