At Tivian, we aim to support our customers by continually improving our EFS platform. This sometimes means, that we have to make changes, replace or remove existing features or modules. This is often referred to as feature deprecation. Whilst this may seem counter intuitive, by removing parts of the platform that are not used by many customers, or no longer provide an optimal solution to a problem, we can free up valuable resources to allow us to build new and improved features and modules and offer better support to our customers.
We take the decision to deprecate features very seriously and consider the impact to all of our customers, weighing up many factors with the aim to ensure that we continue to design, develop and support a world class employee intelligence platform that will allow you, our customers, to continue to deliver the best possible experiences for your employees and customers.
Feature deprecation overview
The table below provides a high-level overview of those features and modules that have already been deprecated, or will be deprecated in the future. When communicating our intent to deprecate features we aim to give our customers as much lead time as possible in order to minimize interruption and provide customers with sufficient time to communicate the upcoming changes to their end users. Wherever possible we will also provide a documented alternative.
Please note, that the table uses release version numbers as an orientation, because the deprecation lifecycle events are bound to our regular semiannual release schedule.
Key product lifecycle events
In the overview table below we provide the EFS release for a number of important stages in the deprecation of a feature. Events marked as TBA have no final decision yet.
End of Sale: This is the first step towards removing a feature. The End of Sale date refers to the last date on which a feature or module is available for quoting/selling to customers.
End of Service: As a further step towards removing a feature, we will no longer provide customer or technical support (bug fixes). Customers may continue to use the feature until the End of Life date allowing time to migrate to a newly-developed alternative or to find an alternative solution.
End of Life: At this point the feature has reached the end of its useful life. We will no longer sell the feature and it will no longer be available within the platform. Usually it will have been replaced in favor of recently-developed and improved functionality.
Deprecated products overview
Feature | Date announced | End of Sale | End of Service | End of Life | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adobe Flash detection in surveys | December, 7th, 2023 | - | - | 24.1 | The flash plugin detection and variable will be removed from EFS, it is no longer relevant. |
Support for Readsoft interface in paper questionnaires | December, 7th, 2023 | - | - | Jan 1st, 2024 | The deprecated and no longer supported Readsoft interface will be removed. The generated files are no longer supported by Readsoft. The layout of the paper questionnaires will be modified. |
Legacy EFS 2FA (SMS) | March 22nd, 2022 | 22.2 | TBA | TBA | Replaced with app based 2FA in EFS 22.1. Please contact support to enable feature. |
Legacy Mobile Admin GUI | March 22nd, 2022 | 22.2 | 23.1 | 23.1 | |
Reporting+ PowerPoint 97-2003 PPT export format | March 22nd, 2022 | 22.1 | 22.1 | 22.2 | Please use the existing PPTX exports. |
Survey Classic Layout (existing projects) | July 17th, 2023 | 10.x | 10.x | 24.2 | The Classic Layout in Surveys has long been removed as an option for new projects and is no longer supported. With EFS 24.2, support for existing projects with layouts based on the classic layout will be removed. |
Survey Responsive Layout 1 and 2 | March 22nd, 2022 | 22.2 | 23.1 | 23.1 | And customizations based on these versions. Please use Responsive Layout 3 or newer. |
Panel Website Standard Layout | March 22nd, 2022 | 22.1 | 22.2 | 22.2 | Standard layout is the blue-header “EFSpanel” website which has not been used for customer projects recently. |
Portal discussions | June 15th, 2021 | 21.2 | 22.1 | 22.1 | Completed |
Orbit | June 15th, 2021 | 21.2 | 21.2 | 21.2 | Completed |
Internet Explorer 11 | June 15th, 2021 | 21.1 | 21.1 | 21.1 | Completed |
Why does Tivian deprecate features?
Feature deprecation is an inevitable part of SaaS software development. In order to continually improve and evolve our platform, we will periodically replace features with improved functionality or better ways to solve a particular problem. Technologies advance, use cases change and features become outdated. Feature deprecation is one way in which we keep our platform modern and relevant. Continuing to support outdated features negatively impacts the value we bring to our customers, and the Tivian teams that support them.
Product & Engineering - A feature is typically deprecated because there is a new and better way to do something. Maintaining both old and new features ties up valuable human resources and negatively impacts the cost to maintain and support the platform, which impacts future development plans and the overall pace of innovation. Streamlining our platform enables the product and engineering teams to move faster in their efforts to continually develop and improve it.
Customer Support, Training & Implementation - Ensuring that we have employees trained to support customers on multiple outdated features is costly and inefficient and negatively impacts our team's ability to offer customers a fast and effective service. Similarly, helping customers to implement a platform with multiple ways of solving the same problem can introduce confusion and extend the time to deliver a solution.
Customer Impact - We recognise that change isn’t always welcome, and can result in additional workload and effort. That’s why we take feature deprecation very seriously and make every effort to develop new features and functionality that deliver a significant improvement to your experiences. When communicating both feature deprecations and new features we aim to ensure a simple and seamless transition for our customers. Making sure that you know of, and are actively using, new developments is key to your satisfaction.
How much notice will I receive before a feature is deprecated?
We will begin to communicate the plans for feature deprecation no later than 6 months in advance of the End of Life date. High-impact features where customer training is required to ensure a smooth transition will be communicated no less than 9 months in advance of the planned end of life date.
Our feature deprecation plans will be maintained on this page and you will be notified across various channels in order to limit any surprises for you and your teams.