Sonus End of Product Sale Policy - Revised 9-12-13 - Sonus Networks

Table of Contents1.0 SCOPE ..................................................................................................................................... 32.0 EXCEPTIONS ........................................................................................................................ 32.1 Variance by Theatre ................................................................................................................... 32.2 Third Party Products ................................................................................................................. 43.0 GENERAL PRODUCT LIFECYCLE TIMELINES ............................................................. 44.0 END OF PRODUCT SALE NOTIFICATION .................................................................... 45.0 HARDWARE END OF PRODUCT SALE .......................................................................... 55.1 General Lifecycle Timeline ...................................................................................................... 55.1.1 GSX Chassis and Cards ................................................................................................. 55.1.2 SBC and Third-party Hardware ............................................................................... 55.1.3 All Other Products ......................................................................................................... 65.2 End of Product Sale Hardware Policy .................................................................................. 65.3 Support Services .......................................................................................................................... 66.0 SOFTWARE END OF PRODUCT SALE ........................................................................... 76.1 General Lifecycle Timeline ...................................................................................................... 76.2 End of Product Sale Software Policy .................................................................................... 76.3 Bug Fixes ......................................................................................................................................... 76.4 Minor Releases ............................................................................................................................. 76.5 Hardware Platform ..................................................................................................................... 86.6 Supported Software on End of Service Life Hardware ................................................ 87.0 SOFTWARE SUPPORT BETWEEN HARDWARE EOPS & EOSL .............................. 87.1 EOPS Hardware ............................................................................................................................ 87.2 Support Limitations.................................................................................................................... 88.0 DEFINITIONS .....................................................................................................................102

1.0 SCOPESonus hardware and software products (Products) and the services that support theProducts (Support Services) move through natural product lifecycle phases which includeintroduction, deployment, growth and ultimately End of Product Sale (EOPS) and End ofSupport Life (EOSL). The movement through these lifecycle phases is based on speed ofinnovation, market demand, component availability and customer requirements. This Policyfocuses on the latter stages of the Sonus lifecycle management, the End of Product Sale(EOPS) process for Products and Support Services.This Policy applies to all Sonus Products and related Support Services sold under the Sonusbrand names of Sonus and NET.Sonus reserves the right to amend or change this Policy in its sole discretion at any time.This Policy shall not be interpreted to create any contractual obligation by Sonus to provideProducts or Support Services to any specific customer, channel partner, service provider orother purchasers (except if agreed otherwise under an executed individual purchaseagreement). Sonus is not responsible or liable for any EOPS commitments made by achannel partner to its end customers regarding Sonus Products or Support Services (exceptif agreed otherwise under an executed purchase agreement).2.0 EXCEPTIONSThis Policy provides a set of EOPS lifecycle practices and timelines as a guide, and Sonusendeavors to provide Product and Support Service offerings in accordance with this Policy.Sonus reserves the right to amend or change this Policy in its sole discretion at any time.This Policy shall not be interpreted to create any contractual obligation by Sonus to provideProducts or Support Services to any specific customer, channel partner, service provider orother purchasers (except if agreed otherwise under an executed individual purchaseagreement). Sonus is not responsible or liable for any EOPS commitments made by achannel partner to its end customers regarding Sonus Products or Support Services (exceptif agreed otherwise under an executed purchase agreement).This Policy should be used as a guide so that customers can proactively plan for productlifecycle changes. However, it may not always be possible for Sonus to adhere to this guideso EOPS for Products and Support Services may vary.2.1 Variance by TheatreThis Policy is global; however, there may be differences in Product and Supports Serviceavailability depending on geographic region and location. Questions regarding Products andSupport outside the US should be addressed by the appropriate Sonus Sales Area TheatreManager.3

2.2 Third Party ProductsThis Policy does not apply to third party branded Products resold by Sonus unlessotherwise stated. The original manufacturer’s EOPS policies will apply to third partyProducts and Support Services resold by Sonus.For any third party Products required for a Sonus solution to operate, it is the responsibilityof the customer to maintain for the third party Products a current and supportedenvironment including the software applications., hardware, databases, and operatingsystems in order to receive Support Services from Sonus. If a third party vendor retiressupport for its Product, customer may be required to upgrade to a certified and supportedProduct as required by Sonus.3.0 GENERAL PRODUCT LIFECYCLE TIMELINESAll Sonus software and hardware Products have a lifecycle during which the Product isintroduced and generally available for purchase for a period until Sonus discontinuesmanufacture of the Product on the Sonus announced End of Product Sale (EOPS) date. Afterthe EOPS date, the Product is no longer available for purchase. Although Support Servicesfor an EOPS Product will continue to be available for a period until the Sonus announcedEnd of Support Life (EOSL) date for that Product. After the EOSL date, Support Services areno longer available for that Product. Sonus provides ongoing EOPS status notifications as aProduct moves through its lifecycle.There are three key dates involved in product lifecycle. GA or General Availability refers to the time that a Product is available for purchaseand use in production by customers. EOPS or End of Product Sale means the period that the Product is still supported butis no longer available for purchase. EOSL or End of Support Life means the time when the Product is no longersupported by Sonus.4.0 END OF PRODUCT SALE NOTIFICATIONThe End of Product Sale notification for a Sonus Product will be distributed via an EOPSbulletin generally one year before the Manufacturing Discontinuance (MD) of the Product isannounced as the End of Product Sale date. The EOPS bulletin follows the Telcordiastandard GR-209 format and includes the following information: End of Product Sale (EOPS) Notification Date Last Order Date Manufacturer’s Discontinuance Date End of Support Life Date Affected EOPS product codes Replacement product codes (if applicable) Recommended migration options4

For products sold through channel partners (e.g., Distribution), Sonus will provide 30 daysadvanced notice to channel partners prior to the general release of the EOPS bulletin.5.0 HARDWARE END OF PRODUCT SALE (EOPS)5.1 General Hardware Lifecycle TimelinesThe following timelines summarize the key events during product lifecycle management fordifferent Sonus Hardware Products as described below. The indicated time periods are ageneral guide and may vary for an individual Hardware Product.5.1.1 GSX Chassis and CardsGA DeclarationEOPS NotificationLast Order DateManufacturingDiscontinuation3-5years 6 mos 6 mos 5 yearsEnd of Support LifeGeneral AvailabilityEOLMD5.1.2 Session Border Controllers (SBC) and Third-Party Hardware5.1.3 All Other Sonus Products5

5.2 End of Product Sale Hardware PolicyThe following table illustrates the timeline for End of Product Sale (EOPS) and End ofSupport Life (EOSL) for Hardware Products as a general guide. Note that the End of SupportLife (EOSL) timeline differs on a per product basis: 72 months for Sonus GSX chassis’ andcards, 60 months for Sonus Session Border Controllers (SBC) and third-party hardware and48 months for all other Sonus branded products. All the indicated milestone time periods inthe table below are a general guide and may vary for an individual Hardware Product.Milestone Definition Timeline GoalsEOPS – End ofProduct SaleNotificationLOD – Last OrderDateMD – ManufacturingDiscontinuationEOSL - End of SupportLifeDate that the Sonus Bulletin is issued forcustomer notification of a Product whichwill be discontinued. This Sonus Bulletinindicates scheduled dates for the remainingEOPS milestones. Sonus will provide 30days advanced notification to channelpartners prior to release of the EOPSbulletin.Last date that an order may be placed for theHardware Product.Last date Sonus Manufacturing willmanufacture the Hardware Product tocustomers which is the HardwareProduct EOPS date. After this EOPS date,Sonus Manufacturing will no longer builds,packages, or maintains stocking levels of thehardware product. However, SonusCustomer Service will maintain adequatestock to meet Sonus Support Serviceobligations and RMA processDate that Sonus Customer Servicediscontinues all support for the HardwareProduct.Month 0Month 6Month 12Month48/60/725.3 Support ServicesSonus generally supports Sonus Hardware Products for a minimum of four (4) years beyondthe Sonus End of Product Sale (EOPS) Notification Date as announced by Sonus. However,Sonus will generally support Sonus Session Border Controllers (SBC) and third-partyhardware for a minimum of five (5) years and Sonus GSX chassis’ and cards for a minimumof six (6) years beyond the Sonus End of Product Sale (EOPS) date. After the End of SupportLife (EOSL) date for a Hardware Product, all Support Services for that Hardware Productand the software on that Product will completely cease, including, but not limited to,hardware repair, replacement sourcing, software defect resolution, and operating systemsupport. Any program exception, if any, to this Hardware EOSL policy will be defined anddocumented under the respective product program for the applicable Hardware andSoftware Product (e.g. transfer of current software from EOSL hardware to differentapproved current Hardware Product.6

6.0 SOFTWARE END OF PRODUCT SALE (EOPS)6.1 General Lifecycle TimelineThe following timeline summarizes the key events during product lifecycle management forSonus Software Products as described below. The indicated time periods are a general guidebut may vary by individual Software Product. Last order date is 30 days after EOPSnotification.G A D ec laration3-5yea rsE O P S N otific ationLas t O rder D ateSoftware 1 yearE nd of S upport LifeG eneral A v ailabilityE O P S6.2 End of Product Sale Software PolicySonus generally supports the current Major Release and the preceding two Major Releasesand all Minor Releases respectively thereunder for a Sonus Software Product (i.e. CurrentMajor Release plus 2 prior), at the time of the new Major Release. However, Sonus supportobligation shall cease for the 2 nd prior Major Release within twelve (12) months from theGeneral Availability (GA) of the new Major Release (i.e. then only Current Major Releaseplus 1 prior).Example: When the new Major Release R20.0 becomes Generally Available (GA),then the 2 nd prior Major Release R18.x will have twelve (12) months of supportprior to going End of Support Life (EOSL). Thereafter, software support is only forR20.x and R19.x, (i.e. the current Major Release plus the prior Major Release).6.3 Bug FixesNew bug fixes will only be created for Minor releases within the two supported MajorReleases for a Sonus Software Product. Existing bug fixes and technical support willcontinue to be provided for previous Minor Releases within the two supported MajorReleases.Example: When Maintenance Release 20.0.3 becomes Generally Available, supportincluding the availability of existing bug fixes and technical support will continue forMaintenance Releases 20.0.2, 20.0.1, 20.0.0 and any other future 20.x.x release.6.4 Minor ReleasesAt a minimum, for all Sonus Software, support for the last Minor Release or MaintenanceRelease will continue for one (1) year following the End of Product Sale Date of the MajorRelease of a Software Product. Example: When Sonus announced End of Product Sale of Release 7.x as of March 22,2013, Sonus will continue to support the last Minor Release or update throughMarch 22, 2014.7

Sonus reserves the right to terminate support after the above minimum period of Softwaresupport has been provided.Example: If release 20.x is the terminal version of the product, (i.e. no 21.0 versionplanned), then Sonus may opt to discontinue support for version 19.x after theabove minimum period of support has been provided.6.5 Hardware PlatformNotwithstanding the foregoing, the EOSL date for Software Products may be impacted if therelated hardware product platform is discontinued by the announcement of End of ProductSale (EOPS). See Hardware section above.6.6 Supported Software on End of Service Life HardwareOnce the Hardware that supports a piece of Sonus Software has gone EOPS, Sonus willprovide only best effort support for current certified Sonus application Software on End ofSupport Life (EOSL) Hardware until the End of Service Life of that certified Software branch.This applies only to Sonus application software –not operating system software. At Sonus’discretion Sonus may not renew maintenance agreements for Sonus Software on EOSLHardware. Sonus does not guarantee performance levels for any Software on EOSLHardware, nor does Sonus test any new or existing software releases on EOSL Hardwareafter the Hardware EOSL date.7.0 SOFTWARE SUPPORT BETWEEN HARDWARE EOPS & EOSL7.1 EOPS HardwareSonus generally supports new Sonus Software Releases on Sonus EOPS Hardware Productsprovided the Software Release is Explicitly Certified by Sonus for the EOPS HardwareProduct and subject to Software support limitations below. Sonus will continue to supportthe Sonus Software on the EOPS Hardware Product until the applicable Software ProductEOSL date, or the applicable Hardware Product EOSL date, whichever is sooner. (Seesections above on Software and Hardware EOSL) “Explicitly Certified” means the releasenotes associated with the applicable Sonus Software explicitly identifies the Sonus EOPSHardware Product as a valid platform to execute the Sonus Software. Inclusion of a SoftwareRelease on a product roadmap presentation or other documents does not represent explicitcertification.7.2 Support LimitationsSoftware support for a Sonus Hardware Product after the EOPS date (until the EOSL date) issubject to the following limitations. Software updates and upgrades may change theperformance characteristics of the Sonus products and system due to the incrementalsoftware. Customer is responsible for updating and expanding its systems as required toaccommodate the incremental software including the purchase of any hardware upgradesor replacement hardware as may be required to run the new or updated software.8

Sonus cannot guarantee the availability of any future major or minor SonusSoftware Release for a Hardware Product which is EOPS.Sonus cannot guarantee the availability of any new or existing Software feature for aHardware Product which is EOPS.Sonus cannot guarantee performance levels for new or existing Software featuresfor a Hardware Product which is EOPS.Sonus cannot guarantee Service levels on Software running on EOSL hardware evenif software is certified – specific service levels will be determined during annualmaintenance contract renewal.9

8.0 DEFINITIONSCustomerTermEnd of Product SaleEnd of Product SaleNotification (EOPS) DateEnd of Support Life(EOSL)Explicitly CertifiedGeneral Availability (GA)HardwareLast Order Date (LOD)Maintenance ReleaseManufacturingDiscontinuation (MD)Major ReleaseMinor ReleaseDefinitionFor purposes of this support policy, Customer may mean the directpurchaser from Sonus, or as applicable, the end user of a ChannelPartnerDate Sonus discontinues a Product which is the last date that theProduct is manufactured (See Manufacturing Discontinuation (MD)below)Date the Sonus EOPS notification bulletin is issued to announce theEnd of Product Sale for a Product. This Sonus bulletin indicates thescheduled dates for remaining EOL milestones and provides toCustomers additional information and implications of the announcedEOPS for a ProductDate that Sonus Customer Service discontinues Support Services for aProductSonus Release Notes associated with the applicable Software whichexplicitly identifies the EOPS Hardware as a valid platform to executethe applicable SoftwareDate the Hardware or Software Product is Generally Available forCustomer in production networks. A Sonus Product bulletin is issuedannouncing availabilityThe computer equipment and related accessories or partsLast date an order may be placed for a ProductAn incremental release of Software that provides maintenance fixesbug fixes and patches. Maintenance Releases are designated by Sonusas a change in the “z” digit(s) in the software version number [x.y.(z)]Last date Sonus Manufacturing will manufacture a Product. After thisdate, Sonus Manufacturing no longer builds, packages, or maintainsstocking levels of the Product.A platform release of Software that provides additional softwarefeatures and/or functions. Major Releases are designated by Sonus asa change in the “x” digit(s) of the software version number [(x).y.z]An incremental release of Software that provides additional softwarefeatures. Minor releases are designated by Sonus as a change in the “y”digit(s) of the software version number [x.(y).z]Platform Hardware Platform – can be either a standalone Hardwaresolution delivering feature functionality or a chassis solutiondelivering feature functionality or a chassis based solutionwith interchangeable modulesRelease NamingConventionSoftwareSoftware Platform – Can be either a major Software releasedelivering new feature functionality or sold as SoftwaresolutionFor the purposes of Software entitlement the typical release namingconvention for Sonus releases is x.y.z where x=Major release, y=Minorrelease and z=Maintenance releaseThe object code instructions for a Software Product10