Frequently Asked Questions

Universal Customer Agreement and XaaS

Why do I need new contract terms when I want to purchase Software-as-a-Service offerings or offerings identified as 'XaaS' from Siemens?

Our EULA (End User Licence Agreement) and any previous versions of our master software licence agreements do not cover use of cloud services. As a matter of fact, software licence
agreements lack the essential regulations which are important to you. For example, software licence agreements do not protect the data that customers upload to our online systems. Also, since many subscriptions to Siemens Xcelerator offerings comprise a combination of installable software and cloud services in a single subscription, it is essential that customer agreements with us govern those in a concise manner.

What exactly is the Universal Customer Agreement?

The Universal Customer Agreement (UCA) simplifies our contractual relationship with each
customer. It is DI SW’s new base agreement. As far as possible, the UCA uses the same language as used in our EULA. It is future proof and makes future purchasing easy. The UCA represents the general terms and conditions for our entire portfolio – software, hardware, cloud services, maintenance, professional services and other services. When a customer enters into this agreement, they will not need to worry about base terms again. Items such as warranty, limitation
of liability, IP indemnification, confidentiality and governing laws will be established for any future purchase you make, including yet-to-be-released products. As is the case today, orders will be complemented by Supplemental Terms for certain portfolio and use cases, but product lines which previously required an entirely separate agreement, like Mendix, MindSphere and other cloud services can now be ordered seamlessly under the UCA. The UCA minimises the
amount of paperwork needed to purchase various products from across DISW’s portfolio. It is a great opportunity to settle on the foundational contract terms and focus on the value of the Siemens solutions for your business in the future.

I have an old master software licence agreement in place with SISW. Can it be amended to cater for all of DISW’s cloud services portfolio?

If we did that, you would end up with a highly complex and convoluted agreement. Creating an amendment to your old software licence agreement would be an enormous effort for both parties, and it would only lead to an agreement so complicated that it required continuous manual touch and expert attention for any business transaction in the future. It would not be a scalable and sustainable solution. As you can imagine, the scope of many clauses in your existing agreement would have to be specifically enhanced to also include cloud services, whereas other sentences in your existing agreement would have to be excluded from use in relation to cloud services. For example, Siemens provides cloud services on a continuous basis for the entire duration of your subscription term. You would not want cloud services to be subject to a 90-day warranty as of the date the services have been made initially available
(as provided for downloadable software). The solution is to transition to our new Universal Customer Agreement. It simplifies our contractual relationship. The UCA is future proof and makes future purchasing easy.