Corporate End-of-Life Policy

From time to time, Accedian Networks is required to discontinue the manufacture and sale of hardware products due to various reasons (component obsolescence, market price pressures, low sales volumes, etc.). In the vast majority of cases, the end of a product's lifecycle is forecasted well in advance of external circumstances forcing a product's End-of-Life. Consumers of these products are dependent on their continued supply, as there is typically no like-for-like replacement available in the market. For this reason, product discontinuation can be very disruptive to customers if not treated properly. Accedian Networks has established the following End-of-Life (EOL) Policy in order to allow customers to better manage their End-of-Life transition.

General Guidelines:

1. An EOL Notice is published to all customers signaling the start of the "twilight phase" of the products listed in the notice. This EOL notice details all major milestone dates.
2. End-of-Development (EOD) signals that R&D resources are no longer allocated to feature enhancements for a product. No major or minor releases will be issued for the product. Only maintenance releases will be issued until End-of-Product-Support (EOPS). EOD will occur a minimum of 6 months after the EOL notice is issued.
3. EOPS means that no R&D Resources will be allocated to this product. No major, minor or maintenance releases will be issued for this product from this point forward. EOPS will occur a minimum of 3 months after EOD.
4. The Last-Time-Buy (LTB) date is the cut-off date for which POs will be accepted for the products listed in the EOL notice. LTB will occur a minimum of 6 months after the EOL notice is issued.
5. The Last-Time-Ship (LTS) date is the last day that Accedian will be shipping the products listed in the EOL notice. LTS will occur a minimum of 6 months after the LTB.
6. End-of-TAC-Support (EOTS) signals that Technical Assistance Center (TAC) Support will no longer service calls for this product unless the customer has an extended TAC Support Plan. EOTS will occur a minimum of 5 years after the EOL notice is issued.