A US company
develops and markets a range of software and hardware
products for digital media production, management and
distribution. The company has two principal business segments
covering video and audio. The video products enable users
to manipulate moving pictures and sound in a faster and
more creative manner, while the digital audio software
applications and hardware systems allow users to edit
and process sound in an integrated manner.
Business Need
The company wanted a single offshore partner who could
provide a one-stop solution for all its product upgrade
and improvement needs. This included support for hardware,
software, and firmware updates. To deal effectively with
competition, the company wanted to reduce its cost of
development.
Challenges & Requirements
The products developed by Dewsoft were to reach the client's
customers, who required premium quality. To ensure that
the development was of a high standard, Dewsoft had to
handle the following issues:
Software was just one of the deliverables and Dewsoft
had to do an excellent job in ensuring that the firmware
and the hardware products too were updated carefully to
guarantee that they performed immaculately.
The client was facing problems in controlling the sustenance
costs related to its existing product lines and Dewsoft
was asked to ensure a dramatic reduction in maintenance
expenses.
The development costs for the new products had to be cut
down. While it is simple to do this as a standalone mandate,
this was also tied to reducing the cycle time for development.
Dewsoft had to deliver using multiple technologies in
various areas, and this called for multi-dimensional skills,
with depth of knowledge and expertise in handling different
domains and platforms.
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Dewsofts
Role
To ensure the twin advantages of low costs and quick turnaround
time, the Dewsoft team, consisting of over 35 personnel,
leveraged the Global Delivery Model and completed all
the client's imperatives within three years. Meticulous
planning ensured that there was a clear idea of timelines
and deliverables, including enhancements to the product
lines. Once this was in place, the multi-skilled Dewsoft
team vigorously tackled all the client's mandates.
The drivers for the video and audio
processing boards were developed for both the Windows
and the Macintosh environments. After this, enhancements
were applied to the hardware boards. Next, software
for the audio and video Codecs (coder decoders) was
developed, followed by the firmware for the Digital
Signal Processor (DSP) boards.
This was a highly technical project
and the Dewsoft team had to deal with media formats
like DV25, DV50, MPEG-IMX (Integrated Multimedia Exchange),
JPEG, and High Definition. The operating systems involved
included various versions of Windows, Mac OS9 and Mac
OSX. Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), a type
of gate arrays that are programmed in the field rather
than in a semiconductor fab, were also used.
In spite of the intricate technology,
Dewsoft was able to deliver high quality because the
lucidity of thought in the planning stage was effectively
translated into action. Thus, Dewsoft was able to create
a series of new products, which were delivered on time
and within the budget. Overall development was achieved
at a mere fraction of the price that previous versions
had cost to produce. |
