Assume that your company uses a release methodology for its sales system. The current version is 5.5. Decide whether each of the following changes would justify a version 6.0 release, or be included in a version 5.6 update: (a) Add a new report, (b) add a Web interface, (c) add data validation checks, (d) add an interface to the marketing system, and (e) change the user interface.

What will be an ideal response?

In general, a whole number change in the version number of an information system, such as a change from 4.5 to 5.0, indicates the presence of significant upgrades to the system. A change from 4.5 to 4.6 indicates that the new version contains relatively minor changes from the prior version. These guidelines might produce the following results:

These changes are minor, and probably would result in version 4.6:
• Add a new report
• Add data validation checks

These changes are more significant, and would be more likely to result in version 5.0:
• Add a Web interface
• Add an interface to the marketing system
• Change the user interface