Release Philosophy and Blackout Calendar

Purpose/Overview

In this article, you’ll learn how Irth approaches software releases and which dates we avoid releasing to production. Our goal is to keep releases predictable and to avoid changes at times when your teams are busiest, away, or least able to absorb a change. This article is intended for administrators, project managers, and end users who plan their work, training, and support coverage around system updates.

Things to Know:

• Blackout dates are in addition to the guidelines. Releases are never scheduled on Fridays, weekends, or holidays, whether or not the date appears in the blackout calendar.
• The calendar covers November 2026 through October 2027. It will be updated annually.
• Evening releases: Releases take place in the evening, so they have minimal impact on your business day.
• Hotfix exception: The only exception to the blackout dates and release guidelines is a hotfix released to resolve a Severity 1 issue. 

Release Guidelines:

We follow these guidelines when scheduling a release:

• No Fridays. If an issue appears after a release, our teams and yours are available during the business week to respond.
• No weekends. Releases happen on business days, so support and engineering staff are fully available.
• No holidays. We avoid holidays and the days observed for them, when many customers have reduced staffing.
• No releases around our user conference. We keep the conference week free of changes so attendees get a consistent experience and our teams can focus on you.

Release Blackout Calendar

NOTE: The only exception to these guidelines and the blackout calendar is a hotfix to resolve a Severity 1 issue that could affect SLAs.

How It Works:

Follow these steps to plan around our releases:

1. Review the blackout calendar. Note the dates above that affect your operations, such as peak seasons or planned go-lives.
2. Follow the release notes forum. In Irth Forums (Forums Link), open the product's release notes you use and click Follow. Release notes are posted at least 2 business days before each release.
3. Review the release notes. When the notes are posted, review what’s changing so you can prepare your team before the evening release.
4. Contact Support with questions. If a planned date of yours conflicts with an upcoming release, contact Support and we’ll help you plan.

FAQ/Troubleshooting:

Q: Will a release ever happen on a blackout date?
A: Blackout dates are dates we’ve committed not to release.

Q: Why don’t you release on Fridays?
A: If an issue appears after a release, we want our teams and yours to be available during the business week to respond.

Q: Are the blackout dates the same every year?
A: No. Some, like holidays and our user conference, change each year. We update the calendar annually.

Q: How will I know when a release is coming?
A: Release notes are posted in our Release Notes Forums (Forums Link) at least 2 business days before each release. To be notified when they’re posted, find the product's release notes you use in the forum and click Follow. 

Q: Where can I see what changed in a release?

A: Release notes for every product and release are posted in our release notes forum. To view them:

1. Go to the Forums Link.
2. Find the product's release notes you want and click it.
3. Click Follow to be notified when new release notes are posted.

Questions?  Contact us!