Over the course of the next several posts, I am going to do my best to demystify the way in which SMS|Host release dates are chosen, projects are vetted and our Development Roadmaps are planned. It may seem to you that these things just happen as the result of arbitrary decisions but a tremendous amount of planning and research is at the core of the process. The more that you know about how this happens, the better you will appreciate how connected we all are and how you can have an impact on the growth and enhancement of SMS|Host as we move forward.
The first thing we have to determine is “when” the next version of SMS|Host can become Generally Available (GA) and that is not a simple question. There are an amazing number of factors that need to be taken into consideration, many of which are out of our control. Industry regulations such as PCI compliance affect timelines. Worldwide, governmental and legal requirement deadlines are constantly shifting with regards to everything from Guest reporting or privacy issues to the quotation of rates or tax calculations. We need to take into account Users’ traditional upgrade patterns which can affect how quickly new features will be adopted and bug fixes will be accepted. We also try to keep in mind the follow-on effect of upgrade demand on services from our Support and Implementation teams.
Once a GA date is selected, we then begin working backwards from that point to block out time for our extensive regression testing and documentation efforts, as well as any necessary compliance certifications. Those calculations determine our Code Freeze date – the point at which new development must stop so that Product Development can focus on responding to issues that arise from testing.
At this point, we will have determined the window in which new development can take place. Our current strategy calls for, ideally, three releases per year, each of which would be smaller in scope than we’ve typically produced, enabling us to more rapidly make new features and functionality available. The COVID-19 pandemic has driven major changes in the hospitality industry and we’ve all needed to respond swiftly. More frequent releases of innovative and reliable software solutions is one way we can help you to manage your shifting requirements. With an average of 17 weeks in each cycle, the challenge is to figure out how we can best do that.
In the next post, we’ll examine how the mix of projects is determined within a new release.
Written by Rick Downing, Senior Product Manager, SMS|Host
Posted 8/31/2021
