Support is not a product you buy, it is a set of decisions about where risk sits. Here are the three routes and what each one really costs you.
Request a free application review +44 (0)1293 562730Support for a PowerBuilder estate breaks down into what the vendor can do for you, what a specialist can do for you, and what your own team should keep hold of. Most organisations end up with a blend, and the blend matters more than the label.
The mistake we see is treating support as a single product to be bought. It is not. It is a set of decisions about where risk sits, and those decisions look different for a frozen application with fifty users than for a business-critical system with a compliance obligation attached.
We see support as the most important thing we offer, and our customers will testify to the quality of it. Some of them have been with us for well over a decade.
Move to a supported Appeon release and you get bug fixes and new versions from the vendor. This is the only route that gets you patches to PowerBuilder itself.
It requires a source migration first, which may be trivial or may be a project. Work out which.
Happy with the version you are on but want somebody to call when it goes wrong. We support PB6.0 through 12.6 and EAServer 5 and 6.
Expect workarounds and solutions rather than patches. In practice that resolves the overwhelming majority of production problems.
Your team runs it day to day and we sit behind them for the hard things, holiday cover and the occasional project.
This works well while you have somebody who knows the application. It stops working the day they leave.
Appeon PowerBuilder is the only version of PowerBuilder that still receives bug fixes and new features. The releases marked LTS are the long-term support versions, and they are what we build new systems on.
PB2017 PB2017r2 PB2017r3 (LTS) PB2019r3 (LTS) PB2022R3 (LTS) PB2025
Appeon issues nothing for these any more. We still support them: troubleshooting, workarounds and keeping the thing running. What we cannot do is issue a patch to PowerBuilder itself.
6.0 6.5 7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.0 9.5 10.0 10.5 11.0 11.5 12.0 12.5 12.6 EAServer 5 & 6
On something not listed here? Ring us. We have seen most of it.
In urgent cases we can move quickly, and for certain problems we have worked on a no-win-no-fee basis. Teachers Assurance came to us with a migration issue another supplier had left behind; we resolved it quickly for a small fixed price with no commercial risk to them, which is what gave them the confidence to hand us the main project. They are still supported by Powersoft today, now as part of LV=.
Yes. We provide troubleshooting, workarounds and stabilisation for every release from PowerBuilder 6.0 through 12.6 and for EAServer 5 and 6. What we cannot do is issue a patch to PowerBuilder itself, because only Appeon can do that, and only for current releases.
No. We will support the version you are on. Upgrading gets you bug fixes and new features from Appeon, but it is a separate decision and we are happy to support you while you take your time over it.
Fully customised, from full 1st line through to 3rd line as and when it is needed. Most clients mix it: they handle the users and call us for the things that need someone who knows PowerBuilder.
In urgent cases we can provide rapid assistance, and for certain issues we have delivered fixes on a no-win-no-fee basis. That is how our relationship with Teachers Assurance began: a fixed price to resolve a problem another supplier had left, with no commercial risk to them.
Yes. We are based in Horsham, West Sussex, so we are on your clock, and for many clients that alone is the reason they moved their support to us.
Tell us the PowerBuilder version you are on, the database behind it and what is worrying you. We will give you an honest read on your options, including whether the answer is to do nothing for now. The initial review of your application is free, and we are close enough to come and see you.
Telephone: +44 (0)1293 562730
