Product availability

Kendox InfoShare is a standard software product which can be used on-premises in the customer's data centre. Because of the constant march of technical progress (and for financial reasons), individual versions of software products must eventually be discontinued.

InfoShare as a Service, by contrast, is a service which customers and partners can obtain directly "from the cloud". The service is constantly being improved, which means that additional functionality and bug fixes are provided on an ongoing basis.

For Kendox InfoShare (the on-premises software solution), Kendox identifies three phases of product availability. The associated support services take effect immediately on these dates.

Product


 Release


 Active
support
until		 Limited
support
until		 Individual
support
until
InfoShare 3.0 01/08/2008 31/07/2011 31/07/2012 31/12/2014
InfoShare 3.1 01/06/2010 28/02/2014 28/02/2015 29/02/2016
InfoShare 4.0 01/03/2013 28/02/2017 28/02/2018 28/02/2019
InfoShare 4.0 WCF
(ab 4.0.50)		 01/10/2014 ongoing    
InfoShare RIA Web Client   31.12.2018 31.12.2020 31.12.2021

As a compatibility release, «Kendox InfoShare V4.0.50 (WCF)» includes the complete «InfoShare WCF Services Code» and allows the development of WCF-based applications. Applications based on the WCF interface can be used with future «Kendox InfoShare» versions, in particular «Kendox InfoShare V5».

The WCF technology («Windows Communication Foundation») is the foundation for future developments of «Kendox InfoShare». For example, the «Mobile Web Client» (available since 2015) is based upon this technology.

Software support

Active support (Standard support)

During this phase, a given version of a software product is regularly supported in line with the software maintenance agreement. All bug fixes and functional extensions released by the QA team, as well as hotfixes resolving urgent individual customer problems, are available for all customers without any limitations. During this phase, the so-called "standard support service (active support)" is provided.

For Kendox InfoShare software products, a new major release will be published every two to three years which will usually be actively supported for around four to five years. Ongoing extensive functional and technical updates will be developed and supplied during this period. Further information is provided below under the heading "Version policy".

Limited support (partial support)

Once a software product or product version has been discontinued, it will be supported for an additional period of time, during which only small bug fixes and workaround solutions will be developed for individual customers. During this phase of product availability, a so-called "partial support service (limited support)" will be provided.

There will be no general bug fixes or expanded functionality. As a rule, customer-specific expansions will no longer be implemented: expansions will instead be provided for a more up-to-date version. If a major problem develops, the user must switch to an up-to-date version of the software or pay for individual support.

Limited support (partial support) is usually available for up to 12 months after the product is discontinued.

Individual support

Once the limited support period has ended, users who have not yet migrated to an up-to-date version of the software may pay for additional support. All work will be carried out to contract and at the customer's risk, provided it is technically possible.

Kendox will publish a date after which individual support will no longer be guaranteed. This point will come as a result of general technological progress (operating systems, databases, required know-how, current overall state of development for the InfoShare product).

Kendox is not required to accept contracts to provide individual support.

End of support
After reaching the point past which individual support can be offered, the product (or the product version) has reached the end of its life cycle. Kendox AG will cease to provide all support for this product after this point.

Version policy

Major release / Base system

Major releases contaiin fundamental changes to the product and may include changes or expansions to the basic product configuration and software architecture. The user interface design and other visual elements may change dramatically. New hardware and base software will be supported, and database and object storage processes may be changed.

Kendox will publish a major release for InfoShare every two to three years.

Minor release / Additional functionality

Minor releases contain changes and additions which build on a major release and may therefore be very large in scope. Minor releases, however, never include fundamental changes to the basic configuration or the software architecture. Rather, minor releases are more likely to contain a number of functionality or error correction packages.

Minor releases are always technically compatible with the last major release. Large functional updates remain possible, however, such as the provision of a new module or a substantial addition to an existing module.

Kendox publishes minor releases for InfoShare at irregular intervals.

Functionality package / error correction package (Patch)

Function packages and error correction packages (patches) contain a specific new function or address a specific software issue. Functionality packages may include extensive new features - including entirely new sub-modules. Functionality packages and patches will be checked and tested by our quality assurance team.

Hotfix

A hotfix is a quick error correction which will usually address a small, restricted issue. Hotfixes are not just superficially checked by quality assurance but applied directly. We therefore only recommend implementing hotfixes when necessary to resolve a specific problem.

Hotfixes may be specific to a given technological environment, or they may be language-specific or otherwise limited to specific cases.

The hotfix will be added to the next possible regular patch, where necessary and worthwhile, after which it will be available for all customer installations.