TBS Product Lifecycle Policy
1. Purpose and Scope
This Product Lifecycle and End-of-Life Policy (“Policy”) describes the general lifecycle principles applied by Touchless Biometric Systems AG (“TBS”) to TBS hardware products, embedded firmware, software products and related support services.
TBS continuously develops and improves its products and technologies. As a result, Products, product versions, components, software releases or services may from time to time be replaced, discontinued or reach the end of their supported lifecycle.
This Policy is intended to provide customers, distributors and resellers with reasonable visibility of lifecycle changes and to facilitate migration to successor products where appropriate.
Unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing by TBS, this Policy constitutes a general policy only and does not create a commitment to manufacture, supply, maintain or support any particular Product for a minimum period.
Lifecycle periods, milestones and support arrangements may vary by Product. In the event of any inconsistency between this Policy and a Product-specific EOL Announcement, the Product-specific EOL Announcement shall prevail with respect to the affected Product, subject to TBS's existing contractual and warranty obligations.
2. Definitions
For purposes of this Policy:
EOL Announcement means the communication by TBS that a Product is entering the end-of-life process.
End of Sale (“EOS”) means the date after which TBS generally no longer accepts new orders for the affected Product.
Last Time Buy (“LTB”) means, where offered by TBS, the final opportunity to place an order for a Product before EOS, subject to availability and applicable commercial conditions.
End of Support (“EOSupport”) means the date after which TBS no longer provides standard technical support, maintenance, repairs, software updates or other support services for the affected Product, except where expressly agreed otherwise.
End of Life (“EOL”) means completion of the Product's lifecycle, normally corresponding to its End of Support.
Successor Product means a product, software version or solution designated by TBS, if available, as a recommended replacement for a discontinued Product.
Product means, as applicable, TBS hardware, firmware, software or related product or service covered by this Policy.
3. EOL Announcement and Lifecycle
TBS will use commercially reasonable efforts to provide advance notice of the planned End of Sale of a Product.
As a general target, TBS intends to provide approximately twelve (12) months' notice before the applicable EOL date.
Where practicable, the EOL Announcement will also provide sufficient advance visibility of the planned End of Support date to allow customers and partners to plan an orderly migration.
The EOL Announcement will normally specify, as applicable:
- the affected Product and/or part numbers;
- the EOL Announcement date;
- the Last Time Buy date, if applicable;
- the End of Sale date;
- the planned End of Support date;
- the recommended Successor Product, if available; and
- any specific migration, support, or service information
The typical Product lifecycle sequence is:
EOL Announcement → Last Time Buy (if offered) → End of Sale → Support Period → End of Support / End of Life
EOL Announcements may be communicated through TBS websites, customer or partner communications, sales channels or other reasonable means.
4. Exceptions and Changes to Lifecycle Dates
The advance-notice periods and lifecycle dates described in this Policy are general targets and cannot be guaranteed in all circumstances.
TBS may shorten or omit an advance-notice period, or modify previously announced lifecycle dates, where discontinuation or continued support is materially affected by circumstances including, without limitation:
- component or material shortages or discontinuation;
- supplier failure or availability constraints;
- regulatory or legal requirements;
- cybersecurity or product-security concerns;
- intellectual-property restrictions;
- force majeure;
- changes in applicable technical standards; or
- other circumstances outside TBS's reasonable control.
In such cases, TBS will use commercially reasonable efforts to inform affected customers and partners as soon as reasonably practicable.
5. Last Time Buy
Where commercially and technically feasible, TBS may offer a Last Time Buy opportunity.
Any Last Time Buy is subject to product and component availability, TBS order acceptance and applicable commercial terms. Unless otherwise agreed by TBS in writing, Last Time Buy orders may be non-cancellable and non-returnable.
TBS does not guarantee that a Last Time Buy will be available for every discontinued Product.
6. Hardware, Repairs and Spare Parts
Following EOS, warranty service, repairs and/or replacement will continue to be provided in accordance with the warranty applicable to the Product.
Availability of identical replacement Products, components, spare parts or repair services after EOS is not guaranteed and remains subject to inventory, component and supplier availability, technical feasibility and available repair resources.
Where an identical Product or component is no longer reasonably available, TBS may, at its discretion and where technically appropriate:
- repair the affected Product;
- provide a refurbished unit;
- provide a functionally similar or equivalent replacement;
- offer migration to a Successor Product; or
- provide another remedy available under the applicable warranty or contractual terms.
Discontinuation or EOL status does not by itself extend the original warranty period.
7. Firmware and Software
TBS may continue to provide firmware maintenance for supported hardware following EOS where technically and commercially reasonable.
Following EOS, firmware development may be limited to critical defect corrections, security-related corrections, compatibility corrections and other maintenance considered necessary by TBS. TBS is not obligated to introduce new features or functionality for Products that have reached EOS.
Unless otherwise stated in the applicable EOL Announcement or agreed in writing, firmware maintenance will normally end on the End of Support date applicable to the associated hardware Product.
TBS may discontinue individual software products, versions or releases independently of the lifecycle of associated hardware.
Where practicable, TBS will identify the affected software or version, the applicable End of Support date, a supported replacement or upgrade version and any required migration steps.
Following End of Support, TBS may cease providing bug fixes, compatibility updates, security updates and technical support for the affected software version. Customers may be required to upgrade to a currently supported version in order to continue receiving support.
Applicable software licence, maintenance, subscription or SLA terms may contain additional or overriding lifecycle provisions.
8. Security Updates
During the applicable support period, TBS will assess identified security vulnerabilities in accordance with its then-current product-security processes.
The nature and availability of any remediation may depend on technical feasibility, severity, hardware limitations, third-party dependencies and the Product's lifecycle status.
After End of Support, TBS has no obligation to provide security patches, firmware updates or other remediation unless required by applicable law or expressly agreed by TBS in writing.
TBS may, at its discretion, assess and address critical security vulnerabilities affecting unsupported Products where it considers remediation technically feasible and appropriate.
Any update, patch, workaround or other remediation provided after End of Support does not extend or reinstate the Product's support period or create an obligation to provide future support or updates.
Customers are responsible for migrating from unsupported Products or software versions where continued operation may present security, compatibility or regulatory risks.
9. Successor Products and Migration
Where reasonably available, TBS may identify a recommended Successor Product in the applicable EOL Announcement.
A Successor Product is not guaranteed to be identical or fully backward compatible with the discontinued Product and may differ in hardware, interfaces, functionality, integration requirements, licences, configuration or pricing.
Customers and partners are responsible for evaluating the suitability of any Successor Product for their application and, unless otherwise expressly agreed by TBS in writing, for their own costs associated with evaluating, acquiring, integrating, configuring, testing, deploying or migrating to a Successor Product.
10. Existing Contractual and Warranty Obligations
EOL or EOS does not automatically terminate or reduce warranty rights or contractual support obligations expressly undertaken by TBS.
Such obligations remain governed by the applicable agreement, warranty terms, order confirmation and TBS General Terms and Conditions.
If this Policy conflicts with an individually negotiated written agreement signed by TBS, the individually negotiated agreement shall prevail.
Nothing in this Policy, including any subsequent amendment to it or any Product-specific EOL Announcement, is intended to reduce existing contractual or warranty obligations expressly undertaken by TBS.
11. Customer and Partner Responsibilities
Customers, distributors and resellers are responsible for monitoring applicable TBS lifecycle communications and planning Product migrations within the announced lifecycle periods.
Resellers and distributors are responsible for appropriately communicating relevant EOL information to their affected customers.
Customers and partners should not make commitments to end customers regarding Product availability, support duration, spare-parts availability or Product lifecycle beyond commitments expressly confirmed by TBS in writing.
12. Changes to this Policy
TBS may update this Policy from time to time to reflect changes in its products, services, technologies or business practices.
The version of this Policy applicable to a particular Product EOL process will be the version in effect on the date of the applicable EOL Announcement.
Any subsequent changes to this Policy will not affect existing contractual or warranty obligations expressly undertaken by TBS.
13. Contact
Questions concerning Product lifecycle, End of Sale or End of Life should be directed to the customer's or partner's TBS sales or support contact.