[consulting] Feasibility

[Sam Tresler]

I have found myself in a the middle of an upgrade where I thought it 
might be easier to rebuild, but only when it was built incorrectly in 
the first place or given modules are end of life or replaceable by 
something better.

I think that is an important distinction to make because in those cases 
we are really talking about 2 streams of work. The upgrade, and fixing 
what is broken or needs replacement, which may require rebuilding 
sections. So, my point is upgrading is rarely a cause for rebuild, 
however, rebuilds sometimes need to happen and concurrently with upgrade 
could be convenient. Hope that makes sense.

I'm not really sure what third party modules are inherently difficult to 
upgrade across major versions that don't provide clear upgrade paths. 
Could anyone provide a specific that they've had issues with?

-S


>> From: "Sam Tresler"<sam at treslerdesigns.com>
>> To: "A list for Drupal consultants and Drupal service/hosting providers"<consulting at drupal.org>
>> Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 11:26:50 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
>> Subject: Re: [consulting] Feasibility
>>
>> " Part of providing value as a consultant is knowing when we should
>> and
>> when we shouldn't do something for a customer unless they say we don't
>>
>> care do it our way."
>>
>> Right. And as a consultant we probably shouldn't be making blanket
>> recommendations without assessing the actual situation first.
>>
>
> Right that is why I said "points well taken."  I was simply offering my opinion and thoughts to see what others were.
>
>> In my experience it is a rare site that actually needs a rebuild. Why
>>
>> would we bother with an upgrade path at all if that weren't the case?
>>
>
> I am speaking specifically to third party modules that don't upgrade well.
>
>> These instances stand out in our mind because that's A) usually when
>> they call the consultants in, and B) They're a giant PITA. But as far
>> as
>> 'always being more cost effective to rebuild' I think that is very far
>>
>
> You are paraphrasing me.  I didn't say always.
>
>> off the mark. And not a good or true impression to leave a client
>> with.
>>
>
> So have you ever found yourself in the middle of a complicated upgrade were you thought, huh, might have been better to just start from scratch?
>
>> Regards,
>>     Sam Tresler
>>
>> On 02/13/2012 11:21 AM, Christian Pearce wrote:
>>> Points well taken.  What ruler do we use to decide quickly if it is
>> a simple site that is could be upgraded easily? Sort of doing the
>> upgrade to see if it works. For example are you using CCK and views?
>> If so then no it isn't worth it?  Or how much content do you have?
>> Part of providing value as a consultant is knowing when we should and
>> when we shouldn't do something for a customer unless they say we don't
>> care do it our way.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- "Sam Tresler"<sam at treslerdesigns.com>   wrote:
>>>
>>>> From: "Sam Tresler"<sam at treslerdesigns.com>
>>>> To: "A list for Drupal consultants and Drupal service/hosting
>> providers"<consulting at drupal.org>
>>>> Cc: "Christian Pearce"<pearcec at xforty.com>
>>>> Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 11:08:26 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada
>> Eastern
>>>> Subject: Re: [consulting] Feasibility
>>>>
>>>> I'm not sure I agree with this. It depends on what/how the site
>> was
>>>> built originally. I've upgraded simple sites along that path (5 to
>> 6,
>>>>
>>>> then 6 to 7) in less than a day. More complex sites or sites that
>>>> weren't built properly in the first place, the assertion that
>> rebuilt
>>>> is
>>>> cheaper may be true. I don't think this is a blanket statement
>> that
>>>> you
>>>> can say until we know more details about the site.
>>>>
>>>> Upgrading themes is fairly simple if you follow the well published
>>>> step
>>>> by step guides.
>>>>
>>>> I guess my main point is "Upgrades are never smooth" is not the
>> case.
>>>>
>>>> Frequently they are, and when they aren't it's generally due to
>>>> problems
>>>> that need to be fixed regardless of the upgrade.
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>>      Sam Tresler
>>>>
>>>> On 02/13/2012 10:45 AM, Christian Pearce wrote:
>>>>> (Please don't turn this thread into garbage.  Which tends to
>> happen
>>>> from time to time.)
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi Amy, I don't want this to necessarily be about you or turn you
>>>> off from our list.  So please accept my advanced apologizes if it
>>>> does.
>>>>>
>>>>> I wanted to get people's thoughts on upgrade versus rebuild from
>> a
>>>> cost perspective.  Seems to me going from 5 ->    7 would require
>> going
>>>> to 6 first.  Upgrades are never smooth.  Having to go from 5 ->    6
>> and
>>>> the 6 ->    7 would be effectively paying for 2 upgrades.
>>>>>
>>>>> What are the pro's of upgrading?
>>>>>
>>>>> 1. Site content comes along for the ride.
>>>>>
>>>>> What are the con's?
>>>>>
>>>>> 1. More expensive then a rebuild
>>>>> 2. Might be forced to redo functionality
>>>>>
>>>>> Seems to me in either case you need to upgrade the theme to work
>> in
>>>> 7.  And you are more then likely finding replacement modules for
>>>> existing functionality.  So if you are already forced to redo
>>>> functionality, might as well put the money towards a refresh.
>> Further
>>>> I would venture to say on small sites it would be more worth while
>> to
>>>> redo functionality and redo the content by hand.
>>>>>
>>>>> Please lets have a healthy, no flame, honest and open opinions
>>>> discussion.  Also please don't talk ill of Amy's request.  I am
>> sure
>>>> several non-profits are in her shoes. And I would suspect budget
>> is
>>>> limited.  Hence my reason for bringing it up.  What is going to be
>> the
>>>> most cost effect.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> ----- "Weinstein Amy"<amy at achildrensbraintumorcure.org>    wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> From: "Weinstein Amy"<amy at achildrensbraintumorcure.org>
>>>>>> To: consulting at drupal.org
>>>>>> Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 9:46:58 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada
>>>> Eastern
>>>>>> Subject: [consulting] Please post this job listing on the
>> mailing
>>>> list...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Freelance job opportunity with small non-profit (501c3)
>>>> organization
>>>>>> dedicated to funding children's brain tumor research.
>> Experience
>>>>>> required includes Drupal 5, 6 and 7.  HTML, SQL, PHP.  Position
>> is
>>>>>> part time and would require upgrade of existing website from
>> Drupal
>>>> 5
>>>>>> to Drupal 7.  Also, transfer of site from existing host to
>> Drupal
>>>>>> Gardens.  After upgrade is complete, ongoing maintenance (10
>>>>>> hours/week) would be welcomed.  Please respond ASAP to
>>>>>> amy at achildrensbraintumorcure.org
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks!
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
>>>
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