How many versions of SQL Server are you running? With the limited number of enhancements made in the SQL Server engine it seems that companies are less likely to upgrade their current version that previously. That may be an error on my part, but that is my perception based on the versions of SQL Server being requested on Job Postings.
I am seeing companies looking for SQL Server developers frequently going back as far as SQL Server 2008, not the 2008 R2 release in 2010. Many times they want experience from 2008 and include later versions. This is not a faultless perception on my part because they may simply be willing to hire people with solid experience in older versions, believing the individual can come up to speed with the new capabilities of a later release.
So, with that limited foundation I am wondering how many versions of SQL Server may be found at any one company? If there are multiple versions, what are the issues raised by supporting multiple versions?
I know from experience it doesn’t work well having different, more advanced versions of SQL Server or it’s tools in a development environment if you intend to push the changes to another environment using older versions. One company I worked with many years ago used the Developers version of SSIS supporting Fuzzy Logic, and found later that their code would work in a production environment using SQL Standard.
This represents just one product. What about all the other software we use for operating systems, web servers, etc? Do multiple versions impact you just the same?
What’s your perception and experience? Is it realistic that companies concurrently use multiple versions of SQL Server and the ancilliary tools? What problems have you seen arise as a result of this practice? Get into the conversation with your comments here. You may also send email to btaylor@sswug.org if that works better for you.
Cheers,
Ben