Training Document
This training guide is designed to help technicians upgrading or installing software into their systems. We can’t hope to cover all situations but will cover the most common issues.

Problems with existing software
Existing Software could be unstable and frequently causing your system to crash, or there may be problems with your existing system what a software upgrade may fix. Some programmes may not run if the software needed isn’t upgraded to run that programme, therefore updating the software will allow the programme to run. Old software may be glitchy and causing problems making your computer slow down, updating it to the new software may solve this problem.
No longer supported by the manufacturer
Some software isn’t supported by the manufactures anymore because they released it so long ago. This is why you should change your software to newer versions otherwise you can no longer use the thing such as help desk, or any security flaws will not be updated and patched.
Security
Software tends to attract hackers into trying to find ways through the systems and obtain private information on your computer, if there are any flaws in your operating system. Updating your software if there is security issues is a big thing and is also a must otherwise you may be a victim of your computer getting hacked.
Company Policy
Many companies need to stay up to date to be able to support their customers, therefore company policy may be in place which states all software must be updated every 3 years. If the company fall behind in technology they might not attract as many customers.
Additional Functionality
Upgrading software may also add additional features or improve some features which weren’t available in the older version of the software. A good example of this is a strong parental control that was lacking in Windows XP and that is now available in Windows Vista or 7.

Risks Involved in Upgrading and Installing Software
Downtime
When the installations are happening the company could have downtime whilst the servers and equipment are doing the installs. Parts of the network could be out of action meaning that customers will have longer waiting times for a response.
Incompatibilities
On completion of the installation the software could be found to be incompatible with the current system software causing issues with communication.
Productivity
A major concern would be a loss of end use of productivity meaning that company profit margins could be affected and may decrease. The upgrade could slow down the end users rate of work because they may not be familiar with the system.
Minimising the Risks when Installing and Upgrading Software
Backups
Backing up the computer files will help ensure you don’t lose any of them in case something goes wrong while updating your software, if it does you will always have the backed up files available to access. These risks are likely to happen, therefore its essential that you backup your computer before installing updates.
Installing at low risk times
Installing updates at a low risk time would really help the productivity in your company, installing while the employees are working wouldn’t be a good things to do because they may lose their work and also they are losing out on productivity. If these updates are installed at a time when the employees aren’t using their computers then you will not be losing out on any productivity.
Incremental Installations
Installing updates on a small area of computers while they are not getting used for a short period of time would make the installations faster on the systems, and also enable the productivity to continue. You could also evaluate and test for problems all together on the small group of computers. Once a small area has been completed you could gradually increase your way around the computers enabling all the computers to be updated in small sectors, while the businesses still run their operations.

Advantages