Release Policy

Introduction

The Emedgene platform is upgraded on a regular basis, and new capabilities are made available to customers. This document describes the Emedgene Software Release Policy.

Objective

As part of Emedgene development and maintenance, the platform and pipeline versions are updated according to this policy. The policy covers major and minor releases as well as software patches.

Release notes for all versions are stored in the Emedgene help center.

Process

Each new version has a version number following the MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH convention.

• Major release: Major Releases may include architectural changes, major feature changes, new platform support, and new operating system support. Unless otherwise defined via a specific communication, Major Releases are designated by the number to the left of the decimal point such as 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, etc. Major releases incorporate the latest Minor releases and may include additional enhancements. Major releases will be deployed only after customer approval. A Major Release is issued every 3-6 months. Customers may elect to be on any of the latest 5 versions available.

• Minor Release: A Minor Release is tied to the preceding Major Release and may contain new features, new platform support and new operating system support. Unless otherwise defined via a specific communication, Minor Releases are designated by numbers to the right of the decimal point such as 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc. Every minor release incorporates all previous Patches since the prior Patch Release. Minor releases will be deployed only after customer approval. However a maximal difference of 3 minor releases will be allowed with the latest minor version. Customers will be alerted to any pending release timelines if they will need to transition to a coming version. If customers delay minor release approvals, a notification will be sent with a 3 weeks timeline for transitioning. After this delay, the environment will be transitioned to the latest version automatically. For customers with access to a testing environment, the minor release would be first deployed to the testing environment for approval. Minor Release are rare.

• Patch release: A new release that incorporates only an bug fixes. Patch releases do not include any new features and provide backward compatibility. Unless otherwise defined via a specific communication, Patch Releases are designated by the last number to the right as 1.1.1, 1.1.5, 1.1.52, etc. Patch Releases do not require any pre-approval for deployment. They are released as needed.

Summary

Release	Content	Require Pre-Approval	Frequency
Major	* Architectural changes * Major feature changes * New platform support * New operating system support	YES	3 to 6 months
Minor	* New features * New platform support * New operating system support	YES	Rarely
Patch	* Bug fixes	NO	Regularly, as needed