Version Support and End of Life Policies

pdf Download a copy of our Version Support Policy

As customers’ needs change and products mature, Websense sometimes finds it necessary to discontinue certain products, product versions, and services to ensure we continue to provide innovative and cost effective solutions to our customers. We recognize that End of Life announcements impact customers and their business environments. To this end, when a product or product version reaches its end of life (EOL), we are committed to communicating important milestones throughout the transition period. Websense will provide the following notifications to its customers:

  • End of Sale (EOS) announcement, including: last date to order new hardware, new subscriptions or renew existing subscriptions
  • End of Life (end of support/download) notification
  • Suggested migration plan
  • Certain other information related to Websense products or services

Our goal is to communicate with our customers throughout the process to help ease their migration to another Websense product or service.

The following End of Life policy applies only to End of Life or End of Sale announcements made on or after October 3, 2007. This policy is applicable to both SurfControl and Websense product lines. The Policy does not apply to any product that is identified in a previous End of Life and/or End of Sale announcement. Support for Websense product versions are subject to the existing Support Lifecycle Policy.

EOL announcement dates, EOS dates, and EOL (end of support/download) dates for certain products can be found in the EOL product matrix, available within the Appendix of this document.


The general policy guidelines are:

  1. Websense will announce the End of Sale (EOS) date for products at least 3 months prior to the End of Sale date. For hardware, EOS means the End of Sales for New Hardware (EOS-HW); for subscriptions, EOS has two elements: End of Sale for New Subscriptions (EOS-NS), and End of Sale for Renewals (EOS-renewal). EOS-NS and EOS-renewal could be announced at the same time, or in two separate announcements (if the latter is the case, EOS-NS will be announced first and EOS-renewal will be announced at a later date).
  2. Subscription or Software support will be as follows:
    1. Technical Support and database download support will continue until the later of a customer’s remaining subscription term or a minimum of one (1) year after the effective End of Sale for Renewal (EOS-renewal).
    In general, no product enhancements will be made after End of Sale for New Subscription (EOS-NS) date; Critical security bug fixes may be made within two years after the End of Sale for New Subscriptions (EOS-NS) date. Note: It may be necessary to use a software upgrade to correct a reported problem, as opposed to issuing a patch release.
  3. Customers with a current and fully paid subscription will continue to receive support through the end of their subscription term unless Websense notifies the Customers differently at the time of the End-of-Life announcement.
  4. Hardware support will be provided as follows:
    1. No extended hardware warranty or support can be purchased after the date of the End of Sale for New Hardware (EOS-HW).
    2. Hardware Warranty Support will continue until the later of two (2) years after the End of Sale date, or the remaining term of a customer’s hardware support or extended warranty.

Explanation of the terms:

  • End of Sale for New Hardware (EOS-HW): The last date to purchase new hardware.
  • End of Sale for New Subscription (EOS-NS): The last date to purchase a new subscription.
  • End of Sale for Renewal (EOS-renewal): The last date a customer can purchase a renewal for an existing subscription.
  • Hardware: The physical product and its physical components.
  • Subscription: A subscription provides customers, upon payment of the applicable fees therefore and agreement to the applicable terms and conditions, the right to use proprietary database(s), software applications and/or ancillary utilities, as well as updates or revisions to the database(s), software and/or ancillary utilities (along with applicable documentation and any accompanying media) – throughout the term of the subscription for the authorized number of seats or users as applicable.
  • Technical support: 24x7 phone calls, Platinum Support (if applicable).
  • DB download: Security URL/threat updates and download.
  • Enhancement: Product functional and feature enhancements.

Versions 3.x and 4.x:

Websense Enterprise

As we announced on October 24, 2006, all support for these versions will end this year.  This includes Technical Support and Database Download Support.  The ending date for support of versions 3.x and 4.x will be December 31, 2007.

Japanese customers: please contact the Websense office in Tokyo regarding access to the Japanese Master Database for these versions.


Versions 5.x:

Websense Web Security Suite, Websense Enterprise, and Client Policy Manager

All support for these versions, including Technical Support and Database Download Support, will be extended beyond December 31, 2007 to a date to be announced later.


Version 6.x and future versions:

Websense Web Security Suite, Websense Enterprise, and Client Policy Manager

  • Technical Support will be provided for at least 24 months following the first subsequent Major or Minor Release (see Release Definitions below).
    For example, if v6.1 was released in October 2005, then v6.2 was released in April 2006, Websense, Inc. considers v6.2 to be the first subsequent Minor release after v6.1.  In that situation, technical support would be available for v6.1 until at least April 2008, which is 24 months following the release of v6.2.
  • Database Download Support will be provided for at least 36 months following the first subsequent Major or Minor Release.
  • End of support for versions v6.1 and later will be specified in future announcements. Each announcement will specify which versions are affected and be followed by at least 12 months of continued Technical Support and Database Download Support.

Release Definitions

  • A Major Release is identified by a version consisting of an integer alone or an integer followed by ".0" (v6.0).
  • A Minor Release is identified by a version where the first decimal place is incremented (v6.1).

Integrations:

Technical Support and Database Download Support for the following integrations will end on December 31, 2007:
  • 3Com WebCache
  • 3Com SuperStack Firewall
  • Dell PowerApp.cache Edition
  • F5 EDGE-FX Edition
  • Hewlett Packard Web Cache Edition
  • iMimic Networking DataReactor
  • Immunix Secure Software Appliance with Websense Enterprise v5
  • InfoLibria DynaCache Edition
  • Lightspeed Total Traffic Control Edition
  • Nokia Firewall & VPN Appliances
  • Novell Volera Excelerator Edition
  • Secure Computing CyberGuard
  • ServGate Technologies Inc
  • SLMsoft SecurIT Edition
  • Websense Enterprise v5 Embedded on Nokia IPSO- Integrated with Check Point Firewall-1
  • Websense Enterprise v5 Embedded on Nokia IPSO - Standalone
  • Websense Enterprise v5.1 Embedded on Novell Volera Excelerator

Support Definitions

  • Technical Support - Includes phone support, 24x7 support, and Platinum Support (if applicable).
  • Database Download Support - Consists of providing a Database for download that is compatible with that version.

Websense reserves the right to modify or cancel its end of life policies at any time in its sole discretion.

Products

Integration
Supported Platform Version EOS-HW/EOS-NS
date
EOS-renewal date EOL date Upgrade/
Migration Path
SurfControl Web Filter Appliance ISA 2004 SurfControl Appliance 5.5 Jan-08-08 n/a Not before
Jan 08/11 *
WSE/WSS/WSX 6.3.1
SurfControl RiskFilter (E-mail Appliance) n/a
Appliance /Linux 5.2.3 Jan-08-08 Jan-08-08 Not before
Jan 08/11 *
SEF 5.5; ODS (Mail Control)
  Appliance /Linux
5.2.2 Jan-08-08 Jan-08-08 Not before
Jan 08/11 *
SEF 5.5; ODS (Mail Control)
SurfControl Enterprise Threat Shield (ETS) n/a
Win2000, 2003 4.0 Jan-08-08 Jan-08-08 Not before
Jan 08/11 *
Websense CPM 6.3.1
  Win2000, 2003
3.5 Jan-08-08 Jan-08-08 Not before
Jan 08/11 *
Websense CPM
6.3.1
  Win2000, 2003
3.0 Jan-08-08 Jan-08-08 Not before
Jan 08/11 *
Websense CPM
6.3.1
SurfControl E-mail Filter for Exchange
Exchange 2000/2003 Win2000; Win2003 4.7 Jan-08-08 Jan-08-08 Not before
Jan 08/11 *
SurfControl E-mail Fillter for SMTP 5.5
SurfControl Web Filter Software
(Windows/
Standalone)
Windows Win2000, Win2003 5.5 Jan-08-08 n/a Not before 12/31/13 Websense WSE/WSS/WSX 6.3.1
SurfControl Mobile (Web) Filter
WindowsXP
Windows2000
Win2000, Win2003 5.5 Jan-08-08 n/a Not before 12/31/13 Websense Remote Filtering add-on 6.3.1

* Hardware support (if applicable) will continue until the later of two years after End-of-Sale date or when your extended warranty and/or support agreement expire; technical support and DB download support will continue for the later of EOL date or when your subscription expires

Websense reserves the right to modify or cancel these End of Life policies at any time, at its sole discretion.