Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager (EPNM)

Note:      This product bulletin describes the support timelines for Cisco’s Evolved Programmable Network Manager (EPNM) Products application software. Prior to Cisco EPNM v6.X, please refer to the section at the end of this document.

Introduction

This product bulletin describes the release support timeline and support guidelines for Cisco EPNM Software.

Cisco EPNM Software is a time-based release model that delivers annually one major release (X.0) and one minor release (X.1) interspersed with two device pack releases (DPP) X.0.1 and X.1.1 respectively for support for new devices and OS each year. The major and minor release provides support for new technology introduced and validate new devices and OS versions. The DPP releases do not provide support for new technology and only validate new devices and OS versions. This approach enables Cisco to introduce stable and feature rich Software releases with support for new devices in a reliable and predictable cadence.

Cisco EPNM Software Release Delivery

Cisco is introducing an updated software release delivery model and specific EOL guidelines with the EPNM v6.X Software release. These updated EOL guidelines will apply specifically to the primary EPNM Application RTU licenses, which will no longer be released for each new minor version. Additional EOL announcements may be released for other EPNM components such as device right-to-manage licenses.

The Cisco EPNM Software Release Train model provides a distinct release vehicle combining to regularly deliver new features two times each year major i.e X.0  and minor ie. X.1  interspersed with two device pack releases  (DPP) X.0.1 and X.1.1 respectively for support for new devices. The schedule specifies a major, minor and two DPP software releases within a 12-month cycle. This cadence is repeated every year.

Cisco EPNM Software Support until EPNM 5.X

Cisco EPNM Software Releases (EPNM 3.X, until EPNM 5.X) will be supported for 36 months after the End of Sale milestone. Customers with active service contracts will continue to receive support from the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) as shown in Table 1 above. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.

Table 1 summarizes the End-of-Sale and EoL milestones for Cisco EPNM Software release (EPNM 3.X, EPNM 4.X, EPNM 5.X)

Table 1.        Cisco EPNM Software End-of-Sale and End-of-Life milestones by Release (EPNM 3.X, 4.X, 5.X)

Cisco EPNM Software Support EPNM 6.X and later

Beginning with EPNM 6.X EPNM software will have two different support lifecycles:

●      Major releases i.e X.0 starting with 6.0 will be referred to as Short Lived releases. The  End-of-Life (EoL) will be announced six (6) months after FCS announcement date. The release will be supported and will reach End of Software Maintenance (EoSM) Eighteen (18) months after FCS announcement date. The Last day of support (LDOS) Twenty four (24) months after FCS announcement date.

●      Minor releases i.e X.1 starting with 6.1 will be referred to as Long Lived releases. The  End-of-Life (EoL) will be announced twelve (12) months after FCS announcement date. The release will be supported and will reach End of Software Maintenance (EoSM) Thirty (30) months after FCS announcement date .The Last day of support (LDOS) will occur Forty two (42) months after FCS announcement date.

●      Every second release will be a Minor long lived release followed by a Major or short lived. Between each Minor and Major release will be a DPP Minor X.1.1 release and a DPP Major X.0.1 release. These DPP releases will adhere to the same lifecycle as their Minor or Major release. i.e 6.0.X will EoL at the same time as 6.0 and 6.1.X will EoL at the same time as 6.1

●      The Major (Short) i.e X.0 release milestones will be shown in the table that summarize End of Life Announcement date (EoL), EoSM and LDOS milestones below.

●      EOL Announcements will only be published for Minor (Long) Lived release i.e X.1.  

●      Example of Long Lived and Short Lived release cadence: EPNM 6.1 Long lived, 6.0. Short Lived.

Table 2 and Table 3 summarizes the End-of-Sale(EoS) and End of Life Announcement date (EoL) milestones for Cisco EPNM Software release (EPNM 6.0, 6.1 ,…)

Table 2.        Cisco EPNM Software End-of-Sale and End-of-Life milestones by Major (Short) Lived Release i.e X.0 beginning with 6.0

Table 3.        Cisco EPNM Software End-of-Sale and End-of-Life milestones by Minor (Long) Lived Release i.e X.1 beginning with 6.1

Table 4.        Cisco EPNM Software End-of-Sale and End-of-Life milestones by Major (Short) Lived Release 6.0

Table 5.        Cisco EPNM Software End-of-Sale and End-of-Life milestones by Major (Short) Lived Release 7.0

Upgrade Paths

Customers are encouraged to migrate to Cisco EPNM’s most recent release when the release becomes available.

Beginning July 2022, as per Cisco Security and Vulnerability policy: https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/resources/security_vulnerability_policy.html Cisco will make commercially reasonable effort to address Critical or High security vulnerabilities in the impacted Cisco Evolved Programmable Manager offering until the date of End of Software maintenance. Security and Vulnerability patches for all active Cisco Evolved Programmable Manager releases (i.e. General Available releases that didn't reach the EoSM) will have a cadence of 6 months aligned with the First Customer Shipment (FCS) of the most current major/minor releases (X.Y).

EPNM Customer’s with an active Cisco EPNM Support contract are eligible to download the latest releases from Cisco Software Download, located at https://software.cisco.com/download/home.

Cisco Services

Cisco offers a wide range of services programs to accelerate customer success. These innovative services programs are delivered through a unique combination of resources, processes, tools, and partners, resulting in high levels of customer satisfaction. Cisco Services help you protect your network investment, optimize network operations, and prepare your network for new applications to extend network intelligence and the power of your business. For more information about Cisco Services, refer to: https://www.cisco.com/go/services.

Support Timelines of Previously Announced Releases

For support timelines of the EPNM v5.0 and v5.1 SW Release: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/cloud-systems-management/evolved-programmable-network-epn-manager/evolved-programable-manager-eol.html

For support timelines of the EPNM v4.0 and v4.1 SW Release: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/cloud-systems-management/evolved-programmable-network-epn-manager/evolved-programmable-manager-eol.html

For support timelines of the EPNM v3.0 and v3.1 SW Release: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/cloud-systems-management/evolved-programmable-network-epn-manager/eos-eol-notice-c51-744627.html

For all EPNM support timelines of previous versions: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/cloud-systems-management/evolved-programmable-network-epn-manager/eos-eol-notice-listing.html

For More Information

For more information about the Cisco EPNM product line visit the following page: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/cloud-systems-management/evolved-programmable-network-epn-manager/index.html or contact your local Cisco account manager.

For information about Cisco service and support programs and benefits, visit: https://www.cisco.com/c/m/en_us/customer-experience/support/software-support-service-swss.html