What's the Rush? An Ounce of Prevention Whatever It Takes Consistency Teamwork

What's the Rush?

A multimillion-dollar company's production environment isn't the place to play with the latest new toys.

We computer-nerd types always want the latest, greatest, fastest, newest. But "latest and greatest" also means "unknown and untested". This is not a perfect world; new software routinely has problems, sometimes serious ones. My employers would not thank me if I upgraded an application the company depends upon, only to find that the new version was unstable or flawed, and staff were impeded from performing their jobs.

Unless there is an immediate and pressing need, I don't implement new technologies, or upgrade applications, until they have had a chance to get the bugs shaken out. I use trade magazines, vendor web sites, and technical support newsgroups to monitor the experience of other companies that have already taken the plunge. Their experience helps me prepare for what lies ahead when we upgrade.

I try to walk a fine line between remaining current and playing it safe. Don't fall behind, but don't ride the cutting edge either. After all, there's a reason it's called "cutting".