Appliance Development Process

In order to shorten the time-to-market for your appliances, the NCS Swift Appliance Partner Program adopts the following process:

• Design Phase - Our Product Management and Engineering staff will work with you to understand your application software and to help you define your exact hardware requirements. We will then develop a system configuration based on the definition of your hardware requirements. This configuration will form a basis of the Functional Reference Platform that we will provide to you for the testing of your application software. This testing will help you and us to evaluate the performance and compatibility of the software. At the same time, we will also work with you to develop a mutually acceptable schedule for the development of your product. This schedule will of-course be based on the launch schedule of your products. We will submit a written proposal outlining the planned schedule, hardware configuration, costs, warranty, support, and all other relevant issues.

• Development Phase - While you are testing and evaluating the Functional Reference Platform, we will be busy developing the prototype. The prototype will have the same internal components (e.g., system board, power supply, hard disk drive, etc.) as those of the Functional Reference Platform, but its chassis may be different. The chassis of the prototype may include simple mechanical modifications to the Functional Reference Platform such as a customized front panel bearing your company logo and color scheme and with (or without) LED/LCD status display. The prototype may also be housed in a completely new chassis designed and fabricated specifically to meet your requirements. The prototype will bear the exact custom look and feel you specified. We will thoroughly test the prototype for its chassis form-fit and operating system compatibility. The prototype will be subjected to extensive thermal testing. We want to make sure that the air-flow within the chassis provides adequate cooling for all internal components. We will also use your functional test scripts to run "close-to-real" environmental testing. During this developmental stage, we will develop work instructions for the final production units and design custom packaging material for your appliance. The prototype appliance will be provided to you for final acceptance.

• First Article - If the prototype is accepted, our Product Management and Engineering staff will proceed to build the first article for your final verification and acceptance. This system will be assembled and tested using the work instructions developed during the development phase. Thorough quality checks will be done and quality control documents will be finalized during this stage.

• Mass Production - Once you accept the first article and give us the approval to proceed, our Product Management and Engineering staff will prepare and transfer to their Production counterparts all material and information necessary for the mass production of your appliance. The work instructions and quality control documents developed in the earlier phases will be instrumental in facilitating this transfer of responsibilities. Our Production staff will receive training on the assembling, testing, and burn-in of your appliance products. The Program Management team will take over the project and will be responsible for the day-to-day operations ensuring superior quality service designed specifically for you.