Choosing an Embedded Systems Partner: 7 Questions to Ask
Last updated: June 2026
Quick answer: Before hiring an embedded systems company, verify they design hardware AND firmware (not one pretending at the other), ask for a shipped product still operating in the field, confirm they engineer for power, OTA updates, and failure recovery, and require written IP assignment. In Australia, embedded development runs roughly AUD $100–$200/hour, with device programs typically AUD $15,000–$60,000.
Why embedded is where vendors bluff most
"Embedded" appears on every software agency's services page, because the bar to claim it is a Raspberry Pi project. The bar to do it is power budgets, real-time constraints, EMC-aware board design, and devices that recover themselves in a paddock at 3 am. These questions find the difference fast.
The 7 questions
1. "Show me a device you shipped that's still running in the field. How long, how many?"
Good answer: named deployments with operating hours and honest failure stories. Red flag: lab demos and "client confidentiality" covering everything.
2. "Do you design the PCB and write the firmware, or just one?"
The board and its firmware are one system. Teams owning both fix problems at whichever layer is cheapest; split vendors negotiate at the interface while your budget burns.
3. "Walk me through how you'd estimate battery life for my device — before hardware exists."
Good answer: a power budget — sleep currents, radio transmit cost per message, sensor duty cycles, with maths. Anyone hand-waving this has never shipped a battery product.
4. "How do your devices handle a failed firmware update or a crash in the field?"
Good answer: dual-bank OTA with rollback, watchdogs, brown-out handling, remote diagnostics. This single question separates production engineers from prototype builders better than any other.
5. "What's your debugging setup?"
Good answer mentions hardware: JTAG/SWD probes, logic analysers, oscilloscopes, RF tools. Embedded bugs live below printf.
6. "Who owns the IP — schematics, firmware source, build environment?"
You, in the contract, including the toolchain to rebuild it. Firmware lock-in is the quietest vendor leverage in hardware.
7. "What about my project worries you?"
Real engineers always have an answer — a risk, a certification question, a supply concern. "Nothing, we've done this before" is the most expensive sentence in product development.
Cost context (Australia, 2026)
| Engagement | Typical cost (AUD) |
|---|---|
| Feasibility / discovery | $1,500–$5,000 |
| Firmware for an existing board | $8,000–$30,000 |
| Full device program (board + firmware + basic cloud) | $20,000–$60,000 |
| Ongoing engineering retainer | $6,000–$20,000/month |
Frequently asked questions
Should I hire freelancers or a firm for embedded work?
A senior freelancer suits bounded firmware tasks on existing hardware. Full device programs need mechanical, electrical, firmware, and cloud skills no single freelancer holds — and a bus-factor of one on your core product is a real risk.
How do I evaluate embedded skill if I'm non-technical?
Use questions 3 and 4 above verbatim. You don't need to judge the maths — you need to see whether maths appears at all, instantly and specifically.
What microcontroller should my product use?
The one your team can justify against your power, cost, connectivity, and supply-chain needs — in 2026 that's commonly STM32, ESP32, or Nordic families, but the justification matters more than the logo.
Further reading
- Custom hardware and electronics design
- IoT systems and connected device engineering
- 13kV RMU fault-detection embedded case study
Incendio Solutions designs custom electronics and writes firmware for constrained targets as one team — 66+ shipped projects. Tell us what you're building.