ServiceChannel Platform Lifecycle

Owned by Chellie Esters
Last updated: Feb 16, 2023Version comment
2 min read

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.

Major Releases

Overview

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 

Timeline

Major releases are typically deployed on a quarterly cadence.

Notifications

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.

Maintenance Releases

Overview

In addition to Major Releases, ServiceChannel performs maintenance releases that consist of various smaller improvements and bug fixes.

Timeline

Maintenance releases are typically deployed on a weekly cadence.

Mobile applications - Apple iOS and Google Play are deployed every other week.

Notifications

Information about the contents of a maintenance release can be received through ServiceChannel release notes.

Scheduled Maintenance

Overview

Scheduled maintenance is used by ServiceChannel to perform software security patches and other maintenance activities.

Timeline

  • 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

Notifications

Information on scheduled maintenance is published and can be subscribed to using our status page:

Sandbox Environments

Overview 

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:

Timeline

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

Notifications

There are no notifications on sandbox refreshes at this time.

Potential Outage

Overview

In case of a potential outage, ServiceChannel might need to perform an emergency deployment to fix the problem. 

Timeline

As needed

Notifications

Information on outages and resolutions can be visible on our status page: