Since debuting in 2010, Power7 has gained and maintained popularity as a reliable workhorse for many organizations in a variety of business applications. But the reality remains that manufacturers measure their support window in “dog years,” so these senior citizens are being cast aside by their maker. Even though users have been given two years’ notice to prepare for this day, the unpredictable and shifting priorities of today have a way of taking precedent—until that fateful day looms on your calendar.
Do you have an EoSL Plan in Place?
So, do you have a plan in place for what to do on Sept. 30th? IBM, of course, since the initial End-of-Support Life (EoSL) announcement has repeatedly suggested that all affected migrate to the newer Power8 or Power9 systems “as soon as possible.” While that may sound easy, I&O staffers know upgrades are a hassle. They create disruptions as well as come with potential downtime and require additional training. For CIOs and CFOs, such a move requires a substantial hit to capex and opex. Frankly for some, the higher processors in the Power8 or Power9 may be costly overkill.
What if there was a way to extend the asset lifecycle of your viable Power7 gear? Would you be interested? Something to think about, right? This would allow postponing the technology refresh until the timing was right and the funds were available. So perhaps what you need is a better plan—one that won’t require rocking the boat until you need or want to.
Consider Independent Third Party Maintenance
With this important EoSL date, isn’t it time to consider independent third-party maintenance (TPM)? Curvature is recognized as the top provider of TPM for all kinds of data center, networking and storage solutions. By moving to TPM, Curvature keeps an eye on your Power7 gear today so you can focus on tomorrow. As the largest independent provider of IBM maintenance, we take support and responsiveness to levels that far exceed what you are used to from manufacturers.
In addition to flexible contract terms that include mixing and matching service levels, expect faster call-to-dispatch times and responses from expert in-field engineering teams, including Level 3 certified engineers for triage situations. Curvature also offers call-home monitoring like manufacturers do.
Thanks to our long history supporting IBM gear, Curvature has a huge internal library detailing all system intricacies. Our portfolio of IBM maintenance offerings includes zSeries, pSeries, iSeries, xSeries and Netezza as well legacy systems such as the AS/400 and RS6000.
By extending the lifecycle of viable gear, Curvature helps reduce total cost of ownership to generate a larger return on your IT investments. At the same time, TPM provides savings on maintenance and support of at least 50%. While the windfall should reduce the pain coming on Sept. 30, the peace of mind from Curvature’s promise to support the product as long as parts are available is priceless.
Read more about Curvature’s IBM Support:
• Why Choose Curvature for IBM pSeries & iSeries Support?
• Why Choose Curvature for zSeries support?
