Bentley Lifecycle Policy
Consistent lifecycle and support terms for Bentley's applications and services
Fixed Lifecycle Policy
Time-bound version support lifecycle for desktop and client-server applications
Coming Soon
Continuous Lifecycle Policy
Continuous support lifecycle for services and applications that are managed by Bentley and supported continuously
Overview
What are we doing and why are we doing it?
At Bentley, we are committed to continuously improving the quality of our products and services. To support these efforts, we are introducing a Fixed Lifecycle Policy that defines the gradual retirement of older versions of many of our products.
This policy provides clearly defined lifecycle and support terms explaining how available technical support and maintenance services will change through the course of the application lifecycle. Adopting this Fixed Lifecycle Policy will enable Bentley users to better plan for major version upgrades while staying current with security and performance updates.
To get the very best out of your software, we always recommend using the latest version.
What is the scope of this policy?
This policy replaces previous Bentley Support Policies, including the Desktop Applications Support Policy, ProjectWise Support Policy, and License Administration Services Support Policy. The policy does not cover Bentley MANAGEservices and Cloud Services that are managed by Bentley.
What are the current user rights and expectations?
Over time, Bentley has offered different software licensing models. Below is a consolidated description of what is offered now and the rights of users:
| Entitlement | User rights |
|---|---|
| Perpetual License with Active SELECT/E365/EPS Subscription, or Subscription-Only License |
|
| Perpetual License with No Active SELECT/E365/EPS Subscription |
|
What are the key changes to the previous Bentley Support Policy?
This policy introduces changes to our application versioning methodology and provides details on our new version support lifecycle, including an updated list of technical support and maintenance services.
Application Versioning
What are the changes to application versioning?
Starting January 1, 2023, an updated versioning will be used for new versions of Bentley applications covered by this policy. This includes use of version types and associated version compatibility assurances, as well as changes to the release cadence, version naming and number, as detailed below.
What are the version types?
The following table outlines different version types.
| Version type | Description |
|---|---|
| Major version | A version that may include major new features, major enhancements, and other significant changes including user experience, workflow, and compatibility. Major versions may support side-by-side installation, enabling users to run multiple versions of the application on the same machine to facilitate easier migration to a more recent version. |
| Minor version | A version that may add minor new features or enhancements and address issues that have been found in the software such as performance, stability, or security issues. Minor versions are released for the supported versions of the application. A minor version always replaces an earlier release of the same major version. |
What are application support phases?
| Application Support Phase | Description |
|---|---|
| Continuous Support | At least a single major version has been released and the application is actively developed with new major or minor version releases planned in the future. |
| Expiring Support | Application has reached the end of the Continuous Support phase, with no new major version releases planned in the future and the date for entering Discontinued Support has been specified, at least 12 months from the date when an application has entered Expiring Support. |
| Discontinued Support | Application has reached the end of its support lifecycle and is no longer supported. |
Version Support Lifecycle
What are version support phases?
A version support phase defines the phase of the support lifecycle of a major version. All minor versions are supported in the same version support phase as the major version they apply to. The following table outlines different phases.
What are the version types?
The following table outlines different version types.
| Version Support Phase | Description |
|---|---|
| Current Version | This phase applies to the most recent major version of the application in the Continuous Support phase. Current version phase is not bound by time limit. When a new major version is released, the previous major version moves to the Supported Version phase. When an application enters the Expiring Support phase, a release in the Current Version phase also moves to the Supported Version phase. |
| Supported Version | This phase applies to major versions until the end of the calendar year, 3 years after the original release date.* The Supported Version phase will be extended as necessary to ensure it applies to a major version for a period of at least 12 months. When an application enters the Discontinued Support phase, all versions in the Supported Version phase move to the Retired Version phase. |
| Retired Version | This is the final phase that applies to major versions at the completion of the Supported Version phase. |
* – For CONNECT Edition versions released prior to January 1, 2023, the Supported Version phase applies until December 31, 2025 at the earliest.
What are the technical support and maintenance services included with each of the version support phases?
To be eligible for support, including technical support and maintenance services, the version must be installed and run on an operating system that it has been certified for and is supported by an operating system vendor. If a vendor discontinues support for an operating system, support for Bentley application versions running on that operating system is also discontinued, irrespective of the version support phase. The same considerations apply for the version of the Runtime Environment (such as Microsoft .NET Framework, Python, Node.js®, or Java) and the Database Management System (such as Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, or MySQL) that the application is running on or interfacing with.
The technical support and maintenance services included with each version support phase are detailed in the tables below.
| Technical support services | Current Version | Supported Version | Retired Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online support resources | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Online learning content | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Phone and email support | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Service request submittal | ✓ | ✓ |
| Maintenance services | Current Version | Supported Version | Retired Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| New features | ✓ | ||
| Enhancements | ✓ | ||
| Maintenance fixes* | ✓ | ✓ | |
| New environment certification | ✓ |
✓ – Included
* – Bentley at its discretion prioritizes resolution of defects and deficiencies found in the software based on the impact to the users and various other criteria.
FAQs
Our users operate on a global scale, delivering security-critical projects across all areas of infrastructure design, engineering, and operations. Project delivery regulations continuously evolve, and right now—as we accelerate enabling digital transformation for multiple workflows—it is paramount that our Bentley Support Policy remains current. Many aspects of our industry, company, and user base lead to this update, including, but not limited to the following:
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- The importance of information and cyber security is paramount. Only by continuously monitoring the fast-evolving threat landscape and updating the software as necessary to stay ahead, we can ensure that our users are protected in every step of a project lifecycle, from exchanging files in the design phase to operations of critical infrastructure assets.
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- The length of time a product version remains supported and available in the market has a strong correlation with the potential security risks associated with that version. Hence, time-bound application version support lifecycle is necessary for evolving security risks to be effectively managed and mitigated, while providing users a clear timeline to plan major upgrades.
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- As we continuously expand and improve our portfolio of infrastructure engineering software, to keep providing our users comprehensive and clearly defined support expectations, we need to occasionally update the terms and conditions on what we support and how we do it.
- A closer alignment with industry best practices will enable our users to better manage Bentley applications within their software portfolios as well as enable Bentley to better utilize a growing ecosystem of technologies and services by third-party vendors to improve our offerings.
Technical support describes the methods by which the user can contact Bentley’s Technical Support department and the level of assistance that one can expect to receive.
Maintenance describes the types of software updates the user can expect to receive for a version, depending on a version support phase that applies to it. Version support phases will be further defined in the sections below.
The following table outlines compatibility categories.
| Compatibility category | Description |
|---|---|
| Data backward compatibility | Data created with previous versions is supported without loss of fidelity |
| API compatibility | No breaking API changes |
| Cross-application compatibility | No items removed from the list of supported versions of other Bentley and third-party applications (e.g., supported ProjectWise Design Integration versions) |
| OS compatibility | No items removed from the list of certified operating systems |
Compatibility assurances for each version type are detailed in the table below.
| Version type | Data backward compatibility | API compatibility | Cross-application compatibility | OS compatibility |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major version | ✓* | P | P | P |
| Minor version | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
✓ – Included P – Breaking changes may be occasionally introduced. Supporting documentation and upgrade assistance tools (if necessary) will be provided with any breaking changes to make the process of upgrading as simple and streamlined as possible. * – Occasionally, may require an automated or user-assisted file format/database schema conversion.
Version release cadence defines how often application versions are released.
As part of our application versioning changes, for most of the applications covered by this policy, we are adopting an annual release cadence (i.e., a single major version release per calendar year). The number and cadence of minor version releases may vary.
As part of our application versioning changes, Bentley is moving to a more consistent version naming and version number scheme. One notable aspect of this is the use of the calendar year of the original release date, helping users to easily determine the support timeframe for the version.
Application Version Name is defined in the following form: <Application name> <Major version>
| Version name part | Description |
|---|---|
| <Application name> | Full name of the application. E.g., “OpenRoads Designer.” |
| <Major version> | Name of the major version in the form <YYYY> [Update <N>], where:
|
Application Version Number consists of 4 parts, where each part is a zero-padded number and is defined in the following form: AA.BB.CC.DD The following table outlines a convention for version number parts.
| Version number part | Description |
|---|---|
| AA.BB | First two version number parts correspond to a major version, where:
|
| CC | Minor version number. Value is reset to “00” when incrementing AA or BB. |
| DD | Build number. Value is reset “01” when incrementing any other version part. |
| Version number part | Description | Description |
|---|---|---|
| MicroStation 2023 | 23.00.00.102 |
|
| MicroStation 2023 | 23.00.02.42 |
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| MicroStation 2023 Update 1 | 23.01.00.99 |
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| MicroStation 2023 Update 2 | 23.02.03.07 |
|
CONNECT Edition versions released prior to January 1, 2023, will be supported at least until December 31, 2025*. For applications with a less frequent release cadence, the support period may be extended beyond December 31, 2025, to ensure that CONNECT Edition versions released prior to January 1, 2023, are supported for at least 12 months after the release date of the next major version.
* – If an application enters Expiring Support before December 31, 2024, the support period will last until the end of the Expiring Support phase, which may be prior to December 31, 2025.
V8i SELECTseries 10 reached end of support on December 31, 2021, concluding support discontinuation for V8i and earlier generation versions. Please see our prior announcement on this change for more information here.
There are no changes to the support status for these versions.
Examples 1 & 2: Version Support phase transitions for an application in the Continuous Support phase
Example 3: Version Support phase transitions for an application in the Continuous Support phase
