Support duration
ImageMaster is released with two different models:
-
The “innovation release” is published in quarter 2.
-
The “long-term support release” is published in quarter 4.
Both releases are full-fledged ImageMaster releases, which provide enhancements and new functionality. These are fully tested and available for productive use. The only difference between both is the support duration:
-
The innovation release comes with ≥12 months of standard software support lasting always until 30.6. of the following year.
-
The long-term support release comes with ≥36 months of standard software support lasting always until 31.12. three years later. The standard support is followed by the extended support of 24 months lasting until 31.12. two years later.
Third-party software support
Support for new major versions of third-party software is introduced with new ImageMaster releases. T-Systems expects that customers will remain on a supported environment. If loosely coupled third-party software(a) is no longer supported(b) by its vendor, T-Systems may be limited in its ability to provide support and may require you to upgrade to a newer ImageMaster release to reproduce the issue in a supported environment.
(a) Examples of such third-party software in an ImageMaster environment include the operating system, the application server, storage types, and the full-text engine.
(b) The lack of support can also refer to a specific version of this software.
Support scope
The table below illustrates the support scope of the different models:
|
Defect Priority |
Description |
Standard Support Backport Rule |
Extended Support Backport Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Highest |
Major issues preventing operation to continue, or with heavy consequences to operation output; includes security or data-integrity relevant issues |
Automatic backport of bug fix to patch release 1 Patch release will be issued with priority. |
Automatic backport of bug fix to patch release 2 Patch release will be issued with priority. |
|
High |
Medium issue with some consequences to continue operation, no workarounds are available |
Automatic backport of bug fix to patch release 1 Patch release will be issued with priority as far as possible. |
No backports |
|
Medium |
Medium issue with a known workaround or without the need for a workaround |
Backport of bug fix in Backports will be collected and released at intervals only (or with a following higher bug fix). |
No backports |
|
Low |
Minor issue or issue in a subordinate functionality with minor impact |
No backports |
No backports |
|
Lowest |
Minor weakness |
No backports |
No backports |
|
Table 226: Support scope |
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Additionally, the following conditions apply:
-
New customer-specific features are only implemented for releases covered by standard support.
-
Existing customer solutions are maintained in extended support, too.
-
Support for new platforms is introduced with new releases.
-
Online documentation is available for standard support. PDF documentation is provided for extended support.
Upgrade path
The upgrade path from a long-term support release to the long-term support release after the next one is provided for ImageMaster 9.11.2 to ImageMaster 9.13.2 for the first time.
Figure 327: ImageMaster upgrade path and product lifecycle illustration
The following table illustrates the support period for released ImageMaster suites:
|
ImageMaster release version |
Deadline standard support |
Deadline extended support |
|---|---|---|
|
9.10.2 |
31.12.2024 |
n/a |
|
9.11.2 |
31.12.2024 |
31.12.2026 |
|
9.12.2 |
31.12.2025 |
31.12.2027 |
|
9.13.1 |
30.06.2024 |
n/a |
|
9.13.2 |
31.12.2026 |
31.12.2028 |
|
9.14.1 |
30.06.2025 |
n/a |
|
9.14.2 |
31.12.2027 |
31.12.2029 |
|
Table 227: ImageMaster product lifecycle per release |
|
|