Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of embedded software in use within organizations’ platform engineering strategy consists of on-the-fly custom, ad hoc solutions. That’s quite the discrepancy: while platform engineering should improve automation and streamline workflows, IT teams still regularly need to write custom code for all the different devices, operating systems and hardware environments their company has in use.
That’s according to research by Forrester Consulting, commissioned by Qt Group. The respondents, more than 300 IT decision-makers and influencers, said the complexity of working on different platforms is a major obstacle to an optimal IT infrastructure. Of those asked, 51 percent reported difficulty managing various devices and OS environments in their company or organization.
What compounds this problem is that the use (and reuse) of high-quality, standardized components is difficult to reconcile with stakeholders’ desire to customize the platforms in use for unique use cases and solutions. This proves to be an obstacle for nearly half (49 percent) of embedded software developers.
Stuck between solutions and standards
Platform engineering should lead to faster and more efficient delivery of better software for specific systems. Yet the research found that teams are often caught between the need to deliver specific hardware and software solutions while maintaining high quality and security standards.
Although 65 percent of respondents believe their proprietary platform is mature enough to form the basis for embedded software, custom-built solutions often hamper successful, scalable automation, especially if security is a requirement, which it really always is.
Shortage of IT talent
Moreover, embedded software developers face a shortage of fresh blood in the ranks. For 50 percent of IT teams, this is a barrier to further growth of their platform strategy. The lack of skilled professionals, combined with the challenge of integrating legacy platforms and resistance from product teams, further slows progress.
Despite these not-inconsiderable obstacles, 93 percent of respondents said their manager or supervisor supports platform engineering initiatives. So, it seems the will is there to make such strategies successful.
Preferring best-of-breed
However, the report suggests that teams need to do more about talent development and retention and adopt more flexible tools (of the kind Qt provides, likely). Further, the advice is to improve integration capabilities between different tools, systems and components to maximize the value of platform strategies.
More than half of teams prefer best-of-breed tools –provided that these integrate well with existing tech– which is striking at a time when best-of-suite seems to be gaining traction, partly due to GenAI. Only 35 percent would prefer such all-in-one solutions.
The Qt Group specializes in developing software tools and frameworks for creating advanced graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and cross-platform applications. Its software is widely used in the automotive, industrial automation, healthcare and entertainment industries, among others.
Also read: Qualcomm and Qt team up to accelerate development for IoT devices