Dave Grattage says: "There have been a few comments about firms losing their investment in Evolution. I do not accept this, as investment should always be in staff and processes rather than software. Using an analogy if you can drive a Ford Mondeo you can drive a BMW 5 series although a thorough test drive is always recommended before purchase! " There are two obvious holes in this analogy: (1) Quality comparison. The fact that the Mondeo and the BMW 5 series are both cars says nothing about their relative qualities. I know which one I'd rather have in my drive! More to the point, if I purchased a BMW 5 series, then was told 2 years down the line that my BMW was being "upgraded" to a Hyundai I'd have a right to feel extremely aggrieved about my loss of investment. Mr Grattage has made an assumption that the two products compare favourably in terms of quality. I don't know enough to know whether this is the case, but it seems to me to be a sizeable assumption. (2) Fitness for purpose comparison. What if I purchase a BMW 5 series, then after 2 years the dealership says "we're upgrading you to a Hummer stretch limo". The Hummer might be of superior quality but it may well not be suitable for my circumstances - e.g. "it won't fit in my drive", "my elderly grandmother can't get into the back seat". A firm that has selected its case management software carefully will have had a series of generic AND specific requirements and will have gone to the market place with these in mind. There is no guarantee that the "upgrade" system will meet these requirements. Of course it was inevitable from a product strategy perspective, that IRIS would end-of-life some products. What has lost them a lot of credibility is the way that has been announced. Working for a firm that is considering its case and practice management software, there is no way we would look at any IRIS software at the moment, as you can't rely on the strategy not changing again, and that's essential when taking a decision that will affect the firm for the next 5-10 years at least.