Vendors will occasionally go out of business, or more
commonly, discontinue support of a particular version of their
software. If a user continues to use the software, it would be
at an increased level of risk because if a problem arises, the
vendor may not exist to actually address the defect or willing
to correct defects in obsolete versions of software they no
longer support. The risk is, however, somewhat instrument
and software dependent, particularly for older instruments
and software. As long as those systems are being managed
and used properly, there may not be a reason to update them.
Agilent regularly considers whether or not upgrades provide
enough value, enough new functionality, or enough defect fixes
to be able to justify the cost, the time, and the pain involved in
replacing or revalidating the system.
