• Andy Warren (8/1/2015)


    Eric, I'm cautious about "advocating". Too often we in IT push version next "just because", where the because is often more about our own worry of falling behind on skills than any real needs. Certainly that isn't always the case. I find that changes the increase limits or remove limitations are things they like to hear, new capabilities less so unless they are code free changes. For example, backup compression was a nice win because we could show space saved and it required only a config change (and a minor one). But to your point, if you don't know what is there, you can't at least put it on the options to explore list when challenges arise.

    I would never push the next release of SQL Server on the basis that it has some cool new windowing functions or extended support for geo-spacial data types. It would have to be based on something like availability enhancements or a feature that provides an order of magnitude improvement in performance. However, the concern about not falling behind in terms of updated skills is real. If someone finds themselves back in job market having no experience with SQL Server beyond 2005 or 2008, then that puts them behind the eight ball.

    "Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho