Community Consulation: Proposed changes to the Spanish Edition delivery timelines

Hi all

We are considering refining the delivery timelines for the Spanish Edition release. Currently it's published twice a year, on 30th April and 31st October.

We are considering various options, including (but not limited to):

1. Early publication - retaining the dependency on the January/July International Edition content, but bringing the Spanish Edition release date forward to either

   1. 28th February and 31st August, or

   2. 31st March and 30th September

   3. Pros:

      1. This will reduce the version offset between the International and Spanish Editions, which may be the primary goal of the end users? (confirmation of this and in particular evidence as to why this is currently a problem for them would be useful in order to make this a priority....)

      2. This will also retain the standard January/July baseline on the International Edition content

   4. Cons:

      1. This would be dependent upon delivery to SI being completed by either a) 15th Feb and 15th August, or b) 28th Feb and 31st August respectively (at the latest), due to conflicting MS priorities in March/September.  The translation suppliers would therefore need to be comfortable with the ability to meet these timelines between the new monthly International release dates of 1st Feb + 1st August (for the Jan/July releases) and the end of the month.

         1. NOTE:  The timelines are shorted in the case of option a), as we have more capacity to drive the SE through in February/August than we do in March/Sept

      2. Significant increased risk to delivery timelines, due to March/September being extremely busy months for the Managed Service and Derivative releases.  Complex  and time-consuming releases such as US, NL, NZ, coupled with the build and validation of all Derivative releases in these months, make adding additional overhead to this month extremely risky.

      3. Significant increased risk to quality of content, as any issues found may be identified too late to be resolved in the current cycle, and would therefore need to be carried over  as Known Issues to be fixed in the next release.  This may be a concern for the end users.

2. Retaining the dependency on the January/July International Edition content, retaining the April/October release dates for the Spanish Edition, but allowing more time for translation each cycle (this would therefore only require delivery to SI being completed by 31st March and 30th September respectively).

   1. Pros:

      1. This will provide more time time for translation suppliers to translate all International Content.

      2. This will guarantee delivery timelines, and content quality by providing enough time to resolve issues in the current cycle.

      3. This will also retain the standard January/July baseline on the International Edition content

   2. Cons:

      1. This will NOT reduce the version offset between the International and Spanish Editions, which may be the primary goal of the end users? (confirmation of this and in particular evidence as to why this is currently a problem for them would be useful in order to make this a priority....)

      2. This additional time may not be useful, as the Translation suppliers are already managing to deliver slightly earlier in the cycle.

3. Retaining the April/October release dates for the Spanish Edition, but bringing the dependency of the Spanish Edition forward, allowing it to be baselined on a later International Edition - for example February and August.  

   1. Pros:

      1. This will reduce the version offset between the International and Spanish Editions, which may be the primary goal of the end users? (confirmation of this and in particular evidence as to why this is currently a problem for them would be useful in order to make this a priority....)

      2. This would be dependent upon delivery to SI being completed by 31st March and 30th September respectively.

      3. This would therefore still provide enough time to guarantee delivery timelines

      4. It would also ensure content quality by providing enough time to resolve issues in the current cycle.

   2. Cons:

      1. Changing the dependent International content may not be as palatable to the end users, as they would need to be careful as to which International Edition to download in conjunction with the Spanish Edition.

Please feel free to review and add comments (or further options) in advance, otherwise we will discuss in our next TRAG meetings in April 2023.

Thanks very much,

Andrew