Have you heard of Murphy’s Law – Anything that can go wrong will, and at the worst possible moment? Well, software companies are not immune! Despite all the research, development and testing done prior to the release of a new software product, sometimes there are “problems within a program when it is released. These problems are generally known as bugs, probably because they are pesky and unwanted. The bugs may be something simple that is easily fixed, like a preference that needs to be changed; or it can be serious, causing your program to not operate with your hardware or other software programs. Additionally, software companies sometimes find security holes in their software that make it possible for viruses or other malware to get installed. They don’t want to leave these holes, so must issue fixes to prevent problems.
Remember the recent uproar over the iPhone, its faulty antenna and insufficient availability of the ballyhooed 4G bandwidth? That is, hopefully, bigger than the type of bug that we are referring to here, but it is a good example of “Mr. Murphy” at work: Unforeseen and highly annoying.
You may have heard of a Service Release as a “Patch” or “Band Aid” for your software. This is an additional, usually small, software program that is downloaded onto your computer to will correct bugs or problems within the program.
One notable exception is if you are working in cloud based software. With cloud based software, updates and service releases are generally applied automatically. You may be notified directly when problems are detected and/or a solution is applied or, if the problem didn’t impact you, you may never know.
It is important, if you upgrade your software and start experiencing problems, that you call your software consultant as soon as possible. First, they will diagnose whether you are experiencing issues that are related to the installation, the software, or if you simply have a training issue. Software can get installed incorrectly, causing it to malfunction. If you are upgrading from a very old version of the software, training is frequently a cause of concern as new features may have been added that perform tasks differently than previous versions. New software versions often look different from older versions as companies try to make the software easier and more intuitive to use. While we may agree that changing the way the software looks generally does not make it easier for long-time users, the change is there. Sometimes the program can be setup to look like the old version, but this may limit your ability to take advantage of new features.
If your software consultant finds that there is a problem with the software itself, they will report it to the vendor. If they advise you that there is a known issue with the software, other users have reported problems as well. Your consultant will have been speaking to other consultants, to the software vendor, and reviewing online feedback. Sometimes this is the fastest track to a workaround or a fix for the problem. The software vendor will hopefully work to get a patch out to its customers as quickly as possible. Remember, they need to test the patch so as to prevent further issues.
Depending on the vendor, and whether you have an Annual Maintenance Plan for your software you may be notified of service releases or patches. This may be via email or some notification within the program. In some cases you will need to check the vendor’s website to see if a service release is available to download onto your system. Generally, software consultants will know of the availability of updates, can notify you of the release, and even install it for you.
You may also become aware of a service release by searching on the web, based on an issue you are having with your software.
However you find out about the service release, you should always plan the installation process in order to minimize disruption to the office, just like you plan for the installation of new software. For one thing, you will want every workstation in the office to install the service release. Some service releases will require a reboot of the computer or the server. It is important to know this before you start so that you don’t interrupt critical processes within the office. You will also want to make sure that no one is working in the program at the time of the installation of the update and you should always do a backup before installing the update, just to be safe.
While service releases are generally produced free of charge by the software company, you may wish to have your software consultant install it, especially if you do not have a support plan with the software company. While there may be a charge for this service, the consultant will likely have experience and be able to insure the installation is done properly. Even if you do the install yourself, it’s a good idea to check with your consultant as they may have some useful advice to make sure the upgrade is smooth.
While software changes and updates may not be desired they will probably happen. Through planning we can try to keep Murphy’s Law from impacting your firm.
