To compete with larger incumbent telco operators, independent service providers must not only provide the functionalities that end users want faster than anybody else on the market – but also provide these functionalities exactly how the end users anticipate seeing it. The first condition is perfectly implemented by PortaOne and its agile development process, which allows PortaOne to offer an incomparably short waiting time for a new functionality. The second condition can be achieved by adjusting standard functionality according to the unique needs of your customers.
Modifications to standard functionality can be both light and solid. But in both cases you will need to introduce changes to the software installed on your servers and maintain them through software upgrades. Usually, the more modifications you introduce, the more difficult they become to maintain. To simplify this process, PortaSwitch provides convenient tools for managing your custom software, patches and files:
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Custom software – You can upload new third-party RPM packages to any server within the installation and keep track of their status and versions.
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Patches – You can add patches to both PortaOne and third-party RPM packages to make sure that patches are automatically applied to a new release after a software upgrade. Moreover, it is possible to define a patch’s “lifetime” to automatically stop its propagation with an upgrade to a specific software release or build.
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Files – You can create a list of custom files (e.g., sudo configuration files) and directories that must remain on your servers during the software upgrade.
These tools allow your development team to automate the management of custom modifications and shift a significant amount of this work to PortaSwitch. Please refer to the PortaBilling Configuration Server Web Reference Guide for more information.
