Concord, MA, October 7, 2003 – A study just issued by Gantry Group found that electronics companies using the Synchronicity Developer Suite for design collaboration and management are achieving a strong positive ROI as a result of both cost reduction and the ability to attract more revenue. The complete study is available as a white paper on Gantry Group's website.

Gantry Group conducted a series of interviews with Synchronicity customers who have been using Developer Suite for at least 1 year to capture differences in workflow processes before and after implementation. Customers were unanimous in their claim that Developer Suite is a key enabling factor for bidding on multi-site design projects, which are a requirement for executing complex next generation SoC projects. Aside from serving as the driving infrastructure for design collaboration and management, customers viewed Developer Suite as the standard for deployment of Release Management best practices – a set of design and management processes that ensure structured communication, data transfer, and overall project visibility.

“In studying the ROI value drivers of Synchronicity Developer Suite implementations, we determined that while proactive notifications and a reduction in configuration errors significantly raised engineering productivity, profitability was also enhanced by getting to market faster,” said Dawna Paton, a Managing Partner at Gantry Group. “One of the major challenges facing semiconductor companies is completing designs that have grown a 1000-fold more complex in the last twenty years without hiring additional engineers. By boosting engineer productivity, Developer Suite helps companies to manage the huge growth in complexity even with constrained human and financial resources.”

“We were pleased by Gantry Group’s prompt and professional execution of this survey,” commented Brad Hafer, Synchronicity VP of Marketing and Business Development, “and delighted about this independent confirmation of the value we know we bring customers.”

Synchronicity Developer Suite is a software solution that serves as the infrastructure for the deployment of enterprise-wide Release Management best practices for design collaboration and management. All aspects of the design process and associated data are managed within a single, centrally managed database, eliminating the use of multiple ad hoc data management tools and numerous private copies of data files. Key functional areas include: hierarchical project management, structured data transfer, and the ability to quickly compare design files to identify and resolve issues.

As part of its research, Gantry Group found multiple areas of return on Developer Suite investment from the customers surveyed:

• Significant reduction in number of design cycles from efficient project management
• Reduction in configuration errors through superior visibility into all project aspects
• Greater customer satisfaction from accurate deliverables and documented interactions
• Improved ability to control and reduce project delays in order to meet pre-scheduled Fab runs and market windows
• Ability to re-use legacy designs (Intellectual Property – IP) data through continuity of knowledge

Additional return areas included enhanced revenue opportunities through support for large, complex projects and repeat sales, reduction in costs from re-spin incidences, and decreasing the time spent by engineers fixing false-builds from several weeks to one person-day. Avoided revenue loss from late market entry and avoided labor costs from delays also figured prominently in customer experiences.

This study provides compelling evidence that Synchronicity Developer Suite customers are gaining net positive return by changing their design processes. While spending more time on project management, customers are able to control costly design delays and improve product quality. Electronics products companies with Developer Suite can offer a similar comfort to their customers as the ISO 9000 certification for quality assurance.

About Gantry Group
The Gantry Group is a strategic advisory firm that uses primary market research to conduct technology ROI impact analysis for both enterprises and technology vendors. Gantry Group has helped over 175 companies drive sales, introduce new product concepts, acquire new customers, increase brand equity, and increase customer lifetime value through our market analysis, market validation, and ROI/TCO benchmarking service suites. Gantry Group has equipped product and service firms with credible TCO and ROI models that communicate value in the terms of the business metrics that customers and prospects use to access the performance of their own companies.

Additional information about Gantry Group can be found at www.gantrygroup.com.

Gantry Group is a trademark of Gantry Group LLC of Concord, MA.

 

Synchronicity is a registered trademark and Synchronicity Developer Suite is a trademark of Synchronicity Software Inc.

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