Release Phases: Understanding Private Preview, Public Preview, and General Availability
Vega aligns with industry best practices for delivering features and functionality to our customers. The release phases described below allow for incremental testing and feedback, enhancing product quality and user experience. Starting with a smaller, controlled group helps catch major issues early, while expanding to a broader audience provides diverse insights. The final GA release benefits from this thorough vetting, ensuring a stable and reliable product for all users.
The purpose of Private and Public Preview is only for evaluation and demo purposes only. Except for the lack of SLA and formal support, there might be other issues that have not yet been discovered or fixed.
Private Preview
During the Private Preview phase, selected customers are invited to test and provide feedback on new features or products before they are made widely available. This phase is crucial for identifying and addressing any issues in a controlled environment. Participation in Private Preview is by invitation only and often involves a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to ensure confidentiality of the upcoming features.
Open Preview
The Open Preview phase follows the Private Preview and opens up the new features or products to a broader audience. This phase allows for additional feedback and usage scenarios, helping to further refine and improve the offering. While more stable than the Private Preview, the features or products in Open Preview are still considered to be in a testing phase and may not be fully supported.
General Availability (GA)
After the Open Preview phase, the product or feature reaches General Availability. This marks the official release, indicating that the offering is fully supported and ready for production use. General Availability releases have passed rigorous testing and feedback cycles during the Private and Open Previews, ensuring reliability and performance.
Release Phase Summary Matrix
The Matrix below describes these phases in more detail:
| Area | Private Preview | Open Preview | General Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLA | NO | NO | YES |
| Support | Limited | Limited | Formal Support |
| Supported By | Directly By the Product Team | Vega Support & Customer Success | Vega Support & Customer Success |
| Features and Functionality | Limited or Missing, non-functioning at times | Limited | Features & Functionality available as described in release documentation |
| Available To | Available for limited number of customers for evaluation | Available for all customers by request for evaluation | All Customers |
| Timeline | No timeline related to when will be Generally Available | On roadmap but may be removed or delayed | On roadmap and planned for release |
| Can be retired without notice | YES | NO | NO |
| Invite Required | YES | NO | NO |
| How to join the program | Based upon invitation from the Product Team | Email <support@vegacloud.io> | No restrictions |