Ehningen – October 30, 2026 -- Bertrandt's virtual test platform violis.io took first place in the "Ecosystem Excellence" category of the automotiveIT "IT Team Awards 2026", with a worked example cutting a 210-hour test run to about 2.1 hours.
Award combines 60% jury and 40% community vote
The prize was presented at the automotiveIT Congress. The category honors solutions through which technology partners and joint teams advance the automotive industry, including IT projects with demonstrable economic benefit, innovative technology and lasting impact on how companies work. The overall score is weighted 60% by an expert jury and 40% by community voting.
Platform tests vehicle software before control-unit hardware exists
violis.io combines virtual control units, simulation models and existing test tools to replicate electronic control units and their interaction in a virtual environment. Development teams can check early whether individual functions work as intended and whether different vehicle functions interact reliably.
Test capacity no longer depends on the number of available test benches. Virtual environments can be replicated on suitable IT infrastructure and run in parallel, either in a cloud or within a company's own IT environment. The platform provisions the environments, automates workflows and consolidates results. Its open connection of tools lets customers keep existing systems and established test procedures and integrate them into automated workflows.
Parallel execution cuts 1,800-case lighting test from 210 to 2.1 hours
Bertrandt illustrates the effect with vehicle lighting validation. Running 1,800 test combinations sequentially at an average of seven minutes each takes 210 hours. Running 100 tests simultaneously reduces the calculated duration to roughly 2.1 hours. Teams get feedback sooner and can fix errors faster, which shortens time-to-market for new functions and updates, according to the company.
Growing software scope strains scarce physical test rigs
The rising number of software-based vehicle functions increases validation effort, as new functions and updates require comprehensive testing. Physical test facilities are limited, so teams may wait for free capacity and find errors later in development.
Nic Eckstein, team leader for Testing Solutions at Bertrandt, said the platform moves part of validation into the virtual world and lets customers start testing much earlier. Physical benches can then be reserved for tasks that genuinely require hardware, which also eases the load on existing rigs and reduces additional investment in test hardware.