Software Support Terms

These Software Support Terms apply to Support Plans for Netgate’s Software Products.

Together with the Netgate Terms and the Software Terms, and other terms and conditions posted on the support pages on Netgate.com, these Software Support Terms govern your purchase and use of Netgate’s Support.

  1. Support Plan. See the Support Pages on www.netgate.com for a description of the Support Plan offered for the Software Products. In the event of a conflict between these Software Support Terms and the terms listed on the Support Pages on www.netgate.com, the Support Pages on www.netgate.com shall control. In the event of a conflict between the Netgate Terms and these Software Support Terms, the Netgate Terms shall control.

  2. Support Plan Term. The initial term of each Support Plan (the “Initial Support Term”) is the duration stated in your Order, beginning on the date that Netgate has sent the Software or necessary license codes or access information to enable use of the Software. Your Support Plan may be renewed for one or more renewal terms (each a “Renewal Support Term”) if you and Netgate have entered into a renewal order during the Initial Support Term or then-current Renewal Support Term, as applicable. Netgate may, in its sole discretion, increase the fees applicable to each Renewal Support Term. If there is a lapse in Support, any subsequent purchase of Support will (i) be deemed purchased retroactive to the later of (x) the date on which any prior Support period concluded, or (y) the date on which the Software was purchased, and (ii) you shall pay all applicable Support fees for such lapsed period. If you wish to purchase a different Support Plan, or if Netgate has modified a Support Plan, (e.g., service level, duration) the renewal fees will be at Netgate’s then current price list. Purchases of Software Support Plans (including Renewal Support Terms) with a duration of two (2) years or less are non-cancellable by you and are non-refundable. Purchases of Software Support Plans (including Renewal Support Terms) with a duration in excess of two (2) years are cancellable after the second year, upon thirty (30) days prior written notice. Credit, if any, for a cancelled Support Plan will be based on the prepaid, unused fees for the Support Plan, less any prepayment or multi-year discount to which you are no longer entitled.

  3. Information Required as Part of a Support Request. In order to obtain support, you must provide the following information when contacting Netgate Technical Support, either through email, chat, phone or other mechanism:

    1. A detailed description of the issue;
    2. Software product name, version;
    3. Support level;
    4. Platform identifier: Hardware platform, serial number, Amazon Web Services (AWS) Customer ID or similar;
    5. Software identifier: Netgate Device Identification Number (NDI), Order Number or other specified identifying information; and
    6. Details about whether the Netgate product has been installed and is operating in a production environment; and
    7. The OEM or Primary Support Provider case reference number, if applicable.

    If you purchased your primary Software Support Plan from a Netgate distributor or solutions provider, then Netgate may share your case information with the primary support provider to facilitate the management of your case.

  4. Response Flow. Depending on the Software Support Plan applicable to your purchase, when you report a potential material deviation between a current Software release and its specifications, and if Netgate is able to reproduce the deviation, Netgate will use reasonable efforts to provide a Patch to resolve the deviation. In addition, Netgate will make available to you those Maintenance Releases, Feature Releases, and Platform Releases for the Software that it makes available without additional charge to Support Plan customers generally, subject to the Software Support Plan applicable to your purchase.

  5. Severity Definitions. When you request Support, a case will be generated, and the Netgate Global Support team will classify the problem’s severity level from 1 to 4 as follows:

    • Severity 1 (Critical): Network Down — An existing network is down or there is a critical impact to your business operations. No workaround is yet available.
    • Severity 2 (High): Serious Degradation — Operations of an existing network are severely degraded, or significant aspects of your business operations are being negatively impacted by unacceptable network performance.
    • Severity 3 (Medium): Performance Impact — Operational performance of the network is impaired, while most business operations remain functional.
    • Severity 4 (Low): Information or Assistance — Product issue being reported has little or no negative impact to the business operation.
  6. Support Exclusions. Software Support does not cover requests arising out of your failure to implement all Upgrades provided by Netgate, changes to the computing environment, alterations or modifications of the Software performed by persons other than Netgate, accidents caused by you, your negligence, improper installation by you, misapplication, any abuse of the system or Software, your alteration or misuse of the Software, or your failure to use the Software in accordance with the Software Terms, the documentation, or instructions provided by Netgate.

Last updated on February 26, 2019