Six Tips to Start the New Year Off Right

New Year's Resolutions are so last century! So we're sending you a few tips to start the New Year off right based on our 10+ years experience in the software development field. Enjoy, and Happy New Year!

	Back up your mission critical data Make sure your hosting provider backs your data up nightly. Don't forget to also back up your individual computers both locally (Mac users can leverage Time Machine) and offsite using a service like Crashplan, Carbonite, Mozy, etc.
	Protect your data and systems Review the credentials of who has access to your critical data, and remove access from people who have left your team.
	Make sure you are running the latest software maintenance updates Plone 4 is out, Drupal 7 was released a few days ago: should you upgrade? Read the latest Idealware report.
	Cut your development costs Make sure you devote significant time to planning by creating user stories, developing wireframes and producing detailed specifications. Since we adopted a Planning & Analysis methodology, we have seen development timeframes and costs drop by up to 40%.
	Improve your software development quality Demand that your technical team include continuous testing in their development cycle. At Six Feet Up, we use a software called Hudson to automatically run tests each time code is committed.
	Stay up-to-date on the latest in technology Send your technical staff to the Open Source Bridge Conference, OSCON, the Web 2.0 Summit and/or the South by Southwest Conference. Try the open source knowledge management system KARL for free.

Feel free to contact us with questions or tips. We wish you success in 2011!

-- All of Us on the Six Feet Up Team

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