Salesforce.com does a great job of handling languages and international date formats (and fairly well at currencies). But the one thing that makes me shudder is their release naming scheme which is based on seasons in the Northern Hemisphere.
For example, when is Winter ’08? Is it the Winter at the start of 2008, or the Winter at the end of 2008? Meanwhile, it’s actually summer here in the Southern Hemisphere.
Perhaps they need to look at the world differently:
The only problem is… I can’t think of anything better. Can you?
The Bottom Line
- Seasons aren’t a great naming convention
- Global warming may provide a solution
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:07 pm
What can we do?
The idea to change it:
http://ideas.salesforce.com/article/show/22926?skin=null
didn’t come up with any alternatives.
Calling it 156 might mean that the development team wouldn’t have to think of two names, but it’s not catchy.
If only we had a mostly-local product (like fashion) then we could launch autumn-winter in the southern hemisphere in march, and something else everywhere else.
With 3 releases a year, we need a lot of names.
Of course, the seasonal approach even if changed leaves out Singapore. What do we do when it’s always 32C with a chance of showers?
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Ah, yes. I should avoid pointing out problems without also recommending solutions!
The fact is, I’m generally OK with the seasons (since they are simply opposite ours). My biggest difficulty is with whatever happens at the beginning/end of the year, as mentioned above.
Plus, I’ll admit that the seasonal graphics are easier than trying to convey “ME, XP, Vista”.
You win!