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Gissing Software Product Lifecycle

The Gissing Software Product Lifecycle provides advanced notification of planned changes in support for Gissing Software products and for releases of the 3rd party products that are dependencies for Gissing products. This information will assist clients and partners with product planning and information technology decisions.


Under the Product Lifecycle Policy, Gissing plans to support each released product for a minimum of 18 months, and make extended support offerings available through annual support contracts thereafter. During these periods releases of Gissing Products will move through the Product Lifecycle phases identified below.

Releases

Gissing classifies its releases into one of three categories. A major release is designated a new version of the product and is defined as one where there is major architectural change to the product. As necessary, Gissing Software will provide migration tools for upgrading from a previous release to the next major release. An example of a major release was Gissing RealtimeXL 3.0. We plan to support major releases of our products for a minimum of 18 months.


A minor release of a product will have enhanced functionality but no significant architectural change – for example addition of a new handler to Gissing ConteX MCS. An example of a minor release was Gissing ConteX MCS 3.74. We plan to support minor releases of our products for a minimum of 12 months.


We will make maintenance releases as and when required. Typically these are made every three to four months if no other release is planned. These releases address product defects. Examples of these releases were, Gissing RealtimeXL 3.0.1, Gissing ConteX MCS 3.74.4. Maintenance releases will only be issued for the most recent major or minor release of the product and are considered part of the major or minor release for lifecycle support purposes.
The concluding release of any version of a product will be designated the final release of that version. For example, release 2.2.1 was the final release of Gissing RealtimeXL Version 2.

General Support

When a major or minor release is made commercially available, it enters the General Support phase. The following support and maintenance offerings are available on products in this phase:

  • Telephone and email support from the Gissing Helpdesk
  • Software updates available for download


New maintenance releases will be provided for the latest release where no workaround is available. Clients will be notified via email when a release has been made that addresses an issue reported to the helpdesk.


Gissing Software releases will include support for new versions of 3rd party products (operating systems, databases, browsers etc.), typically within the next 3 months following commercial ship of the 3rd party product. Support for new versions of 3rd party products will not be retroactively applied to prior releases of the products.


General support will be available for major releases for at least 18 months after general commercial availability (GCA) of the release, and for minor releases for at least 12 months after GCA.
All new releases are available to clients who have a current annual license agreement or maintenance and support contract.


End of Life

At Gissing’s sole discretion it may withdraw a product. It will announce the withdrawal of a product, and the end of General Support, with an End of Life (EOL) announcement. Following the publication of an EOL announcement no new feature development or enhancement of the product will take place. General support and compatibility maintenance will be provided until either the expiry of the minimum maintenance period of the then current product release (major or minor), or the announced End of Life date, whichever is the later.


While a product is being supported under an EOL announcement, any new minor releases that may be required will not extend any support periods: the General Support phase will terminate as defined in the preceding paragraph.


In any event, any EOL announcement will give at least six (6) months notice of product withdrawal and termination of General Support. Notice of EOL will be provided by email to the client’s nominated support contact(s) and in writing to the individual to whom contract notices are to be delivered.


Extended Life Support

Clients who have an exceptional business requirement to continue running a release with support after the General Support phase has ended may purchase an Extended Life Support (ELS) contract. ELS contracts are available only on the final release of a Gissing Software product. Clients may purchase an ELS contract only if they have a current annual license agreement or support and maintenance contract in place when the General Support period ends. An ELS contract is available only for the environment that the client is running at the date the general support phase ended. This environment must be detailed when the contract is applied for. Any changes in this environment will invalidate the extended support contract. Services provided are:

  • Telephone and email support from the Helpdesk
  • Maintenance fixes for the final release only, where no workaround is available.


No certification for new releases of 3rd party products is provided in the extended life support phase and no functional changes will be made to releases in this phase.


Retired

When the unsupported phase ends, the product enters the retired phase. There is no support for products that have entered the retired phase.


Support for 3rd Party Products

Gissing Software products run in an environment with a number of products from 3rd party organizations (operating systems, office applications, APIs etc.). Our products are tested with these 3rd party products to ensure compatibility. Only those versions of 3rd party products explicitly tested are considered to be “supported”.


A new release of a Gissing product will be tested against, and therefore supported on, only releases of 3rd party products that are generally commercially available and that are in the vendor’s general support phase (or equivalent). Gissing Software will continue to provide Helpdesk support for releases of products against the 3rd party products that the Gissing product has been tested against once the vendor’s general support phase has finished. Gissing Software will not address defects on platforms involving a 3rd party product if the general support phase of that product has finished.


Gissing Software will endeavour to support new versions of 3rd party products in the release of the product in the quarter following the quarter that the new version of the 3rd party product was made generally commercially available. Certification for new versions of 3rd party products will not be retroactively applied to earlier releases of Gissing products.