IBM Sustained Support provides support for products that have been withdrawn from market and the last supported version or release has reached its completion of Base Support.
Sustained Support - Comparison with Base and Extended Support
| S&S | Extended | Sustained | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lifecycle Phase | Base Support | Transition Support for a Version/Release | Completion of Base Support of final Version. The product is no longer commercially available, and all versions are no longer support under Base Support |
| Prerequisites | Product License | Active S&S or Sustained | Product License |
| Length of time | 2/3/5 years based on Lifecycle | 4 years | 5 years |
| User need | Provides Customer full support during the base support period | Provides Customer additional time to migrate to a newer version of same product | Provides clients an option for support instead of choosing to go unsupported and go to a competitor |
| Enhancements | Yes | No | No |
| Unlimited Technical Support Case Access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| New Defect Support | Yes | Includes Critical Defect Support 1st year only. | No |
| Usage & How to Support | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| New Security Fixes | Yes | Includes Critical Defect Support 1st year only | No |
| Access to Existing Fixes in FixCentral | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Self-Help and Product Documentation | Yes | Yes | Yes |