How can I convince my department to implement a version control system?

Question

I recently joined the IT department of a big insurance company. Although the department\'s title is \"IT\", a lot of code gets written here; Java, JSP, JavaScript, COBOL and eve

Answer 1

You don't necessarily need their permission.

Install svn on your machine, start using it, and then start convincing your fellow team members to use it too.

Then watch and see what happens.

Edits

• The basic idea of this is that it's easier to show than to tell.
• It's a great idea to support your ideas with a working implementation/solution.
• Of course, if you succeed, and they want the system used department/company wide, you must be prepared to support the transition, know how the software is to be installed and used.
• Going ahead and using something accepted in the industry is faster than having discussions on what system should be used.
• There is a good change that this will get you noticed. You may also get your peers respect and support.

As suggested, the same approach can be made on other areas:

• issue/bug tracking systems
• quality tools
• time tracking
• continuous integration
• a wiki for knowledge base, HOWTO's, guidelines, tutorials, presentations, screencasts
• different IDEs and tools
• build tools
• automated deployment
• various scripts that would save your team time

.. any item that will visibly add quality to your work, but doesn't (yet) disrupt existing methodologies and practices.