A10 terms and support govern how A10 Networks’ licensed Software, Appliances and subscriptions may be used, renewed, transferred and supported. The A10 terms of use apply unless the customer and A10 have signed a separate agreement for the Products, and are accepted by installing or using the Products or receiving Support.[1] The standard sale terms state that all Software is subject to A10’s End User Licensing Agreement and that SaaS is subject to A10’s Subscription Services Agreement, which controls in a conflict.[2]
Use rights and limits
The grant is “personal, limited, non-exclusive and non-transferable” with no right to sublicense, solely for the customer’s internal business purposes to optimise its network, and subject to the Limits in the Order, which can be bandwidth, byte quantity, number of Users, Usage Term or other limitations.[1] The Limits for each form factor are one virtual machine instance per unique identifier on one hypervisor, one specified Appliance, and one bare metal server specified by A10.[1] Customers may make backup copies of Software and Documentation solely to enable licensed use.[1]
The prohibitions in the terms of use include reproducing or modifying the Products, selling, sublicensing, renting or otherwise transferring Product to a third party, reverse engineering, unbundling components, building a competing product, circumventing security measures and exceeding the contracted Limits or Usage Term.[1] The standard sale terms add that purchases are solely for the customer’s own internal use and not for resale, sublicensing, assignment or onward distribution.[2]
Users and accounts
For SaaS and virtual Products the terms require that Users access the Products through an account provided by A10, and that an entity with more than one User needing access to SaaS or other virtual Products have a separate Account for each User; the customer is responsible for all transactions executed through its Accounts.[1]
Trials
A trial or proof of concept without paid fees is limited to internal business purposes in a non-production environment; the Trial Term does not exceed 90 days unless the parties agree otherwise in writing, and A10 may discontinue or cancel trials on 30 days’ written notice.[1]
Fees, overage and renewal
Orders and fees are non-cancelable, non-creditable and nonrefundable, Limits and fees cannot be reduced during the Usage Term, and usage allowances do not carry over to later periods. Fees for perpetual licences and Support are invoiced in advance; subscription Products are invoiced monthly in arrears including any overage charges.[1] Where an Order uses a Rate Plan with a Limit, excess usage is either dropped (no overage coverage) or charged as overage.[1] Unless written notice is given at least 60 days before the end of a Usage Term, the Usage Term automatically renews for a single year, and licences terminate automatically on completion of the Term, on breach, or if the customer exceeds the scope of the licence.[1] A10 may change prices and licence fees prospectively and may change fees on future orders.[2]
Data collected by A10
The terms grant A10 a perpetual licence to use de-identified and aggregated Statistical Data and Usage Information, and to use data about errors and problems to improve products.[1] The terms of use read for this article contain no clause headed audit. In practice usage Limits are controlled by licence activation (including through the GLM and A10 Control) and by billing records for PAYG and subscription models.[1][3]
Transfers, assignment and M&A
Under the standard sale terms neither party may assign or transfer the Agreement or its rights without the other’s prior written approval, except where A10 itself is acquired.[2] The maintenance policy states that product warranty and support contracts are non-transferable, and that A10 product licences are non-transferable unless assignment is agreed in writing in an official support transfer document from A10.[4] Customers disposing of an Appliance must erase the Software from it.[1] The terms of use may be revised by A10, though the sale terms say a revision does not apply to Software delivered before its effective date.[2]
Warranty
A10 warrants Hardware and Software for ninety days from delivery (or any longer period on an agreed quotation).[2] The terms of use also state that A10 is not obligated to provide assistance for Software or Appliances beyond the published end of life date unless a support agreement is entered into.[1]
Maintenance programs
A10 offers five levels of maintenance covering hardware, software and technical support: Standard Warranty, Basic Support, Basic Plus Support, Gold Support and Platinum Support. The page lists 1 to 5 year contract terms for the paid levels, depot repair for Basic and Basic Plus, next business day advance replacement for Gold, and 4-hour advance replacement for Platinum within 225 km (140 miles) of the depot; Basic Plus, Gold and Platinum provide technical support 24 hours a day every day.[4] Cloud-hosted software solutions with no hardware, such as FlexPool and A10 Control, do not include the 90-day Standard Warranty, and support terms cannot extend beyond the platform’s planned end of life.[4] The A10 Preferred Support Program is an add-on to Gold or Platinum.[4]
Renewals and late fees
For primary market units without an active support contract in the last 12 months, support starts from the date the last contract expired; a Renewal Late Fee is assessed on any contract expired for more than 30 days, with an extra 5% fee for expiry beyond 90 days and another 5% beyond 180 days, and at least one year of forward support must be bought from the reinstatement date.[4] Secondary market units bought through non-authorized channels are not eligible for a maintenance contract.[4] This policy is comparable to the practices described in Support reinstatement fees.
End-of-sale pricing
For products that reached end of sale, A10 raises support prices each year in years 1 to 5 by at least 3% (though possibly more based on CPI) plus additional increases of CPI plus 5%, 10%, 20%, 35% and 50% for years 1 to 5; the policy is stated to be effective October 4, 2024.[4] A software asset manager should therefore record the end-of-sale date of each platform when forecasting support cost.
Governing law
The standard sale terms are governed by the laws of the State of California.[2] Customers should check their Order and any separately signed agreement for a different governing law.
Out of scope
This article does not cover A10’s Subscription Services Agreement for SaaS, data protection terms, export controls or the support terms that apply to resellers.