3 Responses

  1. Kasim Hansia
    Kasim Hansia at |

    I would largely agree to your analysis, however when it comes to Business Critical apps, it's not that application or the underlying platform alone but the Business Process that defines the number of apps involved to complete a full business transaction end-to-end. The technical design does pose a challenge then, especially in the area where specific technologies or s/w may either have limitations in terms of resources or functionality or both. I've been in many projects and seen multiple times where beta software has been used with complete success. Many a times, beta or open source software is never studied properly enough. There needs to be a clear test plan in place with almost all possible error checks and handling. At the same time, one needs to have a very clear SDLC and corrective measures in place along with rapid deployment to test plans to ensure that any updates to the Beta s/w is carried out with as little jolt and shock to the production environment (ideally none). Last but not the least, if the beta s/w does not come with a clear release plan and a roadmap on version releases, then the risk goes up, hence we need to take a call between what the s/w can achieve with higher risk vs. what a manual workaround with some validation might receive with relatively lower risk. Happens in large SAP and other deployment projects all the time. In the context of VCDX defense however, it might not be such a good idea. In real world though, it does work.

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  2. Kasim Hansia
    Kasim Hansia at |

    Well, I wouldn't put a Beta technology on the absolute base of the solution itself. What I am referring to is components in general. Certain beta s/w components in any large project, with the above considerations, is pretty normal. But something like beta version of some virtualization engine or storage technology which is not even a 1.0 product and/or unproven in the mission critical apps space is something I'd clearly steer away from. Will the business of the customer collapse if they get a report a few mins later on an existing proven storage technology or database as compared to a beta version which can potentially serve it a lot faster, with higher risks? Answer is No. That's a business decision based on the various perspectives you've highlighted. Having said that, it's not unusual for some customer to become the first guinea pig…oops….revolutionary cutting edge technology adopter to run with it first. What we both have highlighted then becomes an absolute must. I'd like to see someone challenge this notion in the context of a VCDX defense. It'd certainly make some panelists uncomfortable in their seats and make them draw out the red pen from their pockets for scoring on this, but it'll certainly be interesting to see someone cover this from an objective perspective and a damn good reason to include it in the first place. (E.g. would be my SAP design :))

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