1. Purpose

The Materialise Product Life Cycle Policy (“Policy”), sometimes referred to as the End of Life (EOL) Policy, provides clarity to Materialise Software customers in describing the different phases our products and/or services (“Offerings”) go through from their initial release to the market to reaching their end of life. As such, it complements the Materialise End-User License Agreement.

2. Scope and Validity

This Policy is effective as of November 1, 2020 and applies to all publicly available offerings in the Materialise Magics 3D Print Suite. The policy defines the support available during the product lifecycle.

This document does not discuss the End of Life policies of the underlying Operating Systems (“OS”) nor hardware infrastructure (in combination “Platform”) on which Materialise software is executed. The Operating System support policy for Materialise Software Operating System support policy for Materialise software can be found on the Materialise Software Help Center.

This Policy supersedes all previous versions of this policy. Materialise Software reserves the right to modify this Policy, and the corresponding EOL List at any time. The latest information will always be available through the Materialise Software Help Center, along with other helpful information.

3. Compatibility

When new product offerings get released that interact with existing Materialise offerings, Materialise aims for the new offering to be compatible with the most recent version of the relevant other officially released Materialise offerings.

The offering's release documentation will detail the main compatibilities of the release with other Materialise offerings and relevant platforms.

4. Materialise Product Lifecycle

The following section describes the different phases of the in-scope offerings of Materialise Software.

The most up-to-date information on Materialise software offerings is available on the Materialise Software Help Center, which also contains the list of offerings and their respective lifecycle information.

New purchases will, by default, be of the latest release of the software. When purchased, most offerings come with support and maintenance in the form of a Software Maintenance Plan (SMP), the terms of which are outside the scope of this document. The Software Maintenance Plan information can also be found on the Materialise Software Help Center.

Any differentiation from this policy will be noted in the EOL List.

1- ‘y’ = maximum period of time that Standard Support will be provided after the EOL Planned announcement date. Typically this is 1 to 2 years, though can vary by product. 
2- Extended Support may, on customer request, be agreed upon for up to 2 years following EOSS for all products. Extended Support availability is NOT guaranteed and the availability of such offering is at the discretion of Materialise. If extended support is not offered, the End of Life of a product version coincides with the End of Standard Support.

5. Overview of EOL Milestones

Release for Delivery (RfD)

• Official announcement to the market by means of email, in-app messaging, Materialise website updates and/or updates on the Materialise Software Help Center that a new (version of) an offering is available for customers.

• At RfD, where relevant, a support and maintenance offering is available in the form of a Software Maintenance Plan.

EOL Planned (EOLP) Announcement

• Official announcement to the market that (a specific version of) an offering has entered the end-of-life process, by means of updating the relevant EOL information on the Materialise Software Help Center and/or an official announcement via e-mail and/or on the Materialise website.

• The EOLP date is typically the Release for Delivery date of the next release of the offering.

• The EOLP date may also be any date that Materialise Software chooses to discontinue an offering entirely.

END OF SALES (EOS)

• The date as of which (a specific version of) the offering cannot be sold anymore. Existing customers can still renew their licenses.

• The EOS date generally occurs 6 months after the EOLP date and is the final date to purchase new licenses of a specific version of the offering.

END OF MAINTENANCE (EOM)

• The date from which the specific version of the offering will not receive new software updates (bug fixes, minor releases), except for critical security fixes.

• EOM can happen at any point after EOLP announcement and before the End of Standard Support (EOSS).

• Typically, EOM coincides with Release for Delivery of the next version of the offering.

END OF STANDARD SUPPORT (EOSS)

• The EOSS date is the final date that Standard Support is provided for the specific version of the offering (noted as ‘y’ time) for the general audience and as such, the standard support lifetime has passed.

• For customers still requiring support beyond End of Standard Support and if available for the offering’s version, an extended Software Maintenance Plan can be bought.

END OF LIFE (EOL)

• The EOL date is the date after which no support of any kind is available for the specific version(s) of the offering.

• Customers will need to upgrade to a newer, supportable version of the offering to continue to receive support and/or software updates.

• For offerings with Extended Technical Support, the EOL date is the final date that Extended Technical Support (if purchased) is provided for the specific version of the offering.

• For offerings for which no Extended Technical Support is agreed and/or available, the EOSS date is the EOL date.

Materialise may, at its discretion, decide to End of Life an entire offering. Customers with a current Software Maintenance Plan (SMP), will be notified in this specific EOL case. Extended Technical Support will not be available.

6. Overview of Support Phases

STANDARD SUPPORT PHASE

• Standard Support for the specific version of the offering becomes available for purchase on its Release for Delivery date.

• During the Standard Support phase, Materialise Software delivers full technical support. This can include relevant bug fixes and patches for the offering to establish or restore substantial conformity with the offering’s documentation, depending on the timing of the End of Maintenance, all in accordance with your Software Maintenance Plan (SMP) and applicable support policies.

EXTENDED SUPPORT PHASE

• At our discretion, Materialise Software may offer an Extended Software Maintenance Plan during the Extended Support phase for certain offerings for an additional fee. The purpose of the Extended Support phase is to allow customers additional time to receive support from Materialise Software on an old (past EOSS) version of a particular offering in order to migrate to a current or alternative version of the same offering.

• The Extended Support phase generally consists of providing known and existing bug fixes and patches and critical security fixes. No new development or new bug fixes are provided during the extended support phase.

• Extended Support, if agreed to, can be purchased in 1-year increments until the EOL date, typically for at least 2 years following EOSS, as stated in the relevant offering’s EOL subsection at the Materialise Software Help Center.

• Note that Materialise Software strongly recommends customers always upgrade to the most current version of a particular offering, to benefit from the newest updates, features, and bug fixes.