General

What is the Smartt Supported Software Stack (S4)?

The Smartt Supported Software Stack (S4) is a policy that governs:

• What software packages can be installed on our servers.

• When software packages must be upgraded or replaced, ensuring this is done before end-of-life.

• How software package uplifts are handled.

• How new versions of software packages are made available for our clients.

This policy applies to both software installed by either Smartt or Smartt’s clients.

What are the benefits of the S4 to our clients?

Our clients will receive these benefits under the S4:

• Predictable uplift paths

• Opportunity to WOW the clients with valuable technical insights instead of break-fixes

• Proactive availability of new versions of software

• Less technical debt

How are responsibilities shared under the S4?

Smartt’s responsibilities:

• Monitor new software releases

• Keep software licenses and support packages up-to-date

• Create testing environments (POCs) at no cost so they can uplift

• Strategic, technical and implementation service (T&M) to manage uplift

Our clients' responsibilities:

• Upgrade end-of-life software they manage, including web applications and front-end components

• Manage application changes or request Smartt to support them on a T&M basis

Which services fall under the S4?

All managed hosting services (e.g. managed VPSs and shared hosting) and internal Smartt assets fall under the S4. Legacy unmanaged hosting services, colocation services, and connectivity services do not fall under the S4.

What is technical debt and why is it bad?

Technical debt is anything that makes a site or application harder to maintain or adds the risk of unintended negative consequences.  It can be accumulated as the result of action or inaction.  For example, technical debt could occur as a result of:

• Failing to patch known security vulnerabilities.

• Failing to plan to upgrade an application when newer versions come available.

• Tightly coupling an application with specific software or library versions.

Like any debt, accumulating technical debt results in additional costs over time.  These costs can include time, effort, and money.  These can also include costs in reputation or public opinion - for example, if your site or application is compromised due to a known security vulnerability.  Even worse, the longer technical debt is accumulated, the more it will cost to finally pay it down.

For an analogy: Automobiles should be maintained regularly to ensure they run efficiently and to reduce the risk of negative consequences.  Failure to conduct this maintenance may result in significant problems in the future.  For example:

• Failure to change the oil regularly may result in permanent damage to the engine, which may lead to additional expense in the future.

• Failure to replace the tires when they become worn increases the risk of an accident, which may result in significant expense, physical harm, and possibly loss of life.

• Failure to repair known defects (e.g. via manufacturer recalls) may result in significant expense or physical harm.

Many automobile owners see the value in conducting preventative maintenance to reduce the risk of significant future consequences.

Like automobiles, technical assets, e.g. servers, services, applications, etc., should also receive regular proactive, preventative maintenance.

What is end-of-life software and why is it bad?

End-of-life (EOL) software represents significant technical debt:

• The vendor will no longer support the software.

• The vendor will no longer provide updates to patch security vulnerabilities in the software.

• The vendor will no longer provide fixes for stability issues in the software.

• End-of-life software can be significantly difficult to upgrade to supported versions in the future.

One of the easiest ways to avoid accumulating technical debt is to avoid the use of unsupported, end-of-life software.

Software Uplifts

What is the standard schedule for software uplifts?

Our standard schedule for software uplifts is:

What are Smartt’s responsibilities during the uplift process?

Smartt will upgrade all software we are responsible for, e.g. operating systems, service software, etc.

We will perform our standard uplift activities at no cost:

• Provision POC servers and/or sites

• Migrate content to the POC servers and/or sites (including copying all client data, as needed)

• Install any required supported server-side software

• Normal POC activities, including:

  • uplift and/or patch software

  • ensure software packages are configured and interoperable

  • identify software that is no longer supported and recommending alternatives

  • create a list of impacted services and clients on mVPSs

  • create a list of interoperability issues with other servers and/or sites hosted at Smartt that share dependencies with the server/site

  • ensure data integrity is maintained during the uplift

What are my responsibilities during the uplift process?

Our clients will be responsible for:

• Testing their POC sites/servers

• Upgrading software they are responsible for, e.g. web applications, front-end components, and custom installed software

What if I need assistance with a software uplift?

If clients need assistance for software uplifts outside of Smartt’s normal scope of support (for example, upgrading web applications or updating custom applications to work with new versions of software), we can provide assistance on a time and materials (T&M) basis.

If we provide any T&M work, we will be responsible for making sure the work is completed with enough time for clients to test.

We provide T&M work with a minimum of two hours billed at $300, our lowest standard rate. If we will require more than two hours to complete the work, we provide you with a PERT estimate, billed using our standard rates, and require your approval before continuing.

What is the latest date I can request assistance?

The latest date clients can request assistance from Smartt that would be covered as T&M work will be included in the uplift notifications. We cannot guarantee we will be able to take on uplift-related T&M work after that deadline has passed.

How will I be sent access information for the POC environment?

All access information will be sent via our Client Password Management System (CPMS). If a client has not signed up for the CPMS, we recommend doing so at the earliest opportunity using the signup form.

Proactive Availability of New Versions

How will new versions be made available?

When Smartt determines a new software version is stable and ready for use, we will:

• Post the information on our website on the S4 Software List.

• Contact clients using the software package and offer to provide a POC environment to test the software.

Clients will then be able to use the POC environment to test the new software and, if desired, go live using the new software versions.

New Software

How do I request Smartt support a new software package?

Please send us an email and we will work with you to get the information we need to evaluate the software package.

Unmanaged Services

I have an unmanaged service. How can I benefit from the S4?

Before unmanaged services can benefit directly from the S4, these services will need to be migrated to a managed service with only supported software versions. Any migration work done by Smartt would be done on a time and materials basis at our standard rate.