I enjoyed reading Bill Anderson's response to concerns about the release date of SCCM 07 as seen in Rod Trent's blog

 http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/rtrent/archive/2007/04/10/sccm07-release-when.aspx

I completely respect where Bill is coming from on this.  We have all had that experience where your boss stops by your desk and asks for a status update on a project and wants to know when it will be ready.  Maybe there have been some delays and you are trying to decide between:

1. Tell the manager it will be ready earlier than is possible with the chance you will provide a substandard product OR delay it at the last minute.

2. Tell the manager it will be delayed, explain why and that it will meet what they are looking for even though it is late. 

Personally, choice 2 is the way to go.  Nobody likes delivering their work late, but I think most managers would rather see a completed project show up late as opposed to an incomplete project early.  You can deal with the grumbling of things being late while you are working to finish your work, but once it is delivered that should subside.  If you deliver a substandard project on time, you will be hearing grumbling for quite some time and will instantly lose the confidence of others.  Kudos to SCCM Product Team for aiming to deliver quality.

 As has long been the case, the connection we at myITforum have to Microsoft is awesome. To have follow up from folks like Bill Anderson and Tev Sanders on this topic is very extremely helpful.  The technical support that comes with our Microsoft relationship is truly priceless when you add the backgrounds of the many SMS\SCCM Microsoft folks who frequently post information in the forums and email list. Thanks to them all.