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TL 9000 FAQ's on General Availability

The following questions are related to the general availability phase of a product’s life cycle. The answers are supplied by the Subject Matter Experts in the QuEST Forum IGQ work group that produces the TL 9000 standard. Please also see the FAQ for experienced users.


When does General Availability begin?

When does data reporting start in relation to General Availability?

When does the optional data reporting delay for a brand new product apply?

Does the new product data reporting grace period apply to new releases of an existing product?

When does the general availability phase end?


When does General Availability begin?

The General Availability Phase begins when the product has been made available for purchase to any customer. This applies at the system level and at the release level. The full definition is contained in the glossary of the TL 9000 Measurements Handbook. It should be noted; the product does not have to be deployed to the field. The purchase of a laboratory system is sufficient to start general availability.

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When does data reporting start in relation to General Availability?

Data reporting starts for new updates, releases, or versions of existing products at the beginning of General Availability of the new update, release, or version. See section 3.5.2 of the Measurements Handbook for the exact rules. As noted in the Product Life Cycle and TL 9000 Data Submission Figure in section 4.2 of the Measurements Handbook, problems identified during testing initiated by the customer after the product has been made available for sale must be included in the data reporting. Examples of customer initiated testing include customer acceptance testing, field trials, and first office applications.

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When does the optional data reporting delay for a brand new product apply?

The data reporting delay applies only to an entirely new product in an existing product category. This could be a new platform or a new product line. In common terms this is the 1.0 version of the product. All other versions of a product, such as 1.1 or 2.0, must be included in the data reporting from the start of General Availability.

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Does the new product data reporting grace period apply to new releases of an existing product?

No, the new product grace period does not apply to new updates, releases, or versions of an existing product.

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When does the general availability phase end?

As shown in Section 4.2.6 of the Measurements Handbook and noted in the glossary definition, the General Availability Phase ends when the product is no longer manufactured or available for new purchases. Please note that data reporting continues through the Retirement Phase until all support for the product has been discontinued.

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