The Information Technology (IT) Vocabulary Builder series aims to deliver a very concise summary of a currently relevant topic to Information Professionals.  It is done mostly by collecting a small number of highly relevant web links to save you the time of combing through search results yourself.  It differs from sites such as Wikipedia because it includes opinions, forecasts, and detractions in addition to just facts.

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Today’s term is Crossgrade.  This is how Wikipedia defines the it:

(computing) to upgrade a software application so that it is able to run on a different platform

Essentially, it is the concept that sometimes when you replace a piece of information technology hardware or software, you are not upgrading or downgrading your capability, but rather side-grading via a crossgrade.  If upgrading is an improvement in functionality and downgrading is the opposite, then replacement without a capability benefit is a crossgrade. 

Here are some of the reasons why one might be interested in doing this:

  • Your preferred product has reached end of life and the follow-on is non-existent, too expensive, or lacks a key feature.
  • There is a support incentive or benefit to switching to another provider’s product even though it lacks any new feature.
  • There is a training benefit or incentive to an alternative product.
  • You have decided to switch some backend system, such as your Operating System and your application is no longer supported.
  • You have upgraded your operating system and the new OS does not support the preferred product.
  • There is an alternative product in performance that is available for a lower cost.
  • There is an open-source alternative now that did not exist when your chose the original.
  • A preferred vendor now has a solution that was not available when the original was selected.
  • You have changed a piece of hardware and now have to switch the software that interfaces with it.

As you can see there are potentially many reasons to consider a cross grade.

Here are some of the best links on the subject that I found in my search of the web:

Hopefully, this introduction to the vocabulary word was valuable for you.  Considering all the options for optimizing knowledge management is a core competency of all Information Technology Professionals.  It is wise to consider not just upgrades and downgrades, but crossgrades.  

That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for November 5, 2009  by Scott Coughlin.

Image Credit: Social Mathematics

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