4 ms·

Do those companies really have a problem with software? I’d imagine most of the software in cars is embedded, for controlling different mechanisms for the brake

Do those companies really have a problem with software? I’d imagine most of the software in cars is embedded, for controlling different mechanisms for the brakes, steering, cooling, etc. For those, I would prefer a stuffy bureacratic process rather than a Tesla, SV style move-fast attitude, even if that is more productive. I want software in a car to be finished and tested fully when the car is delivered, and then to disappear, I would consider it a failure if the company has to fix or alter safety critical parts of the software after it has been delivered, and I’d prefer that process to happen through some highly controlled process linked to servicing or recall, and not through random frequent OTA updates which are being thrown out. I really can't see how monthly updates can be properly checked for safety.

ivan_gammel 8y ago
I don't know exactly how it works at VW or BMW, but large enterprises may have a big in-house software engineering unit which is focused on internal software systems (manufacturing management, supply chains etc) and the effort put in it can be even bigger than in the embedded software. This kind of enterprise software may boost or slow down the transformation of the company, depending on how the development and deployment is executed.
- dustindiamond 8y ago
  I worked for a small SaaS that accidentally DOS’d MB’s entire ERP system, while requesting vehicle specs based on vin via their provided API.
- Volrath89 8y ago
  As a freelance dev one of my clients is the official distributor (seller) of one of the german giants in another country. They force us to use their erp. Just querying a 1M row table took more than 5 minutes. I inspected the DB and what did I find? Tables in german and english. No indexes for PKs. A lot of PKs that were pure strings... We suffer from bad data, strange bugs and awful performance. Really surprising of a sw coming from Germany
- LifeLiverTransp 8y ago
  Bmw develops everything external. They do not have internal software competence. The software development center basically is just a hub for creating product requirement document and reviewing functional specification documents for software packages. Everything else is in a eco-system of small competing software developers- this worked great when you thought detail knowledge to be replaceable and you wanted those external devs to bid each other into the ground. Today, the external developer firms are bleeding people to the swiss and the valley or turn to other- more lucrative industires/projects. Its also why those car software projects always have such subtle bugs and almost never updates. The final integration step of those packages into a whole is basically bitching to the various supplier about unspecified stuff until the time runs out.
AdrianB1 8y ago
Yes, they do. I am working in a huge company (top 50) where the software we use is from ~ 2000 with upgrades that gets it to ~ 2008-2010. I was offered a higher management position in an automotive company in the embedded software division, I have a friend working there in a peer position and I am going to decline based on the information I received not just from my friend, but from the interviewers: it is corporate incompetence at its finest, with managers with no IT knowledge running IT like a plant floor, choosing external suppliers to do key work based on God knows what (definitely not competence, value or anything useful), paying egalitarian salaries to all developers with no differentiation to productivity, skills or experience. Perfect storm is the perfect description of the situation.
- jessaustin 8y ago
  ...based on God knows what... My suspicion based on time spent in a different industry would be trips to gentlemen's clubs with all expenses paid by the sales team...
- LifeLiverTransp 8y ago
  Munich?
- apta 8y ago
  > with managers with no IT knowledge running IT like a plant floor, ... So why don't you join and try to change things for the better?
LifeLiverTransp 8y ago
Most of these companys dont even have expertese in software. Software is something that is produced outside by the cheapest vendor. All good german software devs are either in the swiss - or in the valley.

ivan_gammel 8y ago

I don't know exactly how it works at VW or BMW, but large enterprises may have a big in-house software engineering unit which is focused on internal software systems (manufacturing management, supply chains etc) and the effort put in it can be even bigger than in the embedded software. This kind of enterprise software may boost or slow down the transformation of the company, depending on how the development and deployment is executed.

dustindiamond 8y ago
I worked for a small SaaS that accidentally DOS’d MB’s entire ERP system, while requesting vehicle specs based on vin via their provided API.
Volrath89 8y ago
As a freelance dev one of my clients is the official distributor (seller) of one of the german giants in another country. They force us to use their erp. Just querying a 1M row table took more than 5 minutes. I inspected the DB and what did I find? Tables in german and english. No indexes for PKs. A lot of PKs that were pure strings... We suffer from bad data, strange bugs and awful performance. Really surprising of a sw coming from Germany
LifeLiverTransp 8y ago
Bmw develops everything external. They do not have internal software competence. The software development center basically is just a hub for creating product requirement document and reviewing functional specification documents for software packages. Everything else is in a eco-system of small competing software developers- this worked great when you thought detail knowledge to be replaceable and you wanted those external devs to bid each other into the ground. Today, the external developer firms are bleeding people to the swiss and the valley or turn to other- more lucrative industires/projects. Its also why those car software projects always have such subtle bugs and almost never updates. The final integration step of those packages into a whole is basically bitching to the various supplier about unspecified stuff until the time runs out.

AdrianB1 8y ago

Yes, they do. I am working in a huge company (top 50) where the software we use is from ~ 2000 with upgrades that gets it to ~ 2008-2010. I was offered a higher management position in an automotive company in the embedded software division, I have a friend working there in a peer position and I am going to decline based on the information I received not just from my friend, but from the interviewers: it is corporate incompetence at its finest, with managers with no IT knowledge running IT like a plant floor, choosing external suppliers to do key work based on God knows what (definitely not competence, value or anything useful), paying egalitarian salaries to all developers with no differentiation to productivity, skills or experience. Perfect storm is the perfect description of the situation.

jessaustin 8y ago
...based on God knows what... My suspicion based on time spent in a different industry would be trips to gentlemen's clubs with all expenses paid by the sales team...
LifeLiverTransp 8y ago
Munich?
apta 8y ago
> with managers with no IT knowledge running IT like a plant floor, ... So why don't you join and try to change things for the better?

LifeLiverTransp 8y ago

Most of these companys dont even have expertese in software. Software is something that is produced outside by the cheapest vendor. All good german software devs are either in the swiss - or in the valley.