By: Jeff Kellick
A critical component to providing significant value to end-users is a strong service offering. One of the ways LENSEC helps enable partners to provide great service for the Perspective VMS® product is through regular software upgrade management.
AGILE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
LENSEC is an agile software development company and as such, we cycle through development sprints and several product releases each year. These releases enable new features and increased functionality within the software. The feedback gained from partners and users is a critical component to offering quality software upgrades with such frequency.
Integrators can differentiate themselves and Perspective VMS® from competitors, by offering end-user access to a number of these software releases throughout any given year. Not only does this illustrate value to the user but it also encourages software maintenance renewals in subsequent years.
To assist users and partners in the evaluation process, LENSEC provides release notes with each version of PVMS released. These notes define new features, existing feature enhancements, and any bug-fixes. LENSEC also provides upgrade assistance through our world-class support team.
Upgrading is designed to be as efficient and simple as possible. Due to the PVMS architecture and its HTML5 application design, only the servers require a software update. All client machines are automatically upgraded when the user logs in to the updated server.
VERSION IDENTIFICATION
Often reviewed in PVMS certification training, LENSEC maintains a system or method for naming product versions. LENSEC’s software versions consist of 4 components (ex. Version 3.3.2.1).
The first number in the sequence represents the MAJOR product version. Major versions are associated with a significant software change. For example, in Version 3, Perspective VMS® shifted from Microsoft Silverlight to HTML5.
The second number in the sequence designates a MINOR product release. Minor versions are associated with incremental feature additions and product enhancements. Both Major and Minor software versions are pre-planned by LENSEC engineers for systematic release, approximately once per quarter.
The third number in the sequence is reserved for MAINTENANCE releases. Maintenance releases are ad-hoc releases issued as necessary with a new feature that may be time sensitive or a software adjustment that is required mid-cycle. These releases will occur within the normal installation development cycle and thus could be more frequent depending upon the need.
The fourth and final number represents a BUG-FIX. There will be times a software incompatibility is noted either in the application or within a new browser release (i.e. Chrome, Firefox, Edge). When this happens, LENSEC issues an emergency bug-fix release by adjusting the previously released version for that immediate fix.
PVMS VERSION RELEASE PLANS
LENSEC will soon be releasing Perspective VMS – Version 4.1.0 with plans to have 4 more minor releases over the next year leading up to Version 5.0. To determine your current version installed, simply navigate to the help menu (Question mark icon) within the software.
For more information and support on software upgrades please reach out to LENSEC Partner Services ([email protected]). Also, LENSEC will offer recommendations and reminders to partners based upon any open support cases registered with our Customer Support team.
If you need to reach customer support, you can email us at [email protected] or call us at +1 (713) 395-0800 Option +1.
