Do you recall moments when “You go first!” was your response in your professional or personal life? The common thread when you made the statement ranged from an interest in having a learning moment (to save time and effort, or grief) to a fear of what may happen if the scenario went wrong. This discussion leads us to the topic of software conversions. Software conversions range from relatively simple plug-and-play to highly complex months-long installation projects. During the project planning phase to install a new student, finance, payroll or human resources system, for example, we need to have a healthy respect for how increased levels of complexity are correlated with risk and far-ranging internal control issues. For these kinds of complex projects, it's important to apply a high-level of attention to details during the installation phase and that consideration be given to running the new system in parallel with the legacy system. Running a new system in parallel with the legacy system is certainly an added cost, but far less costly than data accuracy issues that can lead to local-, state-, and/or federal-level sanctions and penalties, not mention the costs of manual work-arounds and local stakeholders’ loss of confidence.