RSI's vision is that in 10 years, every embedded-software developer
will use rigorous ESDA technology to improve system quality and reduce
development costs. The company sees the ESDA industry becoming as
important as the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry, which
produces digital hardware design tools. According to the EDA
Consortium's Market Statistics Service, 1999 revenues for the EDA
industry totaled $3.4 billion.
RSI believes that its focus on formal modeling will lead to lower
costs and better-quality software for its customers. In more
established branches of engineering, mathematical modeling and
analysis of designs are de rigeur; in contrast, the use of such
techniques in the setting of embedded software remains extremely
limited. The lack of formal modeling at design time means that even ad
hoc analyses such as code reviews and testing may only be applied when
code has been written, at which point significant resources have
already been expended and origins of perceived system inadequacies
obscured. These observations provide the background for the firm's
mission statement:
RSI develops and markets testing and validation tools that help
engineers improve software quality while decreasing software
development costs. The company is committed to building long-term
relationships with an expanding base of customers.
The statement has several implications.
- The company markets expertise as well as tools. In
addition to software sales, RSI's training and consulting services
play a key role in the company's growth.
- Customer service is a high priority. RSI invests
heavily in its help-desk and web-site to enable users to obtain
information quickly and conveniently.
- RSI forms strategic alliances with other tool vendors as
appropriate. Such alliances allow the company to tap into
existing user communities.
