Online Services Support Lifecycle Policy

Microsoft Online Services Support Lifecycle Policy

For Business and Developer Online Services

Online Services afford customers new ways of implementing change in their IT environments. These changes are frequently more rapid and require customers to be alert of forthcoming modifications to their cloud-based service.

Microsoft recognizes that Online Services are inherently more dynamic and, while providing businesses with increased agility, require new Support Lifecycle policies to ensure service predictability. IT organizations familiar with the standard Microsoft Support Lifecycle policies for on-premise software will see that these new policies provide the consistent and predictable Support Lifecycle experience they have come to expect from Microsoft.

For additional policy details for Windows Azure Cloud Services, please see Windows Azure Cloud Services FAQ .

Online Services Support Lifecycle Policy for Business and Developer

The new Business and Developer policy for Online Services offers three key features:

Support Availability

• Microsoft Support services will be available for the duration of the customer's agreement with Microsoft for the Online Service.

Notification

• Microsoft will provide a minimum of 12 months prior notification before customers must accept any change that is deemed a "disruptive change".
• "Disruptive change" means change where a customer or administrator is required to take action in order to avoid significant degradation to the normal operation of the Online Service.
• The notice period will not apply to security related changes or updates.

Service Continuity and Migration

• Microsoft will provide a minimum of 12 months prior notification before ending an Online Service for Business and Developer customers.
• Microsoft will retain customer data for a minimum of 30 days to facilitate customer migrations or renewal activities prior to the deprovisioning of the Online Service.

To learn more about the Online Services Support Lifecycle policies, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions page here.

The Microsoft Support Lifecycle (MSL) policy provides transparent, predictable information regarding the support lifecycle of Microsoft products.