RE: Maintenance Windows

There are several different approaches we use.

I work on the weekends, test on weekends, do the work in pieces of a size
that can get completed in a weekend, or evening.

I tell everyone to stay out of certain software, until I am done working on
it & I tell them when they can get back in.

I use a copy of the software in a test library. I may give users
instructions how to test, then return to production reality. When the
testing is satisfactory, it will only take a few minutes to copy the test
software into the production reality.

For some reports, we have versions ... the old version can be run from menu
at any time ... I let people know when the new version is ready for them.
There's a naming convention tied to continuous improvements.

We have one program whose output is ISO controlled. Each time it is
modified, the version # is incremented, and various people are sent a
directory of changes implemented ... net change one version to the next.

It is not just software that gets changed, it is also pricing, costs,
rollups, material planning, end fiscal, taking the system down for backups.

You are fortunate if you do not have people at remote locations who go home,
leaving session signed onto some application which will bomb if you remotely
kill their session.

-
Al Mac

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Dave Boettcher
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 11:57 AM
To: Midrange-L
Subject: Maintenance Windows

Just a curiosity question,

What is your practice for maintenance of existing programs?
Is there a set time each week that users know the system will be down for
maintenance?
Or can maintenance be done at any time?

Thanks for your response.

Dave B