This topic describes the handling of releases for Invantive Cloud components.
What components does Invantive Cloud have?
The Invantive Cloud consists of the following components for end users:
- Invantive Cloud website (https://cloud.invantive.com)
- Invantive Bridge Online (https://bridge-online.cloud)
- Invantive App Online (https://app-online.cloud)
- Currency Tools (https://currency-toolkit.invantive.com/)
- Get My Report (https://get-my-report.invantive.com)
Invantive Cloud also consists of all sorts of components that are not accessible to end users such as Invantive Data Guard (see Invantive Cloud Structure).
Releases
Each component consists of Invantive software such as Invantive UniversalSQL as the SQL engine or web pages for the Currency Tools. An Invantive release contains all Invantive software in one large bundle; thus, the version number is incremented for all products at once, and each product contains (as applicable) the same software code as from the UniversalSQL engine. This also applies to all operating systems (mainly Windows, Linux and MacOS).
Example: release 24.0.304 of Invantive Bridge Online contains the same UniversalSQL engine as release 24.0.304 of the on-premises software Invantive Data Hub on MacOS.
Builds
More than one hundred new releases are compiled and made available each year.
Not all releases are put into production on Invantive Cloud; for example, they are intended for the users of the on-premises products such as Invantive Control for Excel.
Approach
Each of the Invantive Cloud components mentioned above operates on a specific release of the Invantive software as a whole.
However, differences may be present between components as a new release is put into production later or skipped. For example, the Invantive Cloud website may be running release 24.0.307 while Invantive Bridge Online is still running on release 24.0.301.
The release number can be retrieved by unfolding the menu at the top right. The release number is then at the bottom in the dropdown.
Frequency
The various Invantive Cloud components are regularly updated with a new software release.
There is no fixed interval. In practice, Currency Tools and Get My Report will be upgraded approximately once a month, and the other components at least once a week. It also happens occasionally that multiple upgrades take place on one day.
During longer vacation periods (summer period) and the turn of the year (usually equal to the financial year), the implementation of changes is avoided so that users are not suddenly confronted with different functionality and/or new bugs while, for example, an essential knowledge carrier is away for 3 weeks or the management is eagerly awaiting the annual figures. This period is called a “frozen period.”
Breaking Changes
Efforts are made to avoid “breaking changes” between releases. If it is expected that at most a few unknown users will be affected by a breaking change, it is not communicated by default. If several users are expected to be affected and/or users that can be identified, an e-mail notification is normally sent around the time of transition into production. A mix of email(s) and forum post(s) is put together when a change will affect many users, .
Deviations and Choosing your own version
It is currently not possible as an end user to choose a different version.
An on-premises Invantive product can be a solution for this if a different version is required. All UniversalSQL statements are - except for some minor details - interchangeable between all operating systems and products.
Functionally, however, there may be differences between the various Invantive products; for example, Invantive Control for Excel is the only one focused on the Windows version of Excel.
BETA
Approximately once a year the Invantive software changes to a new major release, such as from release 24.0 to 25.0. Around the release change parts of Invantive Cloud may run under a BETA release for several weeks. This is a release that is expected to be stable, but has not yet proven itself in large-scale and wide application. The rollout of these BETA releases will take place gradually. Once all components of Invantive Cloud are demonstrably as stable again as under the previous major release, the word “BETA” will be removed.
Guarantees
Invantive makes no guarantees when a subsequent or specific release will be in production on Invantive Cloud or available as an on-premises version, other than a “best effort”. The subscription terms provide an overview of the guarantees.