Overview
Similarly, VIDIZMO software is also prone to bugs or defects that may be revealed or be discovered from time to time and, depending on their severity, may need urgent updates. An ill-planned software and upgrade process is an organization's worst nightmare which will not only cause disruption in business functions but also create unnecessary inconvenience to the users. Determining a well-planned upgrade process from the onset is the key to providing the right solution and for the organization's IT department, which will benefit most from this process.
At VIDIZMO, all of these needs and concerns have been taken into consideration while designing the Update & Patch Management System and our internal processes around it. In fact, Update Management is an embedded part of VIDIZMO software, development lifecycle, and the support system.
Testing Methodology
At VIDIZMO, a rigorous testing methodology is followed during the software development lifecycle of any new release. The testing methods include using scripted tests for test automation as well as manual testing techniques to ensure maximum coverage of the test.
Every new build delivered is taken through multiple stages. Our skilled Software Developers and Quality Assurance team ensure that strict compliance measures adhere throughout the testing process. This includes:
1) Integrated testing environment: various modules are tested for their compatibility with each other.
2) Test environment: The testers & QA teams run automated, manual tests on staging environments. At this stage, a replica of production or last publicly released version is maintained. The testers and QA team then do the final testing before releasing it to production or customers to use.
Such a thorough testing procedure is used before releasing any ‘Update’ to the production or customer environment.
Moreover, a standard set of test cases is run each time an update is installed on VIDIZMO shared cloud or managed instances within customer’s premises or private cloud deployments. Strict guidelines pertaining to customer’s data are followed which includes performing immediate cleanup in case any data is used to carry out testing. Moreover, no customer data is removed or altered during the testing procedure.
Staging Software Updates for Customers
VIDIZMO Software Update and Upgrade mechanism is generally a simple and straightforward process. However, in case of dedicated deployments where other enterprise systems may be integrated such as Active Directory, SharePoint, LMS, etc. or where there is a considerable impact of change, it may result in unwanted or unexpected results. Thus, VIDIZMO recommends its enterprise customers to implement a separate staging environment where these changes can be tested and accepted via coordinated UAT (User Acceptance Testing) efforts before being rolled out into a production environment.
VIDIZMO Software Update Frequency
VIDIZMO software “Patch” is normally rolled out when software bug(s) have been identified that are either “Critical’ or “Showstoppers” in nature. Such bugs might cause normal operations of software to cease.
In such cases, VIDIZMO team quickly resolves the bug with either a temporary or a permanent fix and releases a software Patch to be installed on VIDIZMO instances. Patch release frequency is not predefined since patches are released depending upon the nature of the situation. However, based on past experiences, VIDIZMO may need to roll out a “Patch” once in a year.
A VIDIZMO software “Update” typically bundles together multiple “low” or “medium” severity bugs and/or minor improvements in the features or the working of the software. These updates are normally scheduled and planned ahead of their release dates. The frequency of such an update to be rolled out is every 2-3 months.
The identification and notification of bugs or software changes can either be performed by internal VIDIZMO teams including QA, development, and technical support during normal operations, or the customers and their end users during regular use of the VIDIZMO software. In such a case end users typically reach out to VIDIZMO support teams. Each reported issue is given an extensive drill down by VIDIZMO teams to determine whether its resolution requires a patch or an update. A representation of VIDIZMO’s tiered support model is given below for reference.
VIDIZMO Product Management teams own the VIDIZMO product roadmaps. The team reviews the updates, bug fixes and change requests on a regular basis to determine the scope of “Major Updates” for the next 12 months. These major updates include a group of minor updates and new product enhancements or customer feature requests.
VIDIZMO Update Management
VIDIZMO software has a built-in VIDIZMO Update Service (VUS) that allows IT Administrators to schedule automatic installation of updates on specified times or download updates only without installing them if the update is to be installed manually at any time.
This component is responsible for routinely checking for any new updates and installing them automatically on VIDIZMO servers. VUS will check for new updates or patches from time to time by connecting to central VIDIZMO update servers (enterprisetube.com and vidizmo.com). Based on the version installed and customer’s license privileges, VUS automatically downloads any pending “Updates” or “Patches". IT administrators can define the action to be taken by the VUS once the software updates or patches are delivered. These actions include “Download & Install” or “Download Only.”
If the IT admin selects “Download & Install,” they can further configure the scheduled date and time for the automatic installation of the new updates. These options are available under System Configuration >> App Config >> Scheduled Tasks tab.
IT Administrators can also configure the local storage location where the updates are downloaded and stored by the VUS.
Compatibility with Windows Update & Other Update Management Systems
VIDIZMO patch and update builds are released in the widely used MSI format (Windows Installer) which makes it easier to be controlled and pushed using organization’s standard Update Management systems. This makes it convenient for the IT staff to download the installer and push it out using their choice of system (such as Microsoft System Center) which may have greater control over update and installation process.
Manual Install & Update
Since updates & patches are released in the form of MSI Packages, they can be manually installed as well. The MSI package includes all the software components including the database scripts. As any other MSI package, VIDIZMO MSI package can run in silent mode as well.
The installer will automatically detect if there is a VIDIZMO software installation available on the system, it will automatically start updating the components. If it cannot find one, a fresh installation process will initiate.
Downgrading of VIDIZMO Software
VIDIZMO platform is a fairly complex software system comprising a database for maintaining various kinds of records. Due to the complexity of the system, VIDIZMO does not allow uninstalling of any VIDIZMO updates or downgrading of VIDIZMO software to a former version. However, during the installation process, if an error occurs, the installer would roll back to the previous state automatically. Therefore, VIDIZMO recommends customers to back up their environments before installing any updates or upgrades.
Enterprise IT Policy
As part of our Managed Services, VIDIZMO team typically has access to VIDIZMO instances deployed for customer’s use. In such cases, based on the organization’s Enterprise IT policy for carrying out software updates, VIDIZMO Production Support team can schedule updates and upgrade deployments in sync with the IT policy. Normally, the updates are scheduled on Saturday, Sunday or Monday between 9 PM EST to 6 AM EST.
Infrastructure Maintenance
As part of our managed services, VIDIZMO team provides end to end maintenance of underlying infrastructure including Windows operating system and SQL server maintenance. The team follows the enterprise IT policy to install any patches, updates or upgrades as required by the customer. For any hardware and network related issues in the cloud or customer data centers, VIDIZMO team coordinates with the service provider to resolve those issues.