Release Cadence (for v22)

This release and support strategy is applicable for v22.

Major Releases

FintechOS releases one new major version of the FintechOS Platform per year, scheduled every autumn. This release is comprised of the following changes that can be applicable to all platform components:

• New features and/or new components that are fully complementary to existing ones
• Reworked features that are fully and transparently backwards compatible with previous versions of the platform
• Breaking changes that require some special actions during upgrade (an upgrade path is always provided from any previous version)
• Technology, architecture, infrastructure changes, and security enhancements
• Removing old, previous declared deprecated features
• Fixed bugs
• Fixed vulnerability issues

Upgrade to a New Major Version

A new major version of the product supersedes the previous major one released the year before. The upgrade consists of replacing the product with the newer latest version. Because of this, the changes can require special actions such as code refactoring, migration of removed functionalities to the new version, new configurations, data migration, changes to deployment architecture, etc. An upgrade path from any previous version will always be provided.

An upgrade to a new version should be planned ahead of time, before the major version in use reaches its end of support (see below).

Breaking Changes Policy

A major release can bring breaking changes.

Breaking changes are changes in a product component that can cause a failure or disruption to other components unless adjustments such as external configurations, code refactoring, data migrations, or other, are made to accommodate these changes.

While FintechOS looks to minimize the number of breaking changes in a new major version, they can't always be excluded due to product structural changes, and upgrades in technology. These breaking changes will be announced in release notes in the official documentation, together with procedures and/or tools for mitigating their impact.

Minor Releases

The FintechOS Platform has 3 types of minor releases – Revisions, Update Packs, and Hotfixes. Each minor release is an incremental release, meaning that any new minor releases contain changes to the product, together with all changes introduced in previous minor releases for the same major version. These address all components of the FintechOS Platform.

From a technical standpoint, a revision release is very similar to an update pack in the sense that it comes with improvements to major features, as well as bug fixes. However, a revision release usually involves updates to more platform components compared to update packs.

Updates to Minor Releases

A minor release contains only enhancements, fixes, and patches to the current version. It improves the way the platform operates, but it doesn’t fundamentally alter it. An update refers to the process of updating the platform from a minor version to a newer minor version of the same major version, e.g., from 22.R2 UP 1 to 22.R3 UP 2. An update represents a maintenance activity and must be scheduled on a regular basis to maintain platform security, get fixes for functional bugs and performance issues, as well as improved functionality.

An update does not require regression testing of the existing system (at most just running a smoke test) as it provides only security fixes, bug fixes, enhancements of the existing features or new features that can function side by side with the existing ones.

Breaking Changes Policies

An update should be predictable, meaning a minor release will not contain breaking changes that break existing functionalities.

When a new feature requires some changes to be made before it can be used, a feature flag is provided to activate the new functionality.

However, to speed up deployment, improve maintenance, and security, it was crucial for the FintechOS 22.R2 release with platform version 21.2 to introduce major changes, one of which is the shift from on-premise deployments to cloud-based ones, while the second is the FintechOS Identity Provider authentication layer with top-notch security capabilities, crucial in the world of fintech.

Revision Versions

Revision versions are usually released quarterly and include:

• Reworked features (big and small enhancements) that are fully and transparently backwards compatible with existing features

• New features and new components that are fully complementary to existing ones.

• Fixed bugs

• Fixed vulnerability issues

Update Packs

Update Packs are usually released monthly and include:

• Reworked features (small enhancements) that are fully and transparently backwards compatible with existing features.

• Fixed bugs

• Fixed vulnerability issues

Update Packs are the main type of release used to provide support for a major version. These can be released at any point during the major version support timeline.

Hotfixes

Hotfixes are out-of-band releases and are provided only if needed between two update pack releases in order to address urgent critical bugs or vulnerability issues.

Hotfixes are released only for the last minor release of a major version (revision version, update pack or hotfix). All fixes included in a hotfix will be automatically included in the next minor release.

Support Plan

The FintechOS Platform offers support for a major version for 24 months after its release. If no major version is released in 24 months, hotfixes and bugs will continue to be provided for the previous major version.

This means that incremental minor releases for big fixes and vulnerability issues are provided for at least 24 months starting with the first release of a major version. Support is offered for all FintechOS Platform components.

Platform support (bugs and vulnerability fixes) is provided via minor incremental releases for a major version (revision, update packs, and hotfixes).

The update to the last release represents a maintenance activity and must be scheduled on a regular basis to maintain platform security, get fixes for functional bugs and performance issues, as well as improved functionality.

New functionalities, improvements, and defect fixes are offered for the latest major version, while the previous active major version (within 24 months) is only subject to defect and vulnerability fixes.

Version	Initial Launch Date	Out of Support Date
FintechOS 22 (starting with R2, Platform version 22.1)	May 6th, 2022	November 2024
FintechOS 22.W (Platform version 21.2 - last on premise)	October 2021	October 2023
FintechOS 21	October 2020	November 2022

 

For example, FintechOS 22 (starting with R2) will continue to receive support until November 2024.

FintechOS 22 Winter is the last release that can be deployed on premises and will be supported until October 2023 (first release was in October 2021).

FintechOS 21 (first release in October 2020) is out of support since November 2022.

Older major versions like FintechOS 18 and FintechOS 20 are out of support.