Questions

What is South River Technologies’ End of Life (EOL) policy?

Will I get support after my version has entered EOL?

What products/versions are supported and how can I upgrade to the latest version?

Summary

As South River Technologies (SRT) focuses on supporting rapidly-changing technologies, and on innovating to provide customers with the most stable and useful set of products possible, products may require updates or be replaced with newer products. As new versions, products, and services are introduced, SRT may, at its discretion, EOL older software versions as well as specific product lines.

The scope of Support services SRT provides for Licensed Software will depend on the product’s stage in its life cycle and maintaining an active Level of Support. SRT typically issues a Major Release of its Licensed Software every fifteen (15) to eighteen (18) months, dependent on the product functionality, content, and associated software development cycle. A Major Release is sunset and subsequently retired when a new Major Release is made commercially available. During this period, customers will receive Full Support for the New Major Release while customers running the prior Major Release will receive Sunset Support for twelve (12) months. After the twelve (12) month period, all software that is older than the current major version or the previous major version is considered to have reached EOL and is no longer supported.

Additionally, SRT may deem a Licensed Software product to be sunset without the general availability of a subsequent Major Release when a product line is discontinued. SRT will communicate this via its website, social media channels, and quarterly newsletters.

Below are some terms that may better help understand SRT’s EOL Policy:

Support Services

These are the maintenance support services for Licensed Software. Customers must have a current product/software license that includes remaining product maintenance time to receive support services. Customers with an Expired Registration Code may be subject to a pay per incident (PPI) or a license upgrade to receive support services.

Support Services include Online HelpDesk Support, Streaming Support, and optional Telephone Support.

Full Support

SRT provides Full Support for Licensed Software for any issue based on the Level of Support from the release time of the major release until the date of such release’s Sunset (or EOL). The Sunset (or EOL) start date for any Major Release and its Maintenance Releases will be the date of the release of the subsequent Major Release. 

SRT provides Full Support for Licensed Software for which the customer has all patches applied for the major version. For customers with the current major version of the software who have not applied all available patches, support shall be limited to configuration assistance, activation assistance, and general questions.

For customers with a Current Registration Code and all patches installed, SRT shall provide troubleshooting assistance via online HelpDesk Support (including inquiries via the ticket system). Streaming and Telephone support are available for current versions and are available to customers who have Business Standard or Business Premium Level of Support.

Sunset (or EOL) Support

For customers with a Current Registration Code (active Maintenance & Support), SRT provides a more limited level of Support Services for software that is in the Sunset Period. Limited support is provided for customers who have installed all patches available to the Sunset Version. Support services shall not be provided if all available fixes have not been installed. If all patches have been installed, the customer shall provide SRT with a fully reproducible scenario in which the issue or error occurs.

For the first nine (9) months after Sunset is initiated for a product, SRT may, at its option, provide an additional patch to the Sunset Version, offer a work-around, or add the problem to the known defects list for possible future attention. Partial support will be subject to the availability of resources and may be limited as SRT sees fit. At nine (9) months after Sunset, SRT shall provide configuration support or workarounds only. No defects shall be corrected in Sunset versions after nine (9) months. No new features or enhancements shall be added to Sunset versions of software.

End of Support

Twelve months after Sunset or End of Life (EOL), a product shall be deemed at End of Support (EOS). EOS products and versions shall have Knowledge Base (self-help) support only.

Customers may opt to purchase pay-per-incident (PPI) support for EOS products or versions; however, this support shall be limited to configuration only and shall not include any fixes, patches, or enhancements to the unsupported version. PPI support entitles the customer of an EOS product or version to submit a ticket through the online HelpDesk. PPI is charged in accordance with SRT Support Pricing Guidelines.

Licensed Software

This refers to the SRT software product you purchased, which is governed by the applicable end-user license agreement and includes a registration code.

Current Registration Code

This refers to Licensed Software with an active registration code with remaining Maintenance (Support) time. All SRT products require a registration code. All registration codes include a minimum of twelve (12) months of maintenance or may optionally include a longer duration if purchased by the customer.

Sunset or End of Life (EOL)
When SRT ceases to market or distribute for purchase a particular Licensed Software product or a Major Release for a particular Licensed Software Product. When a software product is sunset, it enters the sunset, or EOL period.

Sunset or EOL Period

This period starts when the next major version of a product is released or when SRT announces to customers that a given product has been discontinued. This period lasts for twelve (12) months.

End of Support Life (EOSL)

This marks the expiration of the sunset (or EOL) period when software shall be deemed at End of Support Life, or as an EOSL version or product.

Major Releases

These are new releases of the Licensed Software that incorporates the last Maintenance Release(s) (if any) and may include additional enhancements to the Licensed Software. Major Releases may include architectural changes, new features, performance enhancements, security updates, and bug fixes. SRT usually issues a Major Release every fifteen (15) to eighteen (18) months.

The major version number is the year of the release. For Example, Cornerstone/Titan 2019 is the major release.

Minor (Maintenance) Releases

These are maintenance releases of the Licensed Software that provides cumulative patches for a particular Major Release. A Maintenance Release typically does not contain new features or new functionality but does include helpful bug fixes and may include urgent Security updates. Maintenance Releases are made available to customers via the SRT website and are typically provided as full versions of the Licensed Software that can be deployed as a new install or as an upgrade over an existing installation. SRT usually issues Maintenance Releases every three (3) to six (6) months.

They are pushed out within a major release and are identified as build numbers. For example, Cornerstone/Titan 2019, Build 3676. Maintenance release numbers are not necessarily consecutive, as some releases are internal and test releases. SRT Support analysts will help with issues arising from previous superseded Maintenance releases, but fixes will only be provided on the latest available Maintenance release.

Hotfixes / Patches

A hotfix is a correction that fixes a failure of critical functionality with no workaround or a critical security vulnerability. It is determined by the SRT Development team that the fix cannot wait for the next Maintenance release. A hotfix is typically created for a single customer (Business Standard or Business Premium Level only) and is not widely distributed. All hotfixes are included in the subsequent Maintenance release.

Below are tables that will help customers better understand:

1. the status (Full vs Sunset vs EOS Support) of their currently deployed SRT product(s)
2. what steps they need to take to help them become current in terms of product support