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COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY GUIDELINE

Name Of Guideline: Number: Software Release GDL-EPPM010 Numbering Guideline Domain: Category: Business Software Release Numbering Date Issued: Issued By: 04/22/2004 Date Revised: DHS Bureau of Information Systems 03/10/2016

General: While creativity in some spheres is encouraged, variations in the numbering scheme for software releases c an lead to confusion and ambiguity. Current best practices in the Information Technology field indicate that an enterprise-wide numbering scheme be adopted.

Objectives and Benefits This document is intended to bring uniformity to current and future software release numbers. Use of this release numbering convention reduces ambiguity by providing a common, Department-wide numbering framework. Use of the three-digit system also allows information resource managers to visualize the importance of the software and its position in the software development cycle.

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Definitions Any standardized methodology must be based on defined and accepted terminology. When used within the Department of Human Services (DHS) IT environment, the terms ‘Major Release’, ‘Minor Release’, and ‘Maintenance Release’ are defined as:

Major Release Major changes in a product’s design, functionality, or user interface.

Minor Release Product upgrades that provide new or enhanced features. The upgrades do not represent functionality changes as significant as those involved in a major release.

Maintenance Release Minor changes intended to increase stability or fix bugs. Such releases are occasionally referred to as ‘patches’. These releases are often transparent to the majority of the users.

Overview All new DHS software products begin with a release identifier 1.0.0. As changes are made to the software, the appropriate digit is incremented. The second major release of a software product would be identified as 2.0.0. Correspondingly, the identifier for the fourth upgrade (minor release) for the second major release of a software product would change from 2.3.0 to 2.4.0. The first digit never decreases in value. The third digit (corresponding to the Maintenance Release number) is reset to zero (0) when the minor release digit is incremented. The second digit (corresponding to the Minor Release number) is reset to zero (0) when the Major Release digit is incremented. The three-digit software release identifier is composed of three numbers separated by periods, as shown below. The terms ‘Major Release’, ‘Minor Release’, and ‘Maintenance Release’ are defined in an earlier section.

Roles and Responsibilities The Program Management Office (PMO) is responsible for developing best practices for use within the Department’s strategic and non-strategic IT projects. The responsibility of implementing these best practices rests with the project/program offices.

Contact Information Questions concerning Release Identifier Numbering should be addressed to: DHS Bureau of Information Systems Division of Enterprise Program and Portfolio Management

Refresh Schedule: All guidelines and referenced documentation identified in this standard will be subject to review and possible revision annually or upon request by the DHS Information Technology Standards Team.

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Change Version Change Description Author and Organization Date

04/22/2004 1.0 Initial creation. PMO-DCSS

10/25/2004 1.0 Change OIS to BIS PMO-DCSS

08/08/2005 1.0 Reviewed content – No change PMO-DCSS necessary

01/04/2007 1.0 Reviewed content – No change PMO-DCSS necessary

06/15/2007 1.1 Format Change PMO-DCSS

04/08/2008 1.2 Corrected the wording in the Overview PMO-DCSS

11/16/2009 1.3 Minor updates BIS-DEPPM

04/10/2012 1.4 Minor updates and moved to new PMO-DEPPM template

04/30/2015 1.5 Changed DPW to DHS BIS/DEPPM

03/10/2016 1.5 Annual Review BIS/DEPPM

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