Arctera licensing covers the terms for the software businesses that Veritas did not combine with Cohesity in 2024. The 2024 announcement placed Veritas’ InfoScale, Data Compliance and Backup Exec businesses in a separate company, “DataCo”.[16] Those products are now licensed by Arctera US LLC under Arctera’s own EULA and product use rights, and Arctera’s renewal and life cycle policies took effect on 2024-12-10.[2][12][7][8] Cloud Software Group, owner of Citrix and TIBCO, announced on 2025-12-01 that it had completed its acquisition of Arctera. It said Arctera “will operate as a standalone business within the Cloud Software Group portfolio”.[1] Catalog: Arctera is a standalone business of Cloud Software Group.
The products covered are:[4]
- InfoScale: storage management and high availability, formerly Storage Foundation and Cluster Server.
- Enterprise Vault: archiving and compliance, together with Data Insight, Merge1 (now Enterprise Vault Capture) and the eDiscovery Platform.
- Backup Exec: backup software, together with System Recovery and Desktop Laptop Option.
- Arctera Insight Platform: SaaS archiving, eDiscovery and surveillance, formerly sold as Veritas Alta.
NetBackup is not an Arctera product. It went to Cohesity (see Cohesity licensing).
Contract framework
Two contract stacks are in use.
Arctera paper. The Arctera Software License Agreement (EULA v5.0, November 2024) and a per-product Product Use Rights document together form the “License Agreement”. The PUR prevails where the two conflict.[2][12] The customer’s quantities and Use Levels are set in a License Instrument, such as a licence certificate. The Licensing Program Certificate amends the EULA for Subscription Software.[2][5] Customers with a negotiated relationship sign the Arctera Primary Terms and their Addenda.[6]
Cloud Software Group paper. Arctera’s license-agreements page now links its “End User Agreements” to cloud.com.[10] The Cloud Software Group End User Agreement is a contract between the customer and whichever Cloud Software Group Holdings, Inc. business unit enters the Order.[3] Its Business Unit Terms contain separate sections for the Arctera, Enterprise Vault, Backup Exec and InfoScale business units. Each section points to product use rights published at arctera.com, enterprisevault.com, infoscale.com or assets.arctera.io.[4] The newest product documents, such as the Enterprise Vault Complete PUR dated 2026-06-30 and the Backup Exec PUR, refer to “Company” and to the Cloud Software Group definitions rather than to Arctera.
The EULA grants a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence for internal business operations “in the quantities and at the Use Levels described” in the agreement, within the country of the customer’s address on the License Instrument. It also grants one uninstalled archival copy for disaster recovery.[2] A Use Level is “the license use meter or model … by which Arctera measures, prices and licenses the right to use the Licensed Software”.[2] Catalog: Licence limited to Use Levels in the customer’s country.
Editions
| Product line | Main meters | Licence types | Deeper article |
|---|---|---|---|
| InfoScale Availability, Enterprise, Foundation, Storage | Core Plus, Server, Core | Subscription or perpetual | InfoScale licensing |
| InfoScale for SAP HANA, OpenShift VE, Kubernetes | Cloud Instance, Socket pair, Core Plus | Subscription or term | InfoScale licensing |
| Enterprise Vault and suites | Active and Legacy User, Front End Terabyte | Subscription or perpetual; Complete unlimited | Enterprise Vault, Data Insight and Merge1 |
| Data Insight, Merge1 | Data Insight User or FETB; Merge1 Connector Suite User | Subscription or perpetual | Enterprise Vault, Data Insight and Merge1 |
| Backup Exec | FETB, Instance, V-Ray socket, Custom Edition units | Subscription or perpetual by edition; no new purchases after 2026-03-31 | Backup Exec licensing |
| Arctera Insight Platform (SaaS) | User per Month | SaaS subscription | This article |
Metrics
Each product’s PUR defines its meters. The InfoScale PUR defines Core Plus as the number of cores in a hardware environment multiplied by a Core Coefficient for the processor type.[12] Enterprise Vault counts Active and Legacy Users, while “Inactive” Users with no archive content need no licence, or Front End Terabytes of archived data.[13] Backup Exec counts front-end terabytes, Instances, hypervisor CPU sockets, or individual servers, applications, hosts and devices, depending on the edition.[14] The Arctera Insight Platform sells suites “per User per Month” with a pooled storage allocation of 15 GB per User.[11]
Counting / floors
- No use above the Use Level. The EULA bars use above the licensed quantity and Use Level. It also bars service bureau, timeshare or service-provider use for third parties without written consent.[2] Catalog: No service-provider use or use above the licensed Use Level.
- Upgrades and cross-grades. Upgrades “shall not be deemed to increase the number of licenses”. A cross-grade to a new operating system, hardware tier or meter is issued on the understanding that the replaced licence is no longer used.[2] Catalog: Cross-grades and upgrades replace the old licence.
- Subscription true-up. Subscription Software has an annual Periodic Review. Usage above the Licensed Quantity is paid pro-rata for the rest of the term, and the Licensed Quantity “cannot be decreased during the relevant Subscription Term”.[5] Catalog: Subscription overage paid pro rata; quantity cannot be reduced.
- Usage reporting. Customers must enable automated usage reporting. Where the product has no reporting tool, manual reports are due once a year, no later than 90 days before the subscription anniversary, and within 30 days of a request. Each report lists product, licence type, version, quantity or capacity, hardware model and region.[4][5] Under the Cloud Software Group agreement, the customer must also certify its deployed Number of Units on request. That Deployment Report becomes the basis for any renewal.[3] Catalog: Usage reporting: automated or manual 90 days before anniversary; Deployment Report on request sets the renewal quantity.
Audit
The audit terms differ by contract stack:
| Contract | Notice and frequency | Payment for shortfall | Audit cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arctera EULA v5.0 s.18.3 | On-site on reasonable notice, business hours, at most once a year; also via Collected Data and self-certification | Undiscounted list price at audit completion | Customer pays audit fees if non-compliant usage exceeds 5% of the list price value of compliant deployments |
| Arctera Primary Terms s.9 | Five business days’ written notice, at most once a year | Undiscounted list price | Customer pays audit firm’s reasonable costs above 5% |
| Cloud Software Group End User Agreement s.15.2 | 10 days’ notice, during an Order and for one year after | Usage above Number of Units remains payable | Customer reimburses reasonable audit costs, including attorneys’ fees, on material non-compliance |
Sources: EULA[2], Primary Terms[6], End User Agreement.[3] The usage reporting duties in the Licensing Program Certificate are “in addition to” the audit rights in the EULA.[5] Catalog: EULA audit once a year; costs shift above 5% at list price; Primary Terms verification on five business days’ notice; Cloud Software Group audit on 10 days’ notice.
Transfer and corporate events
The EULA bars transfer of the software without consent, and the customer may not assign the agreement without Arctera’s prior written consent.[2] The Cloud Software Group agreement adds a rule for corporate events. Users or entities that join or leave the customer through an “Extraordinary Corporate Event” may not use the products until a signed amendment covers them. If a business unit is divested from Cloud Software Group, the agreement is treated as duplicated for the divested product.[3] Catalog: Acquired or divested entities need a written amendment.
Support, renewals and life cycle
The Business Unit Terms for Enterprise Vault, Backup Exec and InfoScale require “active Maintenance for 100% of their licenses”. The Arctera Global Renewal Policy likewise allows “No partial license coverage”.[4][7] The renewal policy also sets these terms:[7]
- Unused perpetual licences can be removed from support by signing a “Shelving Letter”.
- Prices are raised annually, with lower increases possible for committed two- or three-year terms.
- A lapsed subscription ends the right to use the software.
- Reinstatement costs the lapsed period plus a fee of 25% of it. A perpetual licence also needs a new 12-month term.
- Support terms run from 12 months up to five years.
Catalog: Maintenance must cover 100% of licences; Lapsed Arctera support or subscription: 25% reinstatement.
The Arctera Product Life Cycle Policy, effective 2024-12-10, keeps the Veritas three-phase model. The Primary Phase typically lasts 3 to 4 years from general availability, followed by an Extended Phase of 1 to 2 years and a Sustaining Phase. Essential Support is required throughout, and Extended Software Support is an extra fee.[8] Backup Exec has a fixed end date: no new purchases after 2026-03-31, and End of Support Life no later than 2029-04-29.[14][15]
Returns and credits are narrow. Arctera does not accept returns, cancellations or credits except for order errors raised within 45 days of the invoice, warranty claims, contractual rights, Try and Buy returns and AR credits. Use of a returned or replaced licence must stop at once.[9] Catalog: No returns or cancellations except listed cases.
Programs
- Evaluation. Without an evaluation agreement, the EULA allows internal, non-production evaluation until a date preset in the software, or for 60 days from installation. The software may contain an automatic disabling mechanism.[2] Catalog: Arctera software evaluation.
- Marketplace autorenewal. Software subscriptions bought on an online marketplace may renew automatically. To cancel, written notice must be given at least 30 days before the next renewal date.[5] Catalog: Marketplace Autorenewal.
- Cold disaster recovery. InfoScale, Enterprise Vault and Backup Exec allow cold DR copies while maintenance is current.[12][13] Catalog: Cold Disaster Recovery license.
Arctera Insight Platform (SaaS)
The Arctera Insight Platform is a SaaS service for eDiscovery, surveillance and information governance. It is sold as suites per User per Month, with add-ons per gigabyte or per hour.[11] The suites were renamed from the Veritas Alta services: Alta Archiving became Arctera Insight Archiving, Alta Capture became Insight Capture, and so on.[11] Each User brings a 15 GB storage allocation. Allocations are pooled at tenant level, and data from non-user, inactive and guest mailboxes counts toward the pool. Exceeding it requires buying Additional Storage, and User or FETB quantities “cannot” be reduced during a committed term.[11] For the Arctera business unit, a “User” is any mailbox or account to be archived, including shared mailboxes. Mailboxes created as M365 groups do not count.[4] Catalog: Insight Platform storage allocation pooled at tenant level; Veritas Alta services renamed Arctera Insight.
Out of scope
This article does not cover NetBackup, Alta data protection or NetBackup appliances, which went to Cohesity. It also omits Arctera’s professional and education services, Business Critical Services, and Citrix or TIBCO products sold under the same Cloud Software Group End User Agreement. No prices are given, because Arctera publishes no price list.