WaterSignal Firmware Approval Process

Vendor Requirements

Vendors should agree to meet the following minimum requirements as part of any partnership with HydroPoint:

• The vendor must provide immediate notification of any critical faults in a released version of the firmware.
• The vendor must provide reasonable visibility into upcoming firmware changes:
  • XX weeks notice prior to release
  • Release notes detailing changes from the previous version
• The vendor should only load “approved” ship software and firmware.

Vendors should be asked to provide the following:

• Ability to disable automatic firmware updates
• Ability to control which firmware version devices are upgraded to
• Ability to downgrade to previous firmware versions
• Access to new firmware versions for testing prior to release
• Summary of their testing methodology or test cases for new firmware releases

HydroPoint should provide vendors with a distribution list for firmware notifications and keep these contacts up to date.
(This could be accomplished with a firmware@hydropoint email group and managed internally.)

Internal Process for Implementing a New Firmware Version

1. The vendor notifies HydroPoint of an upcoming firmware release.
   1. If Vendor does not notify HydroPoint, this may be discovered during incoming QC or EOL.
   2. ENG determines if a new version should be validated & communicate decision to team.
      1. Review release notes (if available)
         
         
2. Engineering team prepares to validate new version:
   1. Create Jira ticket and schedule (immediate vs. planned)
   2. Adjust release schedules if needed and communicate changes internally
      
      
3. Engineering team validates new version:
   1. Re-validate vendor test cases?
   2. Validate HydroPoint-specific test cases
   3. Evaluate test results - any failures? Critical?
      
      
4. Engineering communicates summary to HydroPoint internal teams:
   1. Product Management, Customer Operations, Manufacturing
   2. What did the vendor change? What are they trying to improve or fix?
   3. What are the results of ENG testing?
   4. What is Engineering's recommendation re: next steps?
      1. Approved vs. Not Approved
      2. Push update immediately vs. allow update as needed (new devices, replacements, etc)
   5. Team sign off to approve new version and next steps
      1. Based on the next steps, teams should provide an estimated timeline
         
         
5. HydroPoint teams implement the next steps as specified in signoff:
   1. Engineering:
      1. Update EOL, clear with MFG.
      2. Anything else?
   2. Manufacturing:
      1. Update relevant department docs
         1. Incoming QC check
         2. EOL Test
      2. Notify vendor of new "approved" version
      3. Anything else?
   3. Customer Operations:
      1. Update relevant department docs
      2. Manage in-field device updates
      3. Communicate to customers (if needed)
      4. Anything else?
   4. Product Management:
      1. Communicate to marketing & sales
      2. Manage updates to product collateral (if needed) 
      3. Anything else?

Notes on current process:

• Tige:
  • ENG validates new versions and approves a version ("qualified")
  • EOL test should validate device has the current qualified version
  • Field services should never update past current qualified version
• Al: 
  • Ideally, Our supplier would only load “approved” ship software and firmware and we would reject in our incoming QC if it doesn’t match. That is our current process.
    • Managed via PO process

Open questions:

• Where is EOL test and results documented?
• Where are ENG qualification results and signoffs documented?

Next steps:

• BPM create epic to track status and progress
• As new changes occur, continue improving process:
  • Find existing documentation of the current process
  • BPM review touchpoints for gaps/enhancements