Cyara’s New 4-Week Release Cycle: FAQs

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Why is Cyara making the change from the current 10-week release cycle to the new, 4-week release cycle?

Great question! Cyara is dedicated to continual improvements across all products. These improvements encompass the addition of new features and functionality, and also cover things like enhanced stability and performance, and continuous modernization efforts that allow us to provide the best products to our Customers. 

By reducing the time between deployments we can deliver features and upgrades to our customers on a more regular basis.

When will this change take place?

Cyara will be transitioning to a 4-week release cycle gradually between now and Spring 2023 so that we can ensure the best quality and usability throughout this change process.

PLEASE NOTE: Every Cyara customer will receive every Cyara release. Through the transition period, there will be differences in the delivery schedule for the regions we serve. As an example, our US Customers will not receive monthly releases at the same time as the other regions, but instead we will deliver a combined update every 3 months. This will be temporary until early 2023 when all Cyara Customers will receive release updates every four weeks.

How long will the platform/portal be down? Does / will this mean more downtime overall?

With the new release schedule, downtime for each deployment will actually be reduced.

Cyara’s current upgrades (on a 10-week release schedule) require a 3-hour window of downtime.

When we fully transition to a 4-week release cycle, this will initially be reduced to a 2-hour window of downtime per release, and our team will continue working on reducing this further.

The load test booking calendar will be blocked for a 3-hour duration, and our team will continue to work on reducing this to match the downtime window. And we will continue to work on further reducing downtime required for each deployment.

In terms of product features and capabilities, what will the new release cycle mean?

More regular releases will mean a greater opportunity for Cyara to increase stability, shorten the customer feedback loop, and add both minor and major features and capabilities to the Platform.

How will this impact my Pulse campaigns? Is there anything I need to do?

Your Pulse campaigns will be paused during upgrades, and will resume automatically once the upgrade is completed.

If you are not currently scheduling your Pulse campaigns, now is the time to start this practice. If Pulse campaigns are not scheduled, they will automatically and concurrently start following the completion of each Cyara release, which may result in issues related to port capacity.

Is there anything that I can do now to avoid downtime on my Pulse campaigns?

Unfortunately, Pulse will be unavailable during upgrades. As part of our modernization efforts, we’re working towards minimizing, and ultimately eliminating downtime for Pulse campaigns. Stay tuned!

How will this impact my scheduled Cruncher load / performance test bookings?

The load test booking calendar will be blocked for a 3-hour duration, and our team will continue to work on lowering this to match a reduced downtime window.

Does Cyara now have increased availability?  Will there ever be zero downtime?

Cyara is actively working to reduce the length of downtime during upgrade windows. Over the years, we have reduced this from 6 hours to 3 hours, and now, when this transition to monthly releases is complete in early 2023, we will be able to shift from 3 hours of downtime to 1 hour only. 

This is part of our ongoing modernization initiative, and we will continue on this path and expect to have zero downtime upgrades in the near future.

What do I need to do? Do I need to change my testing posture/habits/schedule?

As part of the changes to our release schedule, we will be publishing and sending notifications about upgrade schedules well in advance so that you can plan for and adjust your campaigns and use of Cyara accordingly. 

There is no action you need to take, but we do recommend that if you aren’t already, please subscribe to status.cyara.com to ensure that you are receiving notifications of upgrade schedules and any additional relevant messages.

How will releases be communicated? How can I ensure that I’m on the list to receive these notifications?

Just as we’ve always done, Cyara will notify customers ahead of each release cycle via email, and continue to publish release notes in the Cyara Knowledge Center.

Additionally, as we do now, Cyara will send a quarterly release newsletter. This quarterly release newsletter will serve as a roundup of key features, enhancements, and product updates that have occurred over the last three months. We may also choose to use interim emails, newsletters, and/or in-portal pop-up notifications to keep you well informed of new features, updates, enhancements, and announcements.

If you do not currently receive our Cyara Release Newsletters, you can subscribe to this newsletter list by following this link and ensuring that “PRODUCT UPDATES” is checked for your email preferences.

Does this 4-week release cycle change the support lifecycle for Cyara premise installations?

No. This new 4-week release cycle affects cloud customers only. The support lifecycle for Cyara premise installations remains the same.

Who do I contact if I have questions about this new release schedule?

Send an email to support@cyara.com and we will respond shortly!