Why not upgrade to the latest .NET framework?

Question

I see a lot of people have .NET 2.0 or even 1.1 as a requirement for their projects. In my own workplace there is also lots of skepticism for upgrading to the latest and greatest .NET framework.

As a programmer I feel it is very frustrating working with the older frameworks when you know that you could have done this so much easier with the newer frameworks. I usually install beta versions and play with them so I quickly get familiar with them and in the process forget the old way of doing things so it's a pain to relearn what you have tried to forget when you have the constraint of working with older versions.

What are the reasons for hanging on to the old versions when they should be compatible and how can you convince people to upgrade?

Answer 1

First, understand the reasons why businesses are slow to upgrade.

Computer systems are not a strategic advantage for most of the companies out there. They are a necessary service function.

Since they are necessary, breaking them can be extremely expensive. Since they are not a strategic advantage, being able to develop slightly faster is not a large advantage.

You are proposing that a company spend resources to keep upgrading to the latest version for likely but not certain and not major gains, with the possibility of a lot of breakage. For most companies, this is not a win. It's safer to adopt things after they have been out there for a while. They miss some upside but avoid a chance of a disastrous downside.

Go ahead and propose upgrading to the latest and greatest if you like, but you'll be much more effective putting it in a business (as opposed to technical) manner. Try to find out quantitatively how much more effective it will make you, and therefore what the company can save. (They won't pay attention to a figure you make up, might possibly pay attention to one somebody well known makes up, and are more likely to believe something supported by a study.) Acknowledge the downsides, and show what the likely costs are going to be, and find ways to limit the downside. Be very wary about fudging anything, as the decision-makers have a lot more experience rejecting this sort of thing than you have of proposing it.

Don't make any mention of developers liking the latest stuff, or you'll come off as somebody wanting the company to pay for new toys, and lose a lot of credibility.

You can sometimes get what you want, but it helps to know how to ask for it.