Release Policies

Overview

QFD® is a real-time servicing, compliance, and financial processing system.  It is a cloud-based, SaaS system that is fully managed and supported by Quavo.  Extensive effort and investment is made in quality, monitoring and responsiveness to any issues that could lead to accountholder dissatisfaction, compliance risk, and financial loss.

Clients and Quavo have risk exposure when issues occur in your production environment.  Clients may be exposed to financial loss, dissatisfied accountholders, regulatory fines, missed recovery opportunities, etc.. Quavo may suffer reputational issues and financial loss or decreased revenue as a result of system issues.  These policies are in place to protect both Clients and Quavo.

Your license to use QFD® grants Quavo the right to take the actions outlined on this page.

Types of Releases

Product Hotfixes

Product hotfixes will be created if/when Quavo becomes aware of a system issue that could cause accountholder dissatisfaction, compliance issues or potential financial loss. 

Patch Releases

Patch releases consist of critical bug fixes that were either reported by users or are a proactive approach to ensure no impact is had on your production process. These do not contain major updates to the system. 

Feature Releases

Feature releases are updates to the system where anything can change.  These are usually fundamental improvements to the system that will require process/procedure changes.  In some cases, they may even require minor development from Clients.  These are highly coordinated between Clients and Quavo.

Visa/Mastercard Mandates

Visa/Mastercard mandates are required changes determined by the payment networks. 

Frequency of Releases

Release Windows

Release windows for production deployments are every Tuesday and Thursday. 

Product Hotfixes

Product hotfixes are true emergency situations. These will be issued, tested, and released to the production environment as soon as possible.  We will notify you of this action and resolution timeframe, regardless of whether you reported the issue or if it was detected by another Client.

Patch Releases

Patch releases are produced and released multiple times a year. You will be informed when a patch release is available for UAT in Staging.  Patch releases are default approved, meaning if we do not hear from you, they will be deployed to production on the initially scheduled date.

Feature Releases

Feature releases are produced and released twice a year. You will be informed when a feature release is available for UAT in Staging.  Feature releases are default approved, meaning if we do not hear from you, they will be deployed to production on the initially scheduled date.

Visa/Mastercard Mandates

Visa/Mastercard mandates occur twice a year, once in April and a second time in October. You will be informed when the Visa/Mastercard mandates code is available for UAT in Staging. 

Blackout Days

Blackout days are dates when Quavo will not be deploying to production. These typically fall on major holidays or internal corporate events. If a blackout day lands on one of our standard release windows, code will be deployed during the next release window.

FAQs

Do I need to approve the release of hotfixes to production?

For issues that require hotfixes, your approval is not required.  Quavo has an extensive and audited CAB (change approval board) that includes special processes for emergency/hotfix changes.

What about April and October mandates?

These are hotfix packages, and due to the nature of network mandates, must be installed in production prior to mandates weekend.  As mandates approach, a hotfix package will be released with the "mandates compatible" code meaning that if you are using this version, you are using a system developed to function after the weekend changes by networks.  Based on prior experience, expect a few required hotfixes the week following mandates weekend, even if no releases were deployed by Quavo.  This is due to underlying changes by networks.

What if I don’t have enough time to test a feature or patch release?

Contact your Client Success Manager.  There is some flexibility in scheduling, but generally feature and patch releases need to make their way into production within a month of staging deployment.

Do I need to test feature or patch releases?

Quavo regression tests every feature and patch release for every Client.  Many of our Clients do not perform additional testing prior to release.  This depends on your own procedures and risk appetite.

What happens if I find issues while testing a feature or patch release?

Issues found while testing a feature or patch release should be directed to your Client Success Manager. If the issue is severe enough that it would require a hotfix to correct, the production release will be rescheduled.  If it is minor in nature, it will be entered as a support ticket and tracked to resolution like any other issue.  If it is related to the nature of the testing environment, this will be communicated to you and the release will not be rescheduled.

What if I want the option to approve the release of hotfixes to production?

We have found that in situations where a "dual approval" is in place both internally with Quavo's CAB and Client release procedures, there is a significantly higher incidence of loss and remediation required due to delays.  We welcome any scrutiny and questions around our CAB process, but at this time, Client approval cannot be required.  Your license to use QFD® grants Quavo the right to take the actions outlined on this page.

Will I be given time to test hotfixes before they are released to production?

Every effort will be given to communicate hotfix releases to Clients ahead of time and allow for testing.  In cases where there is significant exposure to Clients and Quavo, extremely limited time may be available.

I didn't report this issue!  Why are you releasing a hotfix for it?

If a potential exists for financial loss, dissatisfied accountholders, regulatory fines or missed recovery opportunities, we will deploy a hotfix to all affected Clients regardless of who reported it.