Ribbon Hardware Product Life Cycle Milestones
Ribbon Software Product Life Cycle Milestones
General Availability
General Availability, or “GA”, means the duration for which designated Ribbon Products (both Hardware and Software), Services, and Maintenance are available for purchase by customers for normal use in the ordinary course of business.
GA does not apply to third-party products which Ribbon is reselling unless explicitly announced by Ribbon.
GA does not mean approval for use in all countries or jurisdictions, nor does it mean a broad authorization to export without a proper license.
GA status ends on the End of Product Sale Date.
End of Product Sale
End of Product Sale, or “EOPS”, means the date that Ribbon designates a Product (both Hardware or Software) or Service as no longer being Generally Available for sale in the ordinary course of business. After that date, the Product or Service transitions to its next Life Cycle Milestone. A Software Product moves to the Limited R&D Support milestone. A Hardware Product moves to the On-going RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) Support milestone.
Ribbon strives to keep a Product or Service in the EOPS milestone for 6 to 12 months. The last orders are accepted during the first 6 months of the milestone. These durations are indicative. Ribbon will communicate precise dates in an EOPS bulletin.
Services and Maintenance for a designated EOPS item may still be available for ordering for a period of time. The levels of Services and Maintenance may differ from the ones offered during the General Availability period.
End of Product Sale Notification
Ribbon publishes an EOPS notification to announce a Product or Service’s upcoming transition away from the General Availability milestone
The EOPS bulletin is typically published 6 months ahead of the date at which a Product will no longer be Generally Available
The EOPS bulletin generally includes the following information:
- End of Product Sale (EOPS) Notification Date
- End of Product Availability
- End of Product Delivery
- Last Supported Software Release (optional)
- End of RMA Support Date (optional)
- End of R&D Support Date (optional)
- End of Product Support Date (optional)
- Affected EOPS product codes
- Replacement product codes (if applicable)
- Recommended migration options
End of Product Availability
Ribbon will take new orders throughout the End of Product Availability date. Typically, Ribbon strives to provide at least 6 months between the End of Product Sale Notification and the designated End of Product Availability date to allow customers to place orders.
End of Product Delivery
Ribbon will typically ship Product in the 12 months following the End of Product Sale Notification.
Last Supported Software Release
Ribbon may decide to no longer qualify new Software Releases on End of Support Hardware Products. Ribbon will announce that a Software Release is the Last Supported Software Release on a specific platform; typically, this would happen two (2) years before End of Support for that Hardware Product.
On-going RMA Support
A Hardware Product enters the Ongoing RMA Support Milestone the day after the End of Product Delivery date. Ribbon strives to offer a minimum of 48 months of RMA Services once a Hardware Product is no longer available for sale. If known, an exact date may be communicated in the EOPS bulletin. Alternatively, Ribbon would publish a bulletin at a later date.
End of RMA Support
End of RMA Support means that RMA Services for a specific Hardware Product is no longer available for purchase. The effective date upon which a Hardware Product is first classified as being End of RMA support may be communicated at the End of Product Sale Notification. Alternatively, Ribbon would publish a bulletin at a later date.
Services and Support, such as Technical Assistance and Emergency Restoration, may be available for purchase for a specific Hardware Product at the End of RMA Support Milestone.
Limited R&D Support
A Software Product enters the Limited R&D Support Milestone the day after the End of Product Delivery date. Typically, a Software Product would stay in the Limited Support Milestone for 12 months. The duration may vary.
While a Software Product is in the Limited Support Milestone, the Services and Support offered may be different from GA Software Products. For instance, corrective content provided by the R&D Product Team may be limited to critical fixes. The exact Services and Support offerings for a specific Software Product would be described in the EOPS bulletin.
End of R&D Support
Research & Development (R&D) Support of a Product means the Ribbon R&D team performs software release development (including major & minor software releases, corrective content, and security updates), regression testing and validation, compatibility testing, root cause analysis, and provides tier 3 level support for escalated Customer support request ("R&D Support”).
End of R&D Support means the Ribbon R&D team will no longer provide R&D Support services for a Product after the date announced by Ribbon for the end of R&D Support (“End of R&D Support Date”). Sixty days prior to the End of R&D Support Date, Ribbon may at its discretion limit R&D Support to only corrective content and security updates for critical severity issues.
After the End of R&D Support Date, Ribbon may continue to offer limited Technical Support services via Ribbon’s Technical Support (RTS) and Global Product Support (GPS) teams under RibbonCare maintenance and support services, however, resolutions will be limited to fixes, workarounds, and configuration changes that do not require Ribbon R&D related updates or root cause analysis
End of Support
End of Support means that Services and Maintenance for a specific Product, Software Release, or feature are no longer available for purchase. The effective date upon which a Product is first classified as being at End of Support shall also be referred to as End of Support.
