July 26, 2005

The IT budget has no clothes

Finally someone who calls it like it is. I've been arguing for years that people are upgrading software just because they can, and not because they need to. Sure, there are people who can benefit from, say, Office's integration with XML. (I can't think of any, but I'm sure they're out there.) But that doesn't mean everybody needs it. Heck, unless I need to track changes, I can usually get by with WordPad. It'd be a waste for me. And it's not just Microsoft, even though people think that's my problem. It relates to any software. You should only have to upgrade if you actually need the new product. It's just that Microsoft is the one that is constantly trying to get people to pay for useless upgrades, so it comes up most often in discussion.

Check this out: Shared Spaces Research & Consulting: Stop! An IT Spending Manifesto

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Posted by roadnick at July 26, 2005 08:19 AM | TrackBack

Comments

Well said. You are spot on, my friend. BTW, where is the Chaos Magnet home office?

Posted by: Troy Worman at July 27, 2005 01:08 AM

Thanks, Troy. I mean, there's something to be said for having the latest and greatest available, but not mandating that it be universal.

Actually, wasn't that the idea behind "network computing"? That you would have access to whatever features you actually needed at the time?

(And I've answered your question privately, for obvious reasons. :))

---- Nick

Posted by: Nick at July 27, 2005 08:30 AM

I agree with you for the most part, but what of software that could pose a potential security risk if left unupdated (Basically anything with contact to the outside world)? Microsoft are actually quite good at supporting old software, where other companies aren't.

They sure make you pay for it, though!

Posted by: John at July 31, 2005 06:31 PM

Well, I would say that falls under that category of "need to upgrade". But I'd think really hard about it, if I'm ugrading because of a lack of support from the company...

---- Nick

Posted by: Nick at August 1, 2005 08:18 AM
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