Dynamics life cycle

I attended a MBS presentation a couple of days ago regarding MBS's life cycle policy. Pretty straight forward but thought I'd share my notes.

In summary, Microsoft will support a major releases for 5 years. This is called main stream support. The support will end the second Tuesday in the following quarter after SP1 is released. See screen shot below for graphic of that convoluted timeline.

Service packs will be supported for 2 years (until the second Tuesday in the following quarter after the next service pack is released.) If you are on an unsupported service pack level MBS will not support you unless you have extended or custom support.

Regulatory updates will be provided during the mainstream support phase. E.g. Payroll updates will be released for 9.0 for 2009 and 2010. GP 8.0 payroll year end update not being supported last year was a one-time thing. 9.0 payroll release will have yearend support for the next 2 years.

Descriptions of terms:
Microsoft Life cycle policy – 5 years from general availability release (GA date) shortly after RTM
Extended support – 5 years after life cycle is gone. Have to purchase. Pricing from your Microsoft representitive
Custom support – After SP support is gone, can purchase custom support. Sounds pricy but available. Same with after mainstream support.
Service packs – supported for 24 months after next service pack is released (second Tuesday, next quarter)