Compatibility is key to customer loyalty

Richard A. Quinnell, Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 5/1/2007

PXI is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. During that decade, perception of the standard went from it being considered a single company’s vision to being seen as a main contender in the design of next-generation test systems. One of the keys to this remarkable growth in market acceptance is the PXI Systems Alliance policy of retaining compatibility.

All standards evolve over time, and technology also changes, opening opportunities that did not originally exist or creating complications that were not anticipated. How the governing body handles this evolution is one key to a standard’s continued market acceptance.

A guiding principle in the evolution of PXI has been compatibility. This includes backward compatibility as well as cross compatibility among modules, cages, connectors, and software. The PXISA has worked to ensure that whatever changes it introduces to the specification do not make new products incompatible with older ones

Unlike consumer designs, which have market lifetimes sometimes measured in months, test systems can have operational lifetimes measured in decades. By keeping an eye on compatibility, the PXI community has successfully kept the specification in line with technology while preserving the users’ investment in PXI equipment. This has been key to building customer loyalty to the standard and promises an even greater second decade for PXI.

Contact Richard A. Quinnell at richquinnell@att.net.