Visit the Product Support Lifecycle table for product-specific details and dates. The Product Support Lifecycle policy defines the level of support Micro Focus provides for a product throughout its lifecycle. Providing predictable and consistent support helps customers as they plan, test, and deploy newer product versions.
See a summary of the benefits available with an active support agreement in the chart below, and read more detail in the descriptions under the chart.
Services included |
Current Maintenance |
Sustaining Maintenance |
Extended Support |
Limited Extended Support*** |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Innovations, platform compatibility and regulatory compliance, data privacy, and security updates | Yes | |||
| Technical Support | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| New patches and hotfixes | Yes |
**For critical issues only |
||
| Customer Support portal access | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| *Access to existing and new releases | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
*Refer to the product roadmap for availability
**Critical issues as defined in the Business Support Agreement
***Limited Extended Support is available once the Extended Support term ends
Product Category* |
Current Maintenance period spanning the product’s major release stream (for example: 4.0, 4.1, 4.2), or per Suite release, or per Year/Month release |
|---|---|
| CORBA, Platform and Data Protector | 5 Years |
| Network Operations Management, Operations Bridge, Operations Orchestration, Universal CMDB Configuration Manager, COBOL, Enterprise, Host Connectivity, Service Management products, Data Center Automation products, Hybrid Cloud Management products | 4 Years |
| Functional Testing, Lifecycle and Portfolio Mgmt, Performance Testing, Data Center Automation Suite, Hybrid Cloud Management Suite, Service Management Suite, Data Security, IAM, Secure Content Mgmt, Unified Endpoint Mgmt, Connected, Archiving & Risk Mgmt, Collaboration, IDOL and Security Operations | 3 Years |
| Vertica, Application Security, Functional Testing, Lifecycle and Portfolio Mgmt | 2 Years |
| Lifecycle and Portfolio Mgmt | 1 Year |
*If you don’t see your product listed, refer to the Product Support Lifecycle Table.
Current Maintenance begins when a new major version of a product or a version of a suite is released, and continues for at least the minimum duration listed in the above chart (see product-specific details and dates on the Product Support Lifecycle table). During the Current Maintenance period, the purchase of an active Support agreement includes access to software updates, technical support, self-help resources, defect support, critical security updates, and the ability to submit enhancement requests.
Sustaining Maintenance is intended to be an interim solution for customers who are moving to the most current version of a product but need additional time to make the transition. When Current Maintenance ends, a product version (or Suite version) enters the Sustaining Maintenance period. During a product version's Sustaining Maintenance period, customers continuing to pay for Support will receive access to self-help resources and software updates, excluding new requests for patches, hotfixes and security updates, and will no longer receive access to technical support.
Occasionally a product version will be moved to “Archive” status when it has been available for a prolonged period of time. In this situation, Micro Focus will continue to provide Sustaining Maintenance to customers with an active Support contract but will no longer issue license keys.
If your schedule requires you to stay on a product longer, Extended Support is available during the first two years of the Sustaining Maintenance phase for an additional fee to Support. Extended Support allows you to continue to receive technical support and Defect Support for Severity 1 issues.
To see if your product version will soon exit Current Maintenance, see the Product Support Lifecycle table. For information regarding pricing, contact your OpenText Renewal Representative.
At the end of the Extended Support term, Limited Extended Support is available at an additional fee, and provides continued access to commercially reasonable technical support during the Sustaining Maintenance period of the Lifecycle.
Software Updates may include Major versions, Minor versions, Service Packs, Suite releases, Patches, Hotfixes, or Security Updates. For details about these product release types, see the Business Support Agreement.
During both the Current and Sustaining Maintenance periods, customers with an active Support agreement may request license keys, and may download new and existing versions of Major, Minor, Service Pack, and Suite releases, as well as already released Patches, Hotfixes and Security Updates.
New Patches and Hotfixes, are available during Current Maintenance, and only become available during Sustaining Maintenance with the purchase of an Extended Support plan.
OpenText advises customers to install the latest product releases and software updates to remain as secure as possible, to benefit from new platform certifications, and to leverage the latest features available. Older products may not meet today’s more demanding security requirements or provide the latest competitive functionality. OpenText strongly encourages customers to conduct pre-production testing against the latest available product release.
For advice and guidance on product roadmap and release schedules, please contact Customer Support.
If a solution isn’t found using the Self-Help resources, customers may open a case directly with Technical Support during the Current period of the lifecycle, or with the purchase of an Extended Support plan. OpenText provides global access to support experts who can troubleshoot and diagnose issues as well as give advice on OpenText product features.
During the Sustaining Maintenance period, for customers who have purchased Extended Support, only Severity 1 issues will be escalated to Engineering for Defect Support.
The longer a product resides in the Sustaining Maintenance period, the less familiarity our support engineers may have with the older product version. Technical support will be provided with the available knowledge and resources in the Customer Support organization. For business critical environments with products in the Sustaining Maintenance phase, the services of a Premium Support Engineer are recommended. See Premium Support for more information.
Take advantage of our online, around the clock, self-help resources; such as our knowledge base, documentation, installation guides, and much more. Join the conversation in our Communities and Forums with experts and colleagues to get advice, discuss issues and find solutions.
Current Maintenance Period
During the Current Maintenance period, Defect Support is available; with corrections provided in the form of Patches, Hotfixes, and field test files. The Current Maintenance period in the chart at the top of the page is for an individual suite release or the duration of the entire major release stream (for example: 4.0, 4.1, 4.2). Defect Support periods for a product’s individual major, minor, service pack or suite releases are published in the Product Support Lifecycle table, in the Additional Information section, found by clicking on the arrow to the left of the product. Customers may continue to receive technical support on any major, minor, service pack, or suite release while the relevant major release stream is in the Current Maintenance period; however, as part of the resolution of an issue, customers may be asked to update to a later software version with the defect correction.
Defects are evaluated and prioritized to ensure the most critical issues are remedied. Certain defects may be scheduled for resolution in a later release of the product.
Sustaining Maintenance Period
During the Sustaining Maintenance period, Defect Support for Severity 1 issues will be available with the purchase of Extended Support.
Keeping your environment secure is our utmost priority. We react promptly to security incidents and deliver critical security updates during the Current Maintenance period.
Customers purchasing Extended Support can continue to get critical security updates during a product's Sustaining Maintenance phase.
During the Current Maintenance period, customers may submit requests to enhance the functionality or design of a product. These requests will be reviewed and prioritized for consideration for current or future products.
Third Party Products are non-embedded products developed by a Third Party software manufacturer and sold by OpenText as a result of the Third Party’s authorization to do so. Dependent Components are underlying operating systems, adjacent or integrated applications, or software that is required to operate OpenText branded software product. Examples include and are not limited to: web browsers, databases, operating systems, runtime environments, and virtualization software.
OpenText products that integrate with Dependent Components or are provided by Third Party vendors, will be supported according to the Product Support Lifecycle described on this page, unless the vendor of a Dependent Component or Third Party Product no longer provides defect support or the agreement with OpenText to sell or support the product is cancelled. In this situation, Support for the affected OpenText branded software product will immediately move to Sustaining Maintenance. OpenText will continue to provide Self-Help resources as available, and access to currently existing software updates, patches, and hot fixes. No additional software updates, patches, or hot fixes will be provided for the product.
This category of products includes our CORBA product lines and platform products such as Open Enterprise Server (OES) and Data Protector products. We will provide a minimum of five years of Current Maintenance for the major release streams of these products, starting with the date of a major product’s general availability. When Current Maintenance ends, a product enters the Sustaining Maintenance period. Customers will receive the benefits listed under the Sustaining Maintenance section of the above chart as long as they continue paying Support for their product. For specific information about your product, see the Product Support Lifecycle table.
This category of products includes COBOL, Enterprise, Host Connectivity (with the exception of Reflection for Mobile), product lines. We will provide a minimum of four years of Current Maintenance for the major release streams of these products, starting with the date of a major product’s general availability. When Current Maintenance ends, a product enters the Sustaining Maintenance period. Customers will receive the benefits listed under the Sustaining Maintenance section of the above chart as long as they continue paying Support for their product. For specific information about your product, see the Product Support Lifecycle table.
The type of engineering support available for COBOL, Enterprise and Host Connectivity products during Current Maintenance will be divided into Active and Stable phases:
In alignment with this policy, the patch update release schedule will provide more frequent updates during the Active phase and decline in frequency over successive years. To ensure the appropriate level of engineering support is available, OpenText recommends customers plan and schedule upgrades based on this policy.
Extended Support may be available for select products at the end of the published Current Maintenance periods. Please consult the Product Support Lifecycle table pages for information specific to your product or contact Customer Support.
This category of products includes Business Process Testing – BPT, SilkCentral, SilkTest, ALM Classic and Octane, Quality Center, Other Distributed ADLM, Application Portfolio Management, PPM, PPM Deployment Management, Service Virtualization, Load Runner Professional (formerly known as LoadRunner), LoadRunner Enterprise (formerly known as Performance Center), Access Manager, Access Review, Advanced Authentication, AppManager, ArcSight Data Platform, ArcSight Enterprise Security Manager, ArcSight Logger, ArcSight Interactive Discovery, ArcSight Investigate, ArcSight Management Center, ArcSight Threat Detector, ArcSight User Behavior Analytics, Border Manager, Change Guardian, Cloud Manager, Databridge, Directory and Resource Administrator, FileXpress, Filr, GroupWise, Host Access Management & Security, Identity Manager, InfoConnect (non-desktop), Luminet, OpenText iPrint, Platespin, Privileged Account Manager, Reflection (non-desktop or mobile), Secure Configuration Manager, SecureData, SecureFile, SecureLogin, SecureMail, SecureStorage, Sentinel, Verastream (non-mobile), Vibe and ZENworks. We will provide a minimum of three years of Current Maintenance for the major release streams of these products, starting with the date of a major product’s general availability. When Current Maintenance ends, a product enters the Sustaining Maintenance period. Customers will receive the benefits listed under the Sustaining Maintenance section of the chart as long as they continue paying Support for their product. For specific information about your product, see the Product Support Lifecycle table.
This category of products includes Fortify, Webinspect and Vertica, UFT Developer (formerly known as LeanFT), UFT Mobile (formerly known as Mobile Center), UFT One (formerly known as UFT), ALM Solutions Connector, Deployment Automation, Release Control ADLM, Dimensions RM, AccuRev, Dimension CM, PVCS and StarTeam. We will provide a minimum of two years of Current Maintenance for the major release streams or Suite releases of these products, starting with the date of the product’s general availability. When Current Maintenance ends, a product enters the Sustaining Maintenance period. Customers will receive the benefits listed under the Sustaining Maintenance section of the chart as long as they continue paying Support for their product. For specific information about your product, see the Product Support Lifecycle table.
The Lifecycle and Portfolio Mgmt product category includes the Connect products. We will provide a minimum of one year of Current Maintenance for the major release streams of these products, starting with the date of a major product’s general availability. When Current Maintenance ends, a product enters the Sustaining Maintenance period. Customers will receive the benefits listed under the Sustaining Maintenance section of the chart as long as they continue paying Support for their product. For specific information about your product, see the Product Support Lifecycle table.
