Automated Test Outlook 2013
The Automated Test Outlook is a comprehensive view of the key technologies and methodologies making a large impact on the test and measurement industry. One of the biggest challenges for test engineers and managers is staying current on technology trends. National Instruments has a broad knowledge of technology trends and interacts with companies across many sectors, which gives us a unique view on the test and measurement market. This makes it possible for us to be a strategic partner with many of our key customers in identifying trends and industry best practices. For 2013, we highlight five major trends across five categories: business strategy, architecture, computing, software, and I/O.
How We Arrived at the Trends
We solicited feedback from the NI customer base of more than 35,000 companies worldwide and, with our research and development activities, generated quantitative and qualitative data to identify trends.
BUSINESS STRATEGY: Test Economics
Test economies are broken and need to focus on modeling to justify investments.
ARCHITECTURE: Software-Centric Ecosystems
The software-centric nature of technology will transform the capability of automated test systems.
COMPUTING: Big Analog Data
Companies are leveraging IT infrastructures and analytic tools to make quicker decisions on test data.
SOFTWARE: Test Software Quality
Increasing test software complexity takes advantage of software development best practices to ensure test system reliability.
I/O: Moore's Law Meets RF
Technology advancements drive up performance and drive down the cost of RF test equipment.