Indra leads the R&D Origin project to optimise software development in global firms

Indra, the premier IT company in Spain and a leading IT multinational in Europe, leads the R&D ORIGIN project (Organizaciones Inteligentes Globales InNovadoras) which seeks to optimise software development by promoting software factories of global firms distributed across the world to function as a single virtual centre, not only in terms of development but also regarding organization. The project, financed by the CDTI (Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology) funds has an execution period of 3 years and a budget of € 7.3 M.

Global software development projects with scattered developers, users and clients allow reduction of costs without detriment to quality. However, distance implies certain challenges like communication difficulties, less trust and lack of teamwork; coordination and control issues due to differences between time zones, problems with the knowledge management since the information comes from different places and even misunderstandings because of cultural differences.

In order to tackle these issues, ORIGIN will develop conceptual and methodological tools as well as systems to enhance knowledge coordination and management in this scenario and to minimise communication issues and cultural differences. In addition to this, the resulting technology will facilitate to use knowledge of the organisation for developments, thus helping decision-making and increasing competitiveness. Therefore, the project will contribute to increase productivity and the quality of global software development.

The project includes the development of methodologies and tools to guarantee quality requirements engineering, project planning, architecture design, process software; product development and business process models among others. Scattered test methods will be designed as well as tools to survey the quality of the processes and software products; and technologies to alleviate the effect of scattered resources in the development process and for knowledge management.

Indra, through its Software Labs network, leads the ORIGIN project with the participation of companies from Castilla-La Mancha such as Sicaman Nuevas Tecnologías, Alhambra Eidos and Sigtel, Treelogic from Asturias and the universities of Oviedo and Castilla-La Mancha.

Advantages and disadvantages of global software development

The technologies developed under the ORIGIN project will allow software factories to minimise hindrances associated with globalisation and optimise its advantages. Globalisation allows costs to be reduced without detriment to quality as professionals can be found worldwide without need to transfer personnel; working hours can be extended as programmers can be distributed in different time zones increasing productivity and benefits from diverse experiences, technical knowledge and skills of stakeholders, etc.

ORIGIN will address the main hindrances global firms have to face; for instance, the above-mentioned communication issues and knowledge management since a lot of information comes from different sources and stages and it is not always conveniently stored and updated. To this we should add outsourcing- the development of applications and systems maintenance by third parties in which software factories are specialised in- as a process with different maturity levels between supplier and clients, extended periods for knowledge transfer, need of highly detailed specifications in order to avoid vague requirements of the business or service, etc.

Indra’s Software Labs network

The company has broad experience in the development of global software. The IT multinational has a network comprising 20 centres specialised in software development distributed across the globe: Spain, Eastern Europe (Moldavia, Bratislava in Slovakia), Latin America (Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and Panama), Southern Asia (Philippines) and Australia.

Indra’s software Labs are a technology hub for the development of cutting-edge architecture and technology projects. They operate round the clock 365 days a year and maintain a close relationship with universities to acquire talent and promote innovation in solutions and services.

Indra is the premier Information Technology company in Spain and a leading IT multinational in Europe and Latin America. It is ranked as the second European company in its sector according to investment in R&D with nearly € 500 M during the last three years. The company employs more than 30,000 professionals and has clients in more than 100 countries.