ServiceChannel is a multi-tenant SaaS platform that is hosted in two locations: the United States (US) and Europe (EU). As such, ServiceChannel deploys most features according to our own timeline, while making sure that the platform remains available and stable.
This article describes the main processes of the release lifecycle.
ServiceChannel performs up to four major releases per year. We release major new features and new modules across the platform for all subscribers and providers. There are two types of features typically deployed with a major release:
General purpose features - automatically enabled for all clients during the release (sometimes depending on which package the client has a subscription for); and
Optional features - enabled only by client request
Major releases are typically deployed on a quarterly cadence.
Information about the contents of a major release is issued through ServiceChannel’s “ProductChannel” newsletter. Each release is communicated to customers 30 days in advance.
In addition to Major Releases, ServiceChannel performs maintenance releases that consist of various smaller improvements and bug fixes.
Maintenance releases are typically deployed on a weekly cadence.
Mobile applications - Apple iOS and Google Play are deployed every other week.
Information about the contents of a maintenance release can be received through ServiceChannel release notes.
Scheduled maintenance is used by ServiceChannel to perform software security patches and other maintenance activities.
US Environment: As scheduled twice per month; the window is Saturday 2 AM to 6 AM EST
EU Environment: As scheduled twice per month; the window is Sunday 2 AM to 6 AM CET
Information on scheduled maintenance is published and can be subscribed to using our status page:
US environment: https://status.servicechannel.com/
EU environment: https://status.servicechannel.eu/
ServiceChannel provides access to a sandbox environment(s) to allow clients to perform tests, experiments, etc. The sandbox environments always have the same version of the application as the production environment. Access to these environments is as follows:
US environment: http://sb1login.servicechannel.com , http://sb2login.servicechannel.com
EU environment: http://sb1login.servicechannel.eu , http://sb2login.servicechannel.eu
Sandbox environments get the same version of the platform as the production, but the data is refreshed as follows:
US SB1: daily (Su, Mo, Tu, We, Th, Fr, Sa) at 1:00 AM ET
US SB2: weekly (Sa) at 6:00 PM ET
EU SB1: daily (Su, Mo, Tu, We, Th, Fr, Sa) at 1:00 AM CET
EU SB2: weekly (Sa) at 6:00 PM CET
There are no notifications on sandbox refreshes at this time.
In case of a potential outage, ServiceChannel might need to perform an emergency deployment to fix the problem.
As needed
Information on outages and resolutions can be visible on our status page:
US environment: https://status.servicechannel.com/
EU environment: https://status.servicechannel.eu/