This is a good summary of the situation of software divisions within hardware-dominated enterprises. There's a lot of patience for building labs and improving

This is a good summary of the situation of software divisions within hardware-dominated enterprises. There's a lot of patience for building labs and improving physical infrastructure (which is carried from one activity to the next activity), but much less patience for iterative development of non-physical infrastructure. As an experienced software person told me, "they really want something they can kick" to show the point of making an investment. If the hardware design is dictated by computer modeling, this can be a point of overlap, in which everyone can agree that patient investment in software is a competitive advantage.