PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE PLC 2.3 September 2017
Copyright 2017 Axway All rights reserved. This documentation describes the Product Life Cycle of the Axway products. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any human or computer language, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, Axway. This document, provided for informational purposes only, may be subject to significant modification. The descriptions and information in this document may not necessarily accurately represent or reflect the current or planned functions of this product. Axway may change this publication, the product described herein, or both. These changes will be incorporated in new versions of this document. Axway does not warrant that this document is error free. Axway recognizes the rights of the holders of all trademarks used in its publications. The documentation may provide hyperlinks to third-party web sites or access to third-party content. Links and access to these sites are provided for your convenience only. Axway does not control, endorse or guarantee content found in such sites. Axway is not responsible for any content, associated links, resources or services associated with a third-party site. Axway shall not be liable for any loss or damage of any sort associated with your use of third-party content.
Table of contents 1 Product and Product Release Lifecycles... 4 Overview... 4 Release distribution phases... 4 Versioning scheme for the Standard lifecycle... 5 Versioning scheme for the Light lifecycle... 5 Release versioning levels... 6 2 Nominal Lifetimes... 7
1 Product and Product Release Lifecycles Overview A product is a tightly integrated software entity that follows a discrete lifecycle. Each product has an independent lifecycle versus other products. A product is made concrete via the delivery of subsequent releases. A release is a concrete product deliverable encompassing a coherent set of features including product documentation. Release and documentation are identified by a unique version number. Products are eligible to either one of the two coexisting release lifecycles, Standard or Light. For the Standard lifecycle, products have releases with a more detailed versioning scheme, a longer lifetime and delivered less frequently. The lifecycle applicable to a product is made explicit on the support site (support.axway.com). Release distribution phases Restricted Availability Only for the Standard lifecycle. Restricted Availability marks the phase during which a release is distributed to a small and limited number of customers, selected by Axway, prior to General Availability. The release is fully tested and can be deployed in production. Security and critical bug fixes, and small enhancements may be made available. General Availability General Availability marks the start of the phase during which the release is available without restriction. There can be only one release in General Availability for a given product at a time. Supported Supported is the phase during which a release is only eligible to general maintenance and support, and no longer available for sale or for enhancements. The Supported term advertised to customers on the support site only covers the official general support period. At the end of the Supported period, the release is changed to End of Support. Note: see in the Minor release section the restrictions concerning the maintenance for a superseded Minor release. End of Support End of Support is for a release that is withdrawn from general support, and represents the final status of any release. An End of Support release is also no longer available for sale. Eventually, customers can purchase a Support Extension which is a predefined fixed-term exception aimed at addressing 4
specific needs during an upgrade to a newer release. Purpose is to extend maintenance and support for a longer period past the official general End of Support date; a period during which Axway may only provide security and critical bug fixes. The release remains marked as generally End of Support on the support site. 5
Versioning scheme for the Standard lifecycle The version number of a release following the Standard lifecycle is split into five levels. Versioning scheme for the Light lifecycle The version number of a release following the Light lifecycle is split into three levels. 5
Release versioning levels Generation (X) A Generation release indicates significant changes in architecture, functionality, features or new operating environments. These changes can imply functional incompatibilities with previous releases and lead to the need of assistance via a migration project. Major (Y) A Major release indicates significant new functionalities and major enhancements, along with defect (bug) corrections. Compatibility between major releases is recommended to smooth upgrade to the newer Major release. Minor (Z) Only for the Standard lifecycle. After General Availability, a Minor release may be made available to deliver bug fixes, corrections and enhancements. Possible enhancements include new OS support or small functional enhancements for features already available. This availability remains exceptional within this scope. Each Minor release being compatible with the previous Minor one, the new Minor release supersedes the previous one. Customers are strongly encouraged to update to the latest available Minor release. Axway Global Support will assist with problems on previous superseded Minor releases, but product fixes (Service Packs and/or Patches) will only be provided on the latest available Minor release. Service Pack (SPnn) A Service Pack is the cumulative delivery of multiple defect fixes brought by previous Service Packs and Patches, plus additional fixes. Being cumulative, a new Service Pack delivery replaces the previous Service Packs for the same X.Y.Z (or X.Y) release of the product. For example, SP07 contains all fixes delivered in SP06 plus the ones delivered via patches after SP06. SP06 is so superseded by SP07. Patch (Pmm) Only for the Standard lifecycle. A patch is a correction that fixes a failure of critical functionality with no workaround or a critical security vulnerability. It cannot wait for the next Service Pack. Patches are included with the next pending Service Pack, Minor or Major release. 6
2 Nominal Lifetimes Generation (X) The nominal lifetime for a Generation release is 5 years for the Standard lifecycle with the End of Support announcement sent at least 24 months before the effective date; and 3 years nominal lifetime for the Light lifecycle with the End of Support announcement sent at least 18 months before the effective date. The End of Support announcement of a Generation relates to the remaining Major release for this Generation. Major (Y) The nominal lifetime for a Major release is 3 years for the Standard lifecycle with the End of Support announcement sent at least 18 months before the effective date; and 18 months nominal lifetime for the Light lifecycle with the End of Support announcement sent at least 12 months before the effective date. The End of Support of a Major release covers all its Minor, Service Pack and Patches. Support Extension The purchase of a Support Extension is only available for product following the Standard lifecycle and for a specific release. Note: The nominal lifetimes presented above are indicative. 7