Software Updates: Never Having To We Are So Sorry
Software updates are a fact of life, and most are done reasonably well. As it should be because software is about as far removed from perfection as anything could possibly be, a reality that may have something to do with the Incompleteness Theorem by Godel, possibly related to the Heisenberg Compensator in Star Trek, or otherwise one of the mysteries of life. Software updates are ways of fixing old mistakes and introducing new ones, in a kind of perpetual cycle. Some of these updates, like the one that did us in the other day, can create all kinds of problems that take a while to figure out, during which the organization is basically shut down. Most updates have cursory warnings, but this one had only a cryptic notice that the update was underway; no by-your-leave, and certainly no you are about to be thrown over a cliff warning. The new Help system was like the old one, vaguely describing what we actually have, and grammatically correct but devoid of meaning. It is a big company whose product update did us in, with customer service by email only, reinforced by a main phone number that is not connected to voicemail, a fax number that never picks up, and a log file that cannot be reset and in any event is totally meaningless. Bad as it was for a day, it did reinforce some lessons that we have reapplied to our software products: 1) Explain what is going to be changed and why, with effected file names; 2) Get a double confirmation from the customer before starting the update; 3) Backup the existing system before performing the update proper; 4) Never change customer configuration data; 5) Provide for registration keys to be copied into the clipboard; 6) Have a global reset/revert button in case another update changes our assumed environment. Above all, have respect for the time, energy comfort and sanity of the customer.
Tags: software updates