"Driver on a floppy" delivery of ATE instrumentation software

With the advent of "open architecture" ATE systems where multiple vendors provide instrumentation for ATE platforms, it becomes critical to change how software for this instrumentation is delivered and integrated into the base software platforms. No longer can the ATE vendor require that all software come from a single source through a single process as a single set of binaries. However, it is equally critical to avoid pitfalls that might adversely impact the performance, functionality, ease of use and quality that determine the ultimate success of automatic test equipment