Requests for Change (RFC)

Owned by Alan Gilchrist
Last updated: Sept 24, 2024 by Andrew Stacey
3 min read

Should you need to have a change made to the system, something adding or changing or a new feature then you can request an RFC (Request for Change) this can be done through our Customer Support Portal where you can select Request for Change as an option on the Vision suite service desk https://visionsoftware.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portals

Instructions for use of the Customer portal can be found here Requesting Support for Vision Suite

What is an RFC

RFC are paid for changes to the system and anything sent to our RFC will only be actioned if we have the final signed documentation from yourselves, so until you see a sales orders you have not committed yourself to spend any money.

RFC is a request for change, you may opt to log wishlist items and sometimes we will adopt your idea and put it into the system anyway at no cost to you. So we suggest you log what you want as you never know it may already be happening.

RFC Timescales

We review our RFC queue once every 2 weeks generally on a Thursday where we may reply asking for more information or where we may pass this to the developers for their comments.

There is no fixed process to this so it is difficult to give a definitive timetable on when things will happen but generally a good request with decent details at our review can be passed and returned about two weeks later with an estimated cost.

Of course we are taking request for future versions of the application so anything you ask us to do will then be added to our development system and at that time we can give you an idea of delivery dates, if you look at our Product Road Map this will give you an idea which version we will be able to slot the change in for.

Life Cycle of the Request

Your request will initially be placed in the system with a status of "OPEN"

Status

Notes

Status

Notes

OPEN

All new RFC are placed here and this is reviewed every two weeks throughout the year.

Initial Review

We accept the request into the system and at this point we may need some more details from you or we may need to investigate what you require further, your RFC will use this stage.

RFC Estimate Costs

If your RFC is in this state then its with the development team to assess the request and to provide us with resource time requirements.

RFC Wait Customer

If your RFC is in this status then we are waiting on a reply from you regarding your request, it could also say "With Customer".
At this point we have normally responded to you with costs and we are awaiting your OK to raise the SOP.

RFC Raise SOP

You have confirmed you want to go ahead and we have been requested to Raise the SOP.
We normally try to estimate release versions at this point and provide you with the best date possible.
This is our committed date for when delivery will take place. 

RFC Waiting Approval

We have sent the SOP to you for signature and we are awaiting a response.

WAITING DEVELOPERS

At this point we have all the paperwork and we are transferring the RFC to our development system.
You will be emailed with a tracking reference for this on our development system which then ties back to the "Release Notes" section for each product.
We normally transfer the items and then we close the RFC in the support system.

Development System

Our Development planning system known as "Jira" does not have any customer access at present.
This is not something we are looking to change.

Testing

If you are testing something you requested through the RFC, please log any issues with it through the customer services ticket on the service desk

Testing feedback should not be logged via the original RFC.

Copyright Ontech Solutions 2017-2024. All rights reserved, no part may be replicated or distributed without the express permission of the owner.