Zytek Systems has been designing, developing and manufacturing automotive embedded control systems since the early 1980's. Initially, products were developed solely for the motor racing marketplace, where Zytek supplied many race teams, including some well-known names in Formula One.

This early work provided the solid foundations which subsequently led them into road car engine management and, since 1989, they have supplied Jaguar, Aston Martin, and Rolls-Royce Bentley with advanced engine control systems.

The Zytek Group of Companies also provide contract engineering services, and are the sole supplier of engines to the FIA International F3000 Championship.

Zytek's selection process for a comprehensive Configuration Management tool began in the latter part of 1999. Although Zytek had used Merant PVCS for a number of years for version control, software design processes were still essentially controlled using paper- based systems and the Company was seeking to progress further into computer-based process control.

After considering Rational ClearCase & ClearQuest and Telelogic Synergy (Continuus), Zytek concluded that AllChange was the right Configuration Management tool for them.

Zytek's Mark Dawson-Butterworth summarised:

"I found AllChange intuitive and, equally importantly, it included the flexibility we need to cope with a wide range of projects with differing lifecycles - there seemed to be little understanding of this concept from the other vendors we considered."

For example, considering road car and race car engine management, road car system software development lifecycles tend to be very formal with tight controls at each stage of the development process whereas race systems, which require very rapid turnaround of design changes, are usually developed with fewer formal stages in the design process. The lifecycles are very different but, in both cases, full traceability from requirements through to deliverables is essential.

Zytek is now successfully using AllChange at three design and development centres in the UK Midlands where the design activities controlled include the full software lifecycles for several major embedded systems development projects. Although their prime interest is in design process control and version management, Zytek makes use of other AllChange features including integrations with third-party applications such as MS Word. In the longer term, Mark considers it possible that use of AllChange in Zytek will move beyond software to some areas of mechanical and electronic hardware design documentation.

Mark's other main commendation is for Intasoft's technical support:

"The reponse is very rapid - you get relevant, detailed information coming back from people who really know what they're talking about, it's amongst the best support service of any of the products I've used."

Mark concluded:

"AllChange has won the support of all staff using it as it doesn't obstruct work, with a good Configuration Management tool, it's second nature to do things properly. As a result, we have far better traceability of software and there is further potential to streamline the control of electronic and mechanical design documents. AllChange facilitates the capability to be electronic rather than paper-based and this will be of great benefit as the Zytek Group grows and documentation has to be controlled in a consistent way across more sites.

Overall, it is my opinion that AllChange has improved the efficiency of certain key areas of our business and I anticipate that it will continue to do so."

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