At Prowise, we continuously improve the solutions we provide to our customers. This also applies to our SaaS platform and web applications. Regular changes are necessary to improve functionality, performance, security, reliability, and user experience.
We take care to make these changes as safe and predictable as possible. Our release process is designed to minimize disruption for schools, teachers, students, administrators, and other end-users.
Scope of this release process
This release process applies to the Prowise SaaS platform and web applications, including:
- Prowise SSO
- Prowise GO
- Prowise Screen Control
- Prowise Presenter
- MyProwise
- Prowise Partner portal
- Prowise Account
- Prowise Teach online functions
- Related online platform functionality
This process does not apply to the corporate Prowise website.
Release cycles for native software, such as Prowise Central and the native versions of Prowise Teach, may work differently because updates for installed software are distributed and applied in a different way.
How release decisions are made
Each release is prepared by the relevant software team responsible for the product or functionality being changed.
Before release, the responsible Product Manager assesses the expected benefit, risk, and possible customer impact. Depending on the nature of the change, other stakeholders may be involved, such as:
- The CTO
- Service teams
- Sales teams
- Other Product Managers
- Other relevant internal experts
The purpose of this assessment is to determine whether the release can proceed, whether extra safeguards are needed, and whether customers should be informed in advance.
Risk classification
Prowise classifies release risk using broad categories. These categories help determine release timing, communication, and the level of caution needed.
| Risk level | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Negligible | Minimal expected impact and minimal likelihood of issues. |
| Low | Minimal expected impact and/or a low to medium likelihood of issues. |
| Medium | Some caution is required. Medium to high impact is possible, and the likelihood of issues may be medium to high. |
| High | Careful handling is required. The possible impact is high, and the likelihood of issues is considered high. |
| Extreme | As a general rule, not acceptable for release. The risk must first be reduced before release can proceed. |
High-risk releases are extremely rare. In general, Prowise aims to reduce the likelihood of issues and possible customer impact before proceeding with a release that would otherwise fall into the high-risk category. In some exceptional situations, such as urgent operational or security-related circumstances, it may not be possible to reduce all risks before release. In those cases, additional care is taken in planning, communication, testing, monitoring, and follow-up.
Release timing
We aim to plan releases at times that reduce possible disruption for customers.
For releases with higher risk, we generally steer the release moment toward our fixed maintenance window: Thursday after 16:00 CEST, which is usually after most school days have finished.
Lower-risk releases may take place outside this maintenance window when the expected customer impact is minimal.
Customer communication
When a release may involve higher risk or noticeable customer impact, we aim to inform affected customers in advance.
In general, this is done by emailing the organisation administrators of the affected end-users approximately one week before the expected release.
Because releases are tested until the moment of deployment and again after deployment, a planned release may still be delayed, cancelled, or reverted if issues are found.
Why not every release is announced in advance
One of the ways we reduce release risk is by keeping changes small and predictable. This means we release frequently, and many releases are very small and low risk.
Announcing every small release in advance would create a high volume of communication without providing meaningful value to most customers. For this reason, we generally only communicate in advance when the expected risk or impact justifies doing so.
Unannounced releases are still assessed, tested, and handled with the aim of keeping customer impact to an absolute minimum.
Hotfixes and urgent releases
Sometimes a release cannot wait for the regular planning and communication cycle. This may happen when a change is needed to address:
- A current performance issue
- A functional problem
- A security vulnerability
- Another urgent operational concern
In these situations, Prowise may release a hotfix or urgent change without advance communication, or with shorter notice than usual.
Higher-risk technical changes
Some technical changes are inherently more sensitive. For example, releases that require database changes may carry a higher operational risk.
When such changes are necessary, including for performance, functionality, or security reasons, we still aim to communicate in advance where reasonably possible. In urgent situations, this communication may happen at short notice.
Testing and rollback
Releases are tested before deployment and verified again after deployment.
If an issue is discovered before release, the release may be postponed or cancelled. If an issue is discovered after release, Prowise may take corrective action, which can include reverting the release where technically possible and appropriate.
Questions or concerns
This page describes the release management process for Prowise SaaS products and web applications.
For questions or concerns about this release management policy, please contact the Prowise service department.