October 2007 Celebrating 20 Years!
AVISTA engineers have an average of more than 11 years of industry experience We provide cutting-edge technology and expert resources to solve a variety of business challenges—from accelerating time-to-market to reducing the cost of end-products. AVISTA is successful because we help our clients achieve their business objectives, thanks to our dedicated team of employees. Our long-term, experienced engineers make us unique with so many companies using independent contractors. I'm proud of our team. Soon, you’ll see some exciting new developments to better serve you, our valued clients. We recently expanded our programs management team, and we also added a business development manager to help you better scope projects. You'll also be hearing from us more often as we continue to improve our services, and share the insights and expertise of our engineering experts. We appreciate all the valued client-partners of AVISTA that have made our company a success. Thank you for 20 wonderful years!
- Back to Top - Planning Your Next Project?When planning an embedded software project, moving from high-level requirements to specific project details can lead to questions and miscommunication about budget, resources and schedule. Detailed attention in the early stages of discovery, planning, requirements gathering, and resource allocation can save you headaches in the long-run. AVISTA’s programs managers have an average of 17 years of experience planning and managing software projects Whether you're respsonsible for product management, engineering, or purchasing,
effective collaboration and attention to the critical early planning
steps can save you money and keep your project on track. Accurate stakeholder
identification, project scope definition, process selection, risk identification and quality
control are key to understanding timelines, resources and budget required
for a project. Historical data is very helpful in planning, but if you're
venturing into new territory, how do you plan without the data? - Back to Top - AVISTA Earns CMMI Level 5At AVISTA, continuous process improvement is part of our culture. The company has been appraised at CMMI Maturity Level 5—the highest available. Achieving CMMI Level 5 enhances AVISTA's ability to offer significant business value to clients through globally leading-edge quality and processes. AVISTA dedicated close to 40,000 staff hours toward achieving CMMI Level 5 AVISTA continues to be a leader in process improvement initiatives, having achieved the highest CMMI and ISO ratings of any domestic critical-systems software services provider to date. Our Level 5 rating ensures your project is completed to the highest quality, and in a cost-effective and timely manner. The CMMI model is the internationally recognized standard for measuring the quality of an organization’s software engineering processes. CMMI Maturity Levels are used to judge software services providers and their ability to provide high quality software. AVISTA is one of less than 25 companies in the U.S. and about 160 in the world that have earned Maturity Level 5. Learn more about how our Level 5 process can help your next project. - Back to Top - 787 Project Delivered A key goal for the 787 is to reduce weight by replacing the traditional hardwired FDCP with embedded and hosted application software. To achieve this technological innovation, Korry turned to AVISTA for its extensive full life-cycle DO-178B certified avionics software expertise, and deep experience with the CCS software platform. AVISTA has more than four years of experience with CCS Working with both Korry and Boeing, AVISTA was responsible for requirements definition, software planning, design, implementation and integration, as well as all requirements-based testing for DO-178B Level B. Korry’s FDCP system contains control panels located in three major areas of the flight deck: the overhead panel, the aisle stand and the forward panel. The FDCP reports the status of each flight deck switch to aircraft systems and receives system status to illuminate annunciators on the control panels. Read more in the PDF case study. - Back to Top - AVISTA and Silver Software Join ForcesAVISTA and Silver Software have partnered to help avionics companies enjoy the benefits of experienced, U.S. based project management and onsite support, while realizing the cost savings of offshore software development services. The combined resources of AVISTA and Silver Software include more than 500 employees in four countries Both companies offer industry-leading DO-178B expertise underpinned by world-class CMMI Level 5 processes. Now, clients utilizing our mixed model can be confident of a seamless high-quality, low-cost service across the full or partial development lifecycle. The industry-leading expertise in DO-178B certification and vast experience managing programs for U.S. based companies from AVISTA, combined with Silver Software’s avionics domain expertise and SEI CMMI Level 5 rated offshore development capabilities, reduces the risks and overcomes cultural barriers that can sometimes occur with offshore outsourcing. Email us if you'd like to learn more about this offering for your next project. - Back to Top - AVISTA Brain CandyJust a little something to make you smile today. Yes, engineers have a sense of humor too! A programmer and an engineer are sitting next to each other on a long flight from LA to New York. The programmer leans over to the engineer and asks if he would like to play a fun game. The engineer just wants to take a nap, so he politely declines and rolls over to the window to catch a few winks. The programmer persists and explains that the game is easy and great fun. He explains, "I ask you a question, and if you don’t know the answer, you pay me $5. Then you ask me a question, and if I don’t know the answer, I pay you $5." Again, the engineer politely declines and tries to get to sleep. The programmer, now somewhat agitated, says "Ok, if you don’t know the answer, you pay me $5, and if I don’t know the answer, I’ll pay you $50!" This catches the engineer’s attention, and he sees no end to this torture unless he plays, so he agrees. The programmer asks the first question: "What is the distance from the earth to the moon?" The engineer doesn’t say a word, but simply reaches into his wallet, pulls out a five-dollar bill, and hands it to the programmer. Now, it’s the engineer’s turn. He asks the programmer, "What goes up a hill with three legs, and comes down on four?" The programmer looks up at him with a puzzled look. He takes out his laptop computer and searches all of his references. He taps into the airphone with the modem and searches the Net and the Library of Congress. Frustrated, he sends email to his co-workers—with no luck. After about an hour, he wakes the engineer and hands him $50. He politely takes the $50 and turns away to try to get back to sleep. The programmer, more than a little miffed, shakes the engineer and asks, "Well, so what’s the answer?" Without a word, the engineer reaches into his wallet, hands the programmer $5, and turns away to get back to sleep. - Back to Top - |
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This
year is a very special one at AVISTA Incorporated. This month we're
celebrating 20 years in business. Back in 1987, a small team of industry
visionaries created a new company to provide software resources to
Rockwell Collins. Outsourced software was rare then. While software
outsourcing is more common today, few companies specialize in critical-systems
software.
Looking
back, it was quite an adventure. Our first office building in Platteville
was a former convent. We used to joke about being the only software
company with a real confessional booth, including a working kneeling
platform, lights and all. Today, we're more than 150 strong at our
U.S. headquarters, with even more resources offshore.
Korry Electronics turned to AVISTA for software development on the
Boeing 787 flight deck control panels (FDCP). With deep experience with
the Common Computing System (CCS) utilized for the 787, AVISTA has been
involved in a number of 787 projects.