Stop Adding New Features to Released LTS Versions Through Hotfixes or Service Packs

Starting with Spotfire 14.6, new features may be introduced into LTS versions through Hotfixes, Service Packs, or similar maintenance releases. We request that this policy be reconsidered and that new features no longer be added to an LTS version after its initial release.

Many of our customers operate in the manufacturing industry, where system stability is the highest priority. Before upgrading to a new LTS version, they establish a separate evaluation environment and conduct comprehensive operational and compatibility testing. They move to the new LTS version only after completing this validation.

If unvalidated new features are introduced into a production environment through a Hotfix or Service Pack, any defects associated with those features could compromise the stability that these customers consider essential. Furthermore, customers may need to repeat validation activities after each maintenance release, even when they are applying the release primarily to obtain bug fixes or security updates.

We therefore request that features included in an LTS release be limited to those that have already been sufficiently validated in Innovation releases before the initial LTS release. Once an LTS version has been released, subsequent Hotfixes and Service Packs should focus on defect corrections, security fixes, and stability improvements, rather than introducing new functionality.

In other words, we are requesting a return to the previous Hotfix and Service Pack release policy.

When potentially useful functionality is introduced in an Innovation release, customers can prepare a separate evaluation environment and assess it there. This is also consistent with their established validation processes.

Please reconsider the policy of introducing insufficiently validated new functionality into production environments where stability is the highest priority. Customers who choose an LTS release do so because they require a stable, predictable, and carefully controlled platform throughout its lifecycle.