RE: HP support of IBM Power hardware

Hi,

IBM advertises there PFA. Predictive Failure Analysis.

Migrate to IBM System x
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/x/migratetoibm/compare.html

And I have to acknowledge that is reality, not hype. We do not have the PowerI but the P05 twinax thing, and have gotten calls about a workstation controller that was closed to failure, also a battery, and we saw the IBM fellow in for a short visit the next day or so. I tell the Rochester support people how pleasant that is. I remember the old days on the 36 when we expected a flat crash every 2-3 years.

For all the ups and downs of the iSeries, this is close to phenomenal. Also my non-IBM tech (who handles an older puter at another client) tells me how much easier it is on his end, compared to network server maintenance, and trying to find the right tools to get the right information.

We are missing a lot of flash, but when you run a real business, solidity and uptime is very nice.

It is hard to imagine that .. other than older puters like the 5363 or other early stuff, that there would be much point or savings in non-IBM maintenance. They call in to my puter and do all sorts of proprietary stuff, and do not charge much, afaik. And my understanding is that the maintance on the Power I is much lower. I think we will go there on v. 8 (is there a version 8 planned ?).

On recent puters, how could HP or anybody make a compelling pitch ?

Steven Spencer
Queens, NY

Brad,
I was talking to an IBM BP guy (former IBM Systems Engineer) a few weeks
ago, and he told me that except in the great big shops, there are almost
zero IBM employees doing hardware maintenance anymore.

They've either retired, or were RIF'ed. Many have gone to work for outfits
like HP. The Silverlake product family has gotten so reliable that there's
just no need for a big staff of "mechanics" standing by, not to mention that
most of the moving parts are now customer installable.

Paul Nelson
Office 512-392-2577
Cell 708-670-6978
nelsonp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx


I realize this may sound radical to the iSeries community, but my company is
exploring a hardware maintenance contract change to HP. So this will mean
all the hardware maintenance support functions for our Power5/6/7 systems would
now be handled by HP, not IBM (hardware only). I have my own feelings about
this, and I am sure you all feel the same. Regardless, I am just trying to poll
the community for any other customers who currently use HP for their IBM i
hardware maintenance support. If so, please give me a little feedback relative to
HP's performance vs. traditional IBM hardware support.

Thanks,
Brad