TeamF1 : Support : Services :

Services FAQ

	What kind of Warranty do you offer on your services?
	TeamF1 provides an exceptional 30-day warranty on all software development for your project included in the services fee, even if engaged on a fixed-cost basis! Additional warranty periods are available at competitive rates. Further, if your application does not perform in the way described in our approved proposal, TeamF1 will delay payment terms until the problems (if any) are fixed to your satisfaction. Although our customers have never had to test this (thanks in no small part to excellent work on the part of our team-members), this gives you the satisfaction of knowing that what you expected is what you get!

	What operating systems do you develop BSPs & drivers for?
	We develop BSPs & drivers for a variety of industry standard embedded operating systems such as VxWorks, pSOS, QNX, eCos, and Linux (OpenSource or embedded variants) as a part of our turnkey solution offerings when we supply a complete solution comprising of our networking and security technologies on a customer-specific system. Our driver development capabilities range from simple UART serial drivers to complex wireless / gigabit network drivers and hardware accelerators for cryptography and protocols. We also specialize in writing modular drivers which can be targeted with very little effort to multiple operating systems and which work across a variety of system buses and glue logic, making them very attractive for use with ASIC and programmable silicon IP blocks. For more information on this, please contact us.

	What operating systems do you support?
	Our networking software components are developer in the most portable way possible, making it feasible to target operating systems even outside the embedded space. However, our focus is towards the smaller-footprint, higher-performance requirements of embedded systems. Currently our network components run under VxWorks, Linux (standard and embedded variants), LynxOS, pSOS, QNX, Thread-X and other embedded operating systems. Because of our emphasis on integrating as tightly as possible with the base platform, in order to leverage the resources provided by the hardware and OS, we frequently have different "editions" for each OS we support, thereby eliminating integration efforts on your end.

	Do you provide engineering services on a "Fixed-cost" or "Time & Materials" basis?
	TeamF1's projects are typically, but not always, done on a turnkey (fixed-cost) basis. When the scope of the project has not been nailed down at the outset or if the design specifications are subject to change based on changing market requirements we let you choose other models that will be the most flexible for your needs. Either way, we will help you budget for your projects by giving you a good-faith estimate of the effort involved.

	Do you "place" consultants at the client's site?
	Our normal mode of operation for most projects involves taking a project and breaking it down into pieces which can be handled in-house by our team-members based on their specific expertise and integrating it with the standard software modules we license. This model does not work very well if specific people need to work on-site at the client's location. We believe in adding value to a project as a team and with our licensed intellectual property, and not just providing an extra engineer or two where a group is understaffed. So we usually do not "place" consultants or act as recruiters. That said, we do work very closely with a client's engineering team for various aspects of a project, including but not limited to design reviews, integration work etc. which may be carried out at a client's site upon request.

	How exactly do you go about submitting a project proposal & what will it contain?
	TeamF1's services are very customer-specific and tailored to the problem at hand. After a detailed analysis of a client's problem, TeamF1 team-members propose an original approach to help implement embedded software applications and give an estimate on the work requirement and a project time-line (also called a Rough-Order-of-Magnitude or ROM estimate). The client then decides whether a formally specified Statement of Work (SOW) can be drafted for a turnkey option or an ongoing project should be worked out on an hourly basis. Our goal is to free the client from having to hire different consultants for different pieces of puzzle and provide a one-stop solution including customized versions of our products with other system-level, test and deployment services. For every project that has a design phase, TeamF1's proposal includes a basic Requirements Study of the project. A proposal is then drafted which includes the results of the requirements study and the formal quote for the project. This document will be the road map for the development and delivery of a client's customized application. It will define all aspects of your project, including the milestones, deliverables and the delivery dates. For projects in the implementation or validation phase, the nature and content of the requirement study and consulting proposal will vary on the project needs. However you can be assured that every portion of the work performed before or after getting project approval will be totally customized to your project.

	Are you available for short-term consulting and/or troubleshooting on an hourly basis?
	As a part of a comprehensive solution, we do offer services for trouble-shooting oriented portions of projects which require intensive bursts of activity, only to existing customers who have engaged with us. All travel arrangements are the client's responsibility.