In our last post we reviewed the high level adoption time line; in this post, we will cover the exploration phase.  The objectives of the exploration phase are to

• Understand the factors that influence the time required for adoption
  and
• Set deliverable for the initial adoption phase.  (covered in part II)

From the last post, the factors influencing the adoption timeline are

• Current usage of modeling tools:  The level of current knowledge and usage of modeling tools will influence the initial training and evaluation required.
• Current software development processes:  The software processes adopted as part of a Model-Based Design workflow will leverage or extend many of your current software development processes.  The more formalized the existing processes the simpler the transition.
• Compliance with high integrity software development processes: For a subset of software development projects compliance with high integrity processes such as the DO178-C or ISO 262622 imposes verification and traceability requirements that other processes can omit.
• Processes required for development:  The Model-Based Design environment offers multiple tools for the development of software.  Determination of which tools and processes are required is done as part of the initial adoption phase.

The first step in exploration phase is to identify the stakeholders in the change process. and to understand the current development process both what works well and what needs improvement.  

Questions you should ask

1. How do you currently connect requirements to
   1. Controls deliverable
   2. Testing
   3. Bug tracking
2. What is your controls development process, waterfall, scrum,  design V?
3. What are your current software tools
   1. Version control
   2. Bug tracking
   3. Test infrastructure
   4. Requirement tracking
4. How is the software handed off between
   1. Controls and software engineers
   2. Controls and  test engineers
5. What is your current testing process
6. Where have most bugs entered into your current development process?

In the next post

In the next post, I will outline what questions you should ask moving forward.