Siemens employs more than 30,000 software developers - about as many as Microsoft - and spends about three billion euros per year for software development. The developers are spread all over the globe; key locations are Corporate Technology (CT) in Munich and Program and System Engineering (PSE) in Vienna as well as Siemens Information Systems Ltd. (SISL) in Mumbai, India. Global teams work on innovative systems such as the hospital information software Soarian and the multimedia platform IMS.
To make software available more quickly and more powerful, Siemens CT has focused on standardization and modularization. For this, individual software modules are optimized and equipped with standardized interfaces. Afterwards, they can be put together into programs almost as easily as Lego blocks. The CT researchers are also treading new paths for fighting faulty software: they developed the Code Inspector, an analytical tool that automatically scans through programs and sounds an alarm when a weak spot is found. In another project, a team of engineers linked mobile technology with an improved GPS position determination. This led to the creation of "digital Post-its," which are first sent to the cell phone when the user has reached a previously determined location
