Handling sprint development during 24R2 to 26R1 release update

Hi all,

We are planning a release update from IFS Cloud 24R2 to 26R1, roughly 16 weeks with Build Place upgrade in Week 3 and Production go-live in Week 14.

The business runs 2-week sprints and expects continuous delivery. Once the Build Place is on 26R1, sprint changes cannot go to Production until go-live, and we have no 24R2 line for emergency fixes.

Questions:

1. Is running two Build Places in parallel (24R2 for Production support, 26R1 for upgrade work) a supported approach?
2. If yes, how do you re-apply 24R2 emergency fixes into the 26R1 solution so they are not lost at cutover?
3. Have others used a code freeze instead? How long was practical?

Any experience would be appreciated.

Thanks