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BMC Software Product Support Policy

Our Product Support Policy has been updated effective July 1, 2020.

Product technical support is provided to customers currently enrolled in support, based on the terms and conditions of the customer’s license agreement with BMC and BMC’s current support terms and policies.  All Support terms and policies not covered on this page can be located here.

If you are currently enrolled in support, you can contact BMC via phone, email, and web during all product technical support stages. Extended support options may be available for some products for an additional annual support cost. Contact your BMC account representative for assistance.

For current support status and product information, sign up for Proactive Alerts and visit the Supported Product A-Z pages. (Proactive Alert email messages and the associated documentation are provided in English only).

For a product to be eligible for Support, all its Licensed Capacity needs to be enrolled.

BMC reserves the right, for the benefit of all its customers, to use or incorporate into any BMC products or services any suggestions, enhancement requests, recommendations or other feedback provided by its customers.

This topic includes the following sections to help you learn more about the support policy:

Release numbering

BMC uses a three-place numbering scheme to designate released versions of its products. The formats are:

  • VV.RR.SP
    VV=major version, RR=minor release, and SP=service pack
  • VV.RR.MM
    VV=major version, RR=minor release, and MM=maintenance level
  • YY.YY.RR 
    YY.YY= 4-digit year, RR=release

Support for Enterprise Products

BMC has the following version levels for its Enterprise Products:

Level Description
1st level - Version
A major deliverable (VV or YY.YY) that is fully functional and can be installed on the targeted platform through a standard installation program. Indicates a major architectural or structural change, new major product capabilities, or possible incompatibility with prior version or significant migration requirements.
2nd level - Release
A minor deliverable (RR) that is a revision release that maintains compatibility with its major version. Indicates the availability of functional enhancements, new capabilities, and is an overlay/upgrade installation.
3rd level - Service Pack

A cumulative maintenance deliverable (service pack) that resolves a specific set of defects or releases new features to improve the quality, usability, and performance of the product.

Service packs are typically released 1 to 3 times per year, and they are fully supported for at least 12 months after their GA date.

Installing service packs is highly recommended to improve product performance and stability.

GA Patch

A deliverable for cumulative critical fixes that cannot wait for a major, minor, or service pack release. Patches are applicable to products designated as Full or Limited support only. GA patches will be included in future releases of the product.

The most recent GA patch is fully supported.

Customer Support may direct customers to upgrade to a more current version, release, or service pack of the product.

BMC provides at least 5 years* of product technical support from the Version.Release (VV.RR) general availability (GA) date in three technical support stages for its Enterprise Products as defined in the following table, subject to the Product End of Life Policy below:

Support type Description
Full Support

BMC provides full support for at least 3 years from the (GA) date of the VV.RR.

BMC provides service packs, patches, hot fixes, or workarounds to enable the product to operate in substantial conformity with its then-current operating documentation.

Limited Support

Following the Full Support period, BMC provides at least 2 years of Limited Support for the VV.RR.

New enhancements will not be made to the version or release.

Customer Support will direct customers to existing fixes, patches, or workarounds applicable to the reported case.

BMC will develop new hot fixes for problems of high technical impact or business exposure for customers. With customer input, BMC will determine the degree of impact and exposure and the consequent activities.

Customer Support will direct customers to upgrade to a more current version, release, or service pack of the product.

Research and Development will be engaged on critical cases only and on a limited basis for problem identification.

End of Version Support

Access to most technical documentation through BMC Support Central portal, Knowledge Base search, known resolutions and workarounds, existing patches and Service Packs, and BMC support communities will remain available where applicable.

No new sustaining maintenance releases, enhancements, patches, or hot fixes will be made to a version or release in "End of Version" status.

Customer Support will direct customers to upgrade to a more current version, release, or service pack of the product.

If a customer would like advice on upgrading its product or has questions about the status of a product’s support status, please contact Customer Support during business hours Monday through Friday.

* Exceptions to extend or reduce product support will be announced via the BMC Support Central web site, Proactive Alerts and Release Notes for the affected products. BMC always provides at least Limited Support for a VV.RR for a period of at least 24 months from the date on which such VV.RR became GA.

This table shows an example of the 5-year lifecycle of a VV.RR release, and dates the support status would change:

Release GA Full Support Limited Support End of Version Support
VV.RR – 2.0.00, Jan 12, 2011
Jan 12, 2014
Jan 12, 2016
Jan 13, 2016
.SP – 2.0.05, April 7, 2011
April 7, 2012
April 7, 2013
Jan 13, 2016
.SP – 2.0.06, Feb 9, 2012
Jan 12, 2014
Jan 12, 2016
Jan 13, 2016

Support for Mainframe Products

The policy for the Mainframe Products refers only to the VV.RR portion of the release numbering (with the MM portion not being a factor). When referring to general product versions and releases, the maintenance level (MM) is often omitted, but it is implicitly included.

This policy uses these terms to refer to release relationships:

  • Current release – The most recently available version and release of a Mainframe Product.
  • C–1 – The version and release immediately preceding the current release. 
  • C–2 – The version and release immediately preceding the C-1 release.

BMC provides support for the Mainframe Products as defined in the following table, subject to the Product End of Life Policy below

Support type Description
Full Support

BMC provides support for the current version and release of all its products. BMC also provides full support for one release preceding the current version (C-1) for a maximum period of 3 years.

BMC provides service packs, patches, hot fixes, or workarounds to enable the product to operate in substantial conformity with its then-current operating documentation.

For products on a “continuous delivery” support model, customer may need to apply all existing small programming enhancements and patches to maintain full support.

Limited Support

Following the Full Support period, BMC provides limited support for the C-1 release which has reached max age (3 years), for at least 1 year (but usually 2 years). C-2 releases move to Limited Support for at least 1 year (but usually 2 years) assuming max age was not reached for C-1 release.

New enhancements will not be made to the version or release.

Customer Support will direct customers to existing fixes, patches, or workarounds applicable to the reported case.

BMC will develop new hot fixes for problems of high technical impact or business exposure for customers. With customer input, BMC will determine the degree of impact and exposure and the consequent activities.

Customer Support will direct customers to upgrade to a more current version, release, or service pack of the product.

Research and Development will be engaged on critical cases only and on a limited basis for problem identification.

End of Version Support

Access to most technical documentation through BMC Support Central portal, Knowledge Base search, known resolutions and workarounds, existing patches and Service Packs, and BMC support communities will remain available where applicable.

No new sustaining maintenance releases, enhancements, patches, or hot fixes will be made to a version or release in "End of Version" status.

Customer Support will direct customers to upgrade to a more current version, release, or service pack of the product.

If a customer would like advice on upgrading its product or has questions about the status of a product’s support status, please contact Customer Support during business hours Monday through Friday.

Example of this support policy:
Using three version/releases of a product (3.0, 2.9 and 2.8), the following support policies would apply:

When 3.0 becomes “generally available” (GA):

  • 3.0 is covered under Full Support. Might require current maint be applied.
  • 2.9 is covered under Full Support for max 36 months followed by 12 month limited.
  • 2.8 is covered under limited support for at least 12 months, if Max full support age had not been reached while being C-1.

You can submit enhancement requests at any time, but they will be considered only for future releases of the product.

Note: While product release cycles vary, most versions and releases are supported for 4 to 6 years. Here is a common example: the initial release has full support for 2 years, the C-1 version has full support for 2 years, and the C-2 version has limited support for 2 years. No version or release will be supported for less than 24 months.

Extension of Support Periods

In some cases, BMC may extend its support of certain product lines beyond the dates specified in this document. Announcements to this effect are made through the BMC Support Central web site and the Proactive Alert service via the Release Notes of the affected products.

Product End of Life

  • At any time BMC may “end of life” a product by terminating support for such product.
  • At least 12 months prior to the termination of support, BMC will post a notification to the BMC Support Central web site and send physical or electronic notice to each customer who is enrolled in such support to the  customer address on file.
  • During the timeframe between when “end of life” notification is posted to the BMC Support Central web site and the actual termination of support, the product will be supported as follows:
    • New enhancements will not be made to the product.
    • No enhancements will be made to the product to support new or updated versions of the platforms on which the product runs or to which it connects. BMC Customer Support will direct customers to existing fixes, patches, or workarounds applicable to the reported case.
    • BMC Software will develop new hot fixes for problems of high technical impact or business exposure for customers. With customer input, BMC will determine the degree of impact and exposure and the consequent activities.
    • Research and Development will be engaged on critical cases only and on a limited basis for problem identification.

Third-Party Products

To receive full support for a BMC product, you must have such product installed in a generally available supported environment. If a third-party vendor cancels support for one of its products (such as an operating system or subsystem), and that third-party product integrates or interacts with the BMC product you have licensed, you must upgrade to a generally available supported version of that third-party product before BMC Customer Support can provide you with support for the affected BMC product.

Where a third-party vendor cancels general support, but offers a paid extended support option, BMC will have no obligation to continue to Support the canceled version, irrespective of whether you have chosen to pay for extended support or not.

Upgrading

When you are ready to upgrade, you can download the latest version from BMC's Electronic Product Distribution (EPD) site. To access this site, you must be currently enrolled in support for that product.

Multi-Language Support

English is the only language BMC contractually commits to providing. However, to enhance our follow-the-sun support model and better serve our customers, BMC Software has contact centers worldwide that have multiple language capabilities. Local offices can provide support in the prevailing local languages, but BMC’s priority is to get the most knowledgeable person to handle your case. In addition to English, BMC can offer a “first point of contact” local language service for the following languages:

Americas:

  •  English
  •  Spanish (LATAM)
  •  Portuguese (LATAM)

EMEA:

  •  French
  •  German
  •  Spanish
  •  Italian
  •  Portuguese

AP

  •  Chinese
  •  Japanese
  •  Korean

The first point of contact service is hosted by BMC’s contact centers and the language offerings are only available during local business hours. Following the initial communication between the customer and our customer support center, BMC will endeavor to distribute the support issue to a local specialist. However, BMC cannot guarantee local language support from our product specialists. Translation services are available on an exception basis.

Additional Information

For additional information regarding the availability and support periods of certain product lines, contact your local BMC representative. 

Additional Support Centers

Upgrade Assistance

  • The BMC Assisted Migration Offering (AMIGO) program is designed to assist customers with the planning of product upgrades to a newer version – “Success through proper planning”.
  • Explore AMIGO Program ›