An interesting glimpse into the world of tuning -- how the ECU codes are modified. Author is the President of AWE Tuning, a well known US Porsche tuner with a strong affiliation with GIAC (eclou's car uses the AWE-GIAC power package and went to 186 mph at the Texas mile). I have no affiliation with either.
BTW, in case you don't know, the US tuning community is one of extreme hyper-activity. Surely a lot of fun, with the 2 top dogs, GIAC and EVOMSit, gunning for each other almost on a daily basis (kidding about the gunning; I mean competing 
). Very good for customers.
The author did not indicate who the "new kids on the block" are, for obvious reason, but it's fairly safe to assume the 3 most active tuners for 997 Turbo in the US -- GIAC, EVOMSit, and Switzer (See Alex's table above & http://www.switzerperformanceinnovation.com/ ) -- are not. They all carry a high level of expertise and sophistication. That Tym Switzer for example seems to be some sort of genius magician.
(Another company that deserves some attention is Protomotive. Very well known with 996 Turbo's but not so much with 997 -- I don't know why. A friend who posts here, AAHTT, actually uses Protomotive in his 997 and my butt's dyno tells me it's one of the fastest cars I've EVER been in. And I've been in a few fast ones. 
Results of both eclou's GIAC & AAHTT's Protomotive tuned cars are also posted in Alex's Performance Table above.)
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http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/997-turbo-gt2/142660-benefits-giac-flashloader-system-3.html
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There are vast differences among the different "classes" of software out there for our cars.
First, one must differentiate between software that is created using third party tuning programs and software created in the same manner that the OEMs, like Bosch and Siemens, use. This is a very important distinction as the method used to create the end product dictates how thorough, stable, and sophisticated it will perform.
All the "new kids on the block" fall into the third party tuning classification. They are using recently available products that allow them to superficially tweak the performance tables in the ECU to increase power. However, the depth to which these third party programs allow changes to be made is relatively shallow. These tools are basically dumbed down browser-based interfaces that allow end users to manipulate superficial performance tables via graphical representations. These tuning programs started popping up on the market in droves in the last couple years, and are named WinOLS, Optican, Piasini, and Cartech (among others). A company can purchase these programs/tools, hook them up to an ECU, and with a little guidance from whom they bought it from, start playing around with these low level performance tables.
The "OEM type" of interface is via programming tools written and developed by the same company actually doing the performance tuning. This means that the people working at this level can understand and modify in the same language as the people who originally programmed the fuel injection ECU. The level of understanding to work in this native environment is so high that, until the third party programming tools came about, very few people in the automotive performance aftermarket were qualified to go there. Which is why until very recently, there were very few companies offering performance software for German cars.
However, do not confuse one's ability to tune an ECU with the ability to tune it well. These new Windows-based third party translator tuning tools are pale versions of the powerful tools developed by the companies that speak the same native machine language that Bosch does. A German car ECU's operating system relies on very sophisticated command software utilizing functions that cross reference operational conditions and database data on multiple levels. A single 3D graph that represents an engine parameter does not really represent how deeply the ignition timing, or air/fuel ratio, or boost level function that is is representing is accounted for in the actual operation of the engine.
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Regards,
Can
997 Turbo + Bilstein Damptronic (Review) + Cargraphic Exhaust (Heavenly Race Car Noise 
Review)
Does that £7,000 package *include* the Cargraphic smuffler? 
. So there you have the 2 top dogs of US ECU tuning and their interaction 
. 
