Current and future mobility needs are constantly changing. Electrification, digitalization, and automation are fundamentally changing the vehicle. Software has therefore become a central design element and determines how customers will experience their cars in the future. A leading software and technology division of an automotive OEM has given itself the goal of bundling the software expertise of several divisions and projects across the company with its software platform. The central software division is continuously expanding the central and strategically important design element of software. Within this area, the processes and structures for the development of the operating system were to be set up for the future.
Strategic goals for future-proof operating systems in the automotive industry
To ensure long-term software competence in the vehicle, the Operating System division has defined three specific strategic objectives:
- Seamless integration of the software into the hardware.
- Ensuring continuous updates in the vehicle.
- The development of new applications and services based on all in-vehicle data.
However, these objectives are caught between regulatory requirements (e.g., compliance with A-Spice, UNECE CSMS) and the enormous complexity, which is constantly growing due to the increasing number of functionalities and internal customers, as well as external stakeholders.
The OrgExcellence@OS project was set up and supported together with a team from 3DSE to process and reposition the organization allowing thus to overcome the challenges mentioned. Two key levers were identified to ensure the long-term success of Operating System:
- Optimization of the agile process organization with a focus on structuring the agile release trains.
- Designing a structured collaboration model for the future software architecture based on systems engineering.
Agility and systems engineering as levers for long-term software expertise
The optimization of the agile process organization started with the definition of strategic requirements and design criteria. This framework ensured a targeted development of the future structure of the agile release trains and provided orientation for the evaluation of different organizational variants. After identifying the most suitable organizational structure, the target image was detailed. To ensure the delivery capability of the Operating System division during the transformation, a step-by-step approach was developed to iteratively transition the organization to the target state.
Transformation through iterative approaches and transparent processes
At the same time, a collaboration model for the future software architecture was developed based on systems engineering, which structures highly dynamic collaboration with internal customers. Clear responsibilities, transparency regarding organizational dependencies and process steps in the form of a project structure and the description of clear systems engineering delivery results / artefacts for each development level and timeframe reduced complexity and increased the speed of collaboration.
