EchoScrum®
EchoScrum®
EchoScrum®
Our Agile Model for Developing Safety-Critical Systems
Functionality and Security
Technological change is rapidly shifting from internal combustion engines to e-mobility and from traditional driver-operated vehicles to highly automated vehicles. As a result, there is a growing need within the automotive and e-development community to provide highly flexible and rapid development processes, especially in the early stages.
OEMs and Tier 1 companies need thorough validation of their innovative products as early as possible to quickly identify misjudgments and necessary changes in requirements, architecture, etc., and to reduce the risk of costly late-stage changes.
The Benefits of EchoScrum®
Developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) provides an opportunity to implement functionality and safety collaboratively and efficiently from the very beginning—while also complying with relevant standards. Through an integrated approach, functionality and safety do not diverge but continuously complement each other throughout the development process.
When functional safety, cybersecurity, and SOTIF are considered early on and throughout the process, consistent results are achieved without surprises later on. Teams benefit from the fact that coordination and adjustments can take place directly within the iterative cycles. This reduces time-consuming rework and avoids delays in the project timeline.
EchoScrum® is the first agile development model specifically designed to systematically prevent costly failures from the very start of product development.
EchoScrum® is a registered trademark of Wertefest GmbH. This method ensures compliance with ISO 26262 and other relevant standards such as ISO/SAE 21434 (cybersecurity) or ISO 21448 (SOTIF) with the same high degree of flexibility and efficiency as agile development.
- Agile and Sustainable
- Function and Safety
- Save time and money
Four Pillars
At the heart of this model are four fundamental rules: If these four fundamental rules are followed, it is possible to achieve a closely integrated, incremental development of both features on the one hand and product safety and cybersecurity on the other.
1. Continuous Improvement
The product is developed incrementally by iterating through two consecutive sprints of equal length, which are inextricably linked like a call and its echo. A sprint refers to a short, clearly defined period during which a Scrum team achieves a specific work goal. Sprints help break down large projects into smaller, manageable steps. They promote transparency, adaptability, and continuous improvement.
2. Two mindsets complement each other A single team develops both the feature (Call) and the security outcomes (Echo). The necessary shift between the feature mindset and the security mindset must take place within the team. The EchoScrum Team® possesses the expertise for both feature development and security development and is responsible for all Call and Echo sprints.
3. Gradually increasing security At the start of each Echo Sprint, depending on the project phase, all applicable types of safety and security analyses (FMEA, FTA, FMEDA, DFA, cybersecurity, etc.) are performed incrementally as part of a holistic approach, serving as the foundation for a gradually evolving and validated safety plan and concept.
4. Verified safety
At the end of each Echo Sprint, checks for consistency, traceability, and other standard requirements—such as validation tests—are performed. In this way, MVPs and subsequent product increments that comply with the relevant standards are available in every development phase.
EchoScrum® Whitepaper
If you are interested in EchoScrum® and would like to learn more about it, please read the white paper.