Enterprise software supports test effort

An enterprise test-management system can support engineers by enabling interactive analysis of frequency, linearity, power-consumption, and error data. Such a system can aggregate test data and make characterization and validation reports available within a department as well as across departments, reports Gricha Raether, director of sales and marketing at VI Technology, in the Webcast “Enterprise Test Management for Electronic Component and Device Designers.”

Enterprise test software works with your existing instrumentation and host controller as well as with test-system-management software like NI TestStand and applications software such as NI LabView.

Raether describes three common approaches to enterprise test management. A file-based system makes use of tools commonly available, such as Microsoft Excel and Google search. File-based systems are easy to comprehend and require minimal or no out-of-pocket startup costs. Yet, Raether says, such systems fail to offer concurrency, have security limitations, lack enforceable platform standardization, and can make finding and aggregating data tedious and inefficient.

A second alternative is an enterprise database system, but, says Raether, deployment of such a system requires IT skills not common to engineers, and entry-level startup costs can be high. A more effective alternative, he says, is the third option—a platform system that's scalable and extensible and that can readily work with the hardware and software you already have (figure).

The Webcast, sponsored by VI Technology in conjunction with Test & Measurement Word, was presented live on October 10. The archive is available for viewing on demand at www.tmworld.com/webcasts.