Gateway Platform Engineering Manager
Eaton’s power management systems are essential for delivering uninterrupted and reliable power to mission-critical applications such as data centers and server collocations. With the acquisition of Tripp Lite, Eaton faced several challenges and needed the help of Witekio for:
1. Integration of Legacy Systems: Ensuring that Tripp Lite’s legacy UPS devices could seamlessly integrate into Eaton’s unified software ecosystem, providing a consistent experience across mixed fleets.
2. Limited Manpower: Although Eaton’s team had technical expertise to undertake the project, their limited internal resources necessitated the involvement of external experts to meet project deadlines and scale efficiently.
3. Knowledge Transfer: Updating technical documentation of the existing Eaton software to support Tripp Lite devices and ease future product improvements.
Eaton partnered with Witekio to leverage their expertise in embedded systems and software development. The project’s execution involved several innovative and technical measures:
Significant effort was invested in learning the intricacies of proprietary protocols used for communication between UPS devices and network management cards. This knowledge was then structured and added to Eaton’s existing technical documentation to ensure everything was up to date for any future development.
Witekio developed a plugin that enabled Eaton’s network management cards to support both Eaton and Tripp Lite devices. This required creating specialized code to handle hardware and protocol differences, masking these discrepancies at higher levels of the application to ensure a seamless user experience.
To address the logistical challenge of limited physical device availability, Witekio built a custom simulator that replicated the behavior of Tripp Lite UPS devices. This tool facilitated rapid testing of various scenarios, including edge cases like power overloads, low battery states, and overheating, without the need for physical devices.
The simulator’s ability to recreate exceptional conditions allowed Witekio to support a wide range of device models efficiently. By recording and replaying device-specific data, the team significantly reduced testing time and enhanced development accuracy.
Witekio collaborated with Eaton’s internal tester to set up automated end-to-end tests for the Eaton user interface. These tests were designed to verify that new updates did not introduce regressions, ensuring a stable and reliable experience for users.
Witekio’s contributions extended beyond the initial project requirements to ensure Eaton’s internal team were in the best place possible to continue advancements.
The simulator was not part of the original scope but proved instrumental in accelerating development and testing. Recognizing its value, Eaton extended its use to other device models and scenarios.
The plugin's unit test framework and test suite were refactored to bring compile time down. This resulted in reduced delays in testing iterations, providing a productivity boost that benefited both teams.
1. Unified System Support: The new plugin enables Eaton’s network management cards to seamlessly support mixed fleets of Eaton and Tripp Lite UPS devices, providing customers with consistent and reliable experience.
2. Streamlined Testing: The simulator and optimized testing framework significantly reduced development time, ensuring faster delivery of solutions.
3. Enhanced Efficiency: Addressing hardware differences and protocol discrepancies minimized disruptions, enabling Eaton to focus on delivering value to its customers.
4. Scalable Foundation: By supporting a broad range of models with a unified solution, Eaton’s systems are well-positioned to adapt to future requirements and innovations.
