End-of-Life Information

• Software Product:
  Any binary software programs listed in the standard price lists published by Acresso from time to time, (ii) any updates/upgrades, and (iii) any related user manuals or other documentation.
• End of Life (EOL):
  A process that guides the final business operations associated with the product life cycle. The end-of-life process consists of a series of technical and business milestones and activities that, once completed, make a product obsolete. Once obsolete, the product is not sold, manufactured, improved, repaired, maintained, or supported.
  
  In this policy, end of life is a generic term used to also mean end of sale, end of version, end of platform support or end of service life.
  • End of Sale (EOS):
    The last date to order the product/version. The product is no longer offered for sale.
• End of Version (EOV):
  Acresso no longer licenses a specific version of a Software Product but continues to license new versions of the Software Product for sale.
• End of Platform Support (EOPS):
  Acresso no longer issues a Software Product on a particular operating system(s) platform but continues to license the Software Product for sale on other operating systems. A EOPS can be an EOL of any one or combination of the following components:
  • Operating system; e.g. no more FreeBSD
  • Operating system version; e.g. no more Red Hat 3.x
  • Hardware; e.g. no more Itanium (or virtual hardware like VMware Workstation)
  • Hardware version; e.g. no more HP 700 (or virtual hardware like VMware ESX 2)
  • Compiler; e.g. no more Borland C++
  • Compiler version; e.g. no more Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0
• Last Ship Date (LSD):
  The date that Acresso ceases to ship a specific version of a Software Product as indicated in the EOV, EOL or EOPS announcement issued by Acresso.
• End of Service Life (EOSL) Date:
  The date on which Acresso ceases to provide services for a Software Product under a maintenance contract or on a time and materials basis. Acresso documentation refers to EOSL by month and year, e.g. 7/06. The last day of the applicable month is the EOSL date for a product.
• ESOL Period:
  The period of time following the EOL announcement and the ESOL Date. During the EOSL Period, support is offered in two phases, the Full Support Phase and the Limited Support Phase. The length of the Full Support Phase will vary by maintenance contract.
• Full Support Phase (FSP):
  Throughout this phase customers will be entitled to submit bugs to Acresso and Acresso may, at its discretion, release software updates, or Acresso will provide customers with support in accordance with its contractual obligations. Full support for said product versions will not be available past this published date.
• Limited Support Phase (LSP):
  Customers will not be entitled to submit bugs or to receive updates from Acresso, however, Acresso will provide customers with support in accordance with its contractual obligations.

This policy is intended as a "guideline" as Acresso Corporation reserves the right to treat each product line independently, or agree to new or different terms with individual parties. Acresso also reserves the right to change this policy at any time without notice. The general policy guidelines are as follows:

1. Acresso will provide notice on its website of the affected product's EOL date, EOS date and/or the last day when the product can be ordered through email notification.
2. Access to Acresso's Technical Support will be available per the customer's maintenance contract for a period up to 1 year from the EOV, EOPS or EOL date for software issues.
3. Acresso will EOVL products that are 3 or more "major" releases from the most current "major" release, where "major" release refers to the number preceding the decimal point in the version number. For example, as Acresso announces the release of product A version 10.0, it would also simultaneously announce the EOL any versions of product A 7.x and before.
4. Acresso will EOL support of operating system platforms and/or versions when the platform vendor issues its end of life notification of that operating system platform and/or version.

Example below:
Announce Release 10.x # Support 9.x # Support 8.x # Support 7.x #

Software Products EOL general policies are as follows:

1. For 6 -12 months following the EOVL or EOPS or EOL date, or during the FSP, Acresso will provide bug fixes, maintenance releases, workarounds, or patches for critical bugs reported through Acresso's Technical Support department.
    
2. After the end of the FSP, the LSP will begin. During the LSP, Acresso will not correct any problem in any announced EOVL Software Product after the FSP; however, it may be necessary for a customer to upgrade to a non-EOL software version to correct a reported problem. If the customer is not under maintenance contract during the LSP, the customer may be required to purchase the necessary new version of software to correct the problem.
    
3. Acresso will follow the guidelines below in order to ensure that customers receive effective support for affected products:
   • For a Software Product that is not covered under a service contract, customers may add the product(s) to a current service contract or purchase a new contract for 12 months after the EOS.
   • Service contracts that have not been renewed or have lapsed after 12 months of EOS date are not renewable.
   • Renewal of a service contract will generally be available until 6 months prior to the last day of all support. It can be purchased in monthly increments, from 6 to 12 months but will not extend beyond the last date of support.