Service deprecation and retirement

Deprecation and retirement are terms used to describe when a service is no longer needed and/or needs to be replaced.

Deprecation - a deprecated service is still available to use, and will still receive maintenance fixes, but is obsolete and planned for retirement.

Retirement - a retired service is no longer available to use.

We use these steps to deprecate and retire a service:

1. Issue a deprecation notice - this announces that we intend to retire the service. It lists key dates and any changes that will happen as we approach the retirement date.
2. Deprecate the service - put it in a controlled state, where it still receives maintenance fixes but no enhancements. 
3. Retire the service - the service ends.

Deprecating a service means: 

• it's still available to use
• it will no longer be updated and no new features will be added
• fixes will still be provided to meet agreed service levels
• users will be made aware of key dates, and specifically when the service is due to be retired
• no new users will be given permission to use the service

Retiring a service means:

• it's no longer available to use
• some or all of the service might still exist, but you must not rely upon it to work 
• anyone who previously had permission to access it will have that permission removed

We do not use the term 'support' because it has more than one meaning and can lead to confusion.