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© The HOISe-NM Consortium 1997
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European HPCN tool developers have to cross several barriers
Brussels, 26-03-1997 European HPCN tool developers are facing several barriers which they have to cross before product prototypes are put successfully in the market. This is the conclusion of a survey conducted amongst 120 European tool developers. At a meeting in Brussels, with the European Commission, several actions were proposed to improve the situation.
In the EC funded report Survey and market structure of HPCN software tools, conducted by Smith System Engineering and the Parallel Applications Centre, Southampton 120 European HPCN Software developers were questioned. From this survey, it was concluded that there are two main barriers to cross in the route from research to product or service. The first barrier is the movement from research-based development towards a software product. The second for a software product to assume product status, which requires distribution channels or an identifiable user-base.
The closer the tools are to the operating system, the greater the difficulty for the European hardware vendors to cross the barriers. The influence of the US hardware vendors is seen to be a dominant factor in the likely success of a software product or service. This influence diminishes as the software becomes more closely linked to user applications.
In any case, the transition from the high quality tool research conducted at European universities and research institutes to products and services, is not as smooth as one might wish.
To address this issue, 35 tool developers met at the European Commission, last month.
They concluded that to better become acquainted with user requirements, alliances with hardware vendors and solution providers are needed. Also, co-operation between tool developers could be improved in areas of common interest. For instance joint marketing activities and sharing of experiences and methodologies.
It was agreed that a working group of European software tool developers can provide a useful forum for discussion and exchange of ideas and experiences. An on-line inventory of HPCN software tools would enable groups to identify synergy and potential collaboration as well as advertising products and services.
The European Commission (EC) will support these initiatives in several ways. Esprit PST projects, supported by the TTNs, can be used to increase the visibility and take-up of software tools The EC will support a HPCN software tool working group and a WWW site for HPCN software tool developers and services providers