Bertrandt wins automotiveIT 'IT Team Award 2026' for its violis.io virtual vehicle-testing platform
Bertrandt's violis.io platform, which moves vehicle-software testing off scarce physical test benches and into virtual environments, has taken the automotiveIT 'IT Team Award 2026'.
- 60%
- 40%
- 1,800
- 210 hours vs around 2.1 hours
What Happened
Bertrandt has won the automotiveIT “IT Team Award 2026” in the “Ecosystem Excellence” category for its violis.io platform. The award was presented as part of the automotiveIT Congress. The category recognises solutions through which technology partners and collaborating teams support the further development of the automotive industry, for example through IT projects with demonstrable economic benefits, innovative technology and a sustainable impact on the way companies work. The overall score is based 60 percent on the assessment of an expert jury and 40 percent on community voting.
As the number of software-based vehicle functions increases, so does the effort required to validate them: new functions and updates must undergo extensive testing. Physical test systems, however, are only available to a limited extent. Development teams may therefore have to wait for available capacity, and errors may only be identified at a later stage in the development process.
The violis.io platform from engineering partner Bertrandt replicates control units and their interaction in a virtual environment, bringing together virtual control units, simulation models and existing test tools. Vehicle software can then be tested even when the corresponding hardware is not yet available, so teams can verify early whether individual functions operate as intended and whether different vehicle functions interact reliably. Unlike conventional hardware-based testing, test capacity does not depend on the number of available test benches, because virtual test environments can be replicated on suitable IT infrastructure and operated in parallel. violis.io provides the required test environments, automates processes and consolidates the results, and by openly connecting different tools and test environments it lets existing systems and established test processes continue to be used and integrated into automated workflows, running tests in parallel on cloud infrastructure or within the IT environment.
“With violis.io, we are shifting part of the validation process into the virtual world, enabling our customers to begin testing significantly earlier in the development process. Tests can be run in parallel and results can be made available more quickly. This allows physical test benches to be used specifically for tasks where physical hardware is actually required.”
- 210 hours total
- around 2.1 hours
210hours
The same workload drops to around 2.1 hours when 100 tests run in parallel.
- Test capacity no longer depends on the number of available test benches.
- Existing test benches are relieved.
- Additional investment in test hardware is reduced.
- Development teams receive feedback significantly earlier and resolve errors more quickly.
- Time to market for new functions and updates is reduced.
- Existing tools and established test processes can still be used inside automated workflows.
Previously from Bertrandt
In April 2026 Bertrandt launched Light MES, a manufacturing software product that connects office and machine in real time, giving production teams continuous visibility into order status, machine conditions and material flows. In March 2026 the company received an award for sustainable IT resource use after handing over 5,000 used devices to afb social & green IT, saving 4 million liters of water and creating 6 inclusive jobs.
- Bertrandt launches Light MES software for real-time shop floor transparency and control
- Bertrandt Wins Award for Sustainable IT Resource Use
Background drawn from MotorClaw's earlier coverage of Bertrandt's official releases.
Why this matters
Vehicle software now has to be validated before the matching hardware exists, and physical test benches are only available in limited numbers — a bottleneck for any company developing software-based vehicle functions. By letting teams start testing earlier and run many tests in parallel, the approach shortens feedback loops and frees expensive hardware for tasks that genuinely need it. Bertrandt says this reduces the time to market for new functions and updates and cuts the need for additional test-hardware investment.
Terms in This Story
- Control unit
- An electronic computer module in a vehicle that runs the software for a specific function, such as engine management or lighting.
- Test bench
- A fixed rig in a laboratory where hardware components are connected to instruments and run under controlled conditions.
- Validation
- The process of checking that software or hardware behaves as intended before it is released for use.
- Simulation model
- A software model that imitates the behaviour of a real component or system so it can be exercised without the physical part.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.