Software Defined Vehicles (SDV), Software Defined Networks (SDN), Software Defined (Power) Grids (SDG) are just a few examples of how the Software Defined Transformation is unfolding across many industries today (collectively being referred to as Software Defined X – SDX). This paper defines a maturity model for Software Defined Transformation and evaluates different industries including Automotive on their evolution so far. This cross-industry view of SDX helps in analyzing where SDV’s could be headed.
A 2020 paper [1] lays out the complexity of the automotive software, with companies pursuing several directions in this transformation. The automotive industry has not yet reached a consensus on the direction it is taking on SDV. While companies like Tesla are already making software centric cars, traditional OEMs like General Motors, Toyota, Ford etc. are making huge investments and redefining their business models, tech stacks and operations to leverage the power of software. There is an opportunity to introduce an overarching framework to compare SDX across industries. We propose a three-step “Define-Evaluate-Forecast” Framework
We “Define” a multi-dimensional SDX Maturity Model around three strategic areas: Technical/Product, Operating Model and Business/Financial. Technical areas include State of the Architecture, Reusable Innovation Enablers and level of Autonomy & Abstraction between Hardware and Software. Operational parameters considered are Organization Alignment for Software, Availability/Adoption of Regulations & Standards. Business aspects include Customer Experience, Ecosystem value proposition, Total Cost of Product & Ownership, Return on Investment.
We “Evaluate” similar traditional industries like Telecom, Storage, Power Grid and score them per the SDX maturity levels, accounting for their differences in complexity.
We “Forecast” the course for Software Defined Vehicle over this decade and the next, based on the observations, analysis and understanding of the journey of the other industries.
This paper studies the evolving software defined transformation across several industries and provides a “Define-Evaluate-Forecast” framework to compare them and prognosticate the future of SDV, leveraging the advancements and learnings from other industries.