March 22nd, 2008

Remodeling an existing house poses very different challenges than building a new one from scratch. Remodeling a business without closing down is even more challenging, and that’s a lot like upgrading and updating your servers without down time.

Let’s push the analogy a little further by pointing out that the challenge is a little bigger because unlike a traditional business, you can’t just hang a sign out that says “We’re Open During Remodeling!” You need to upgrade your servers without anyone noticing that things have changed, often dramatically, on the back end.

This doesn’t mean that it can’t be done, or that it has to be painful. Some businesses close down for the weekend, and those two days of unavailability may work out fine, but some companies work 365 days a year.

During 2007, we were asked to make a number of significant improvements to the servers at Northshore Christian Church and Academy. It’s a fast-paced environment with hundreds of workstations, any one of which may be needed on any day of the week. In addition to upgrading software and replacing hardware, we had to remain at the ready for equipment failure, which grows more common as devices age.

Qualified IT managers are always going to be able to update and improve network environments without down time. It will require addition caution, time and skill, but it can be done, and for many businesses, it’s really the only option.

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