RE: Software Subscription Question

1)              I can't answer for sure on the software subscription
commitment as rules differ in US and Canada, but I believe you are
correct.  You don't have to commit for at least 30 days after installing
V4R2 - but it does make things easier to order the              Software
Subscription with your V4 software order.
                        Below is an excerpt from US announcement letter
398-041:

Selected AS/400 (R) software program products and application
development tools were not re-versioned from Version 3 Release 7
(V3R7) to Version 4 Release 1 (V4R1) in August 1997. Therefore, the V3R7
level of these products was shipped from IBM along
with the V4R1 level of OS/400 (R). These products were re-versioned with
Version 4 Release 2 (V4R2) and, therefore, have
associated software upgrade charges. This offering waives those upgrade
charges for eligible V4R1 to V4R2 upgrades. For a V4R2
software upgrade to qualify for this offering, V4R1 must have been
ordered on or before February 9, 1998, OR the Date of
Installation, as defined in the IBM Customer Agreement, must have
occurred on or before February 27, 1998. 

Your order for the Version 4 Release 2 software upgrade must be placed
on or before September 1, 1998. The Date of Installation,
as defined in the IBM Customer Agreement, of the upgrade to V4R2 must
occur on or before September 30, 1998. 
                

2)      You were always entitled to V4R2 OS/400 at no charge, upgrading
from V4R1, regardless of when you installed V4R1.       Yes, you had
V4R1 installed prior to V4R2 so you should get all the V4R2 LPP's that
were still at V3 for no charge.
        You had V4R1 installed prior to 98/02/27 so you should get the
V3 to V4 LPP charge waived (as noted above in #1).
        For anyone who DIDN'T have V4R1 installed before 98/02/27 the
following should apply.
                Below is an excerpt from US Announcement Letter 298-139:

Transition to IBM Software Subscription for AS/400

Version 4 Release 1 and Release 2 Transition: Customers with V4R1 or
V4R2 licensed programs ordered by June 30, 1998: 

    Beginning July 1, 1998, Version 4 customers must order IBM Software
Subscription for AS/400 to obtain Version 4 or later
    updates. Through June 30, 1998, Software Subscription for AS/400 is
not a prerequisite for V4R1 customers upgrading to
    V4R2. 

    Upon your initial subscription, you will not be subject to a
Currency Access Fee if you order Software Subscription for
    AS/400 before July 1, 1999. 

Periodic (Monthly) Charge: If you choose the Periodic Charge option in
1998, your 1998 payments will be waived and 1999 charges
will begin January 1999. 

Prepay Option: You will note significantly lower charges during 1998.
This is an incentive to help you plan for the transition to
Software Subscription. Standard 1999 prices are announced to aid in your
planning. 

        So although 298-139 says you should get the V3 to V4 LPP charge
waived, this appears to imply you must sign up for      Software
Subscription to get the V4R1 toV4R2 OS/400 upgrade.
        HOWEVER -  it appears if you sign up now for the monthly deal
you won't make any payments until 1999.


3)      You must take advantage of the "free V3 to V4 LPP for customers
with V4R1 installed prior to Feb 27th offer" by end of  September, so
that's correct.  You still need to take Software Subscription to get
V4R3 and any future upgrades, so 
        that's part is correct too.
        If you DON'T take advantage of the "free for V4R1 users before
98/02/27" deal, then you can install V4R2 whenever you  want (there is a
15% discount available for the upgrade to V4R2 that I believe expires in
December) but you still need
        to sign up for Software Subscription for any future upgrades.
And if you don't sign up within a limited time (probably the    30 days
we discussed) of installing V4R2, you will then be hit with a fairly
substantial "currency access fee" when you 
        do sign up for Software Subscription.  So, you're going to have
to sign up anyway, and you may as well do it now to     avoid forgetting
and being hit with the "currency access fee" when you finally get around
to it.

        IBM (Canada & US, and probably elsewhere) are waiving the
monthly Software Subscription charges until 1999, so in         effect
you can sign up for the monthly deal and get the rest of 1998 for free.
For anyone prepaying for a longer term,         there's a substantial
discount for signing up now (1998).


You can search for announcement letter detail for US at:
http://www1.ibmlink.ibm.com/cgi-bin/master?xh=wxvtGvr3rOcLTT0USenGnI9332
&request=text&parms=mainPage.txt&xhi=&xfr=F

Or go to http://www.ibmlink.ibm.com/ and select IBMLink for United
States, then select Announcements.
Try "V4R2" in search words.
Look specifically at letter numbers: 398-041, 298-139, 398-128 (replaced
398-092), 398-046.




Neil Palmer                                AS/400~~~~~      
NxTrend Technology - Canada   ____________          ___  ~     
Thornhill, Ontario,  Canada   |OOOOOOOOOO| ________  o|__||=   
Phone: (905) 731-9000  x238   |__________|_|______|_|______)   
Cell.: (416) 565-1682  x238    oo      oo   oo  oo   OOOo=o\   
Fax:   (905) 731-9202       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
mailto:NPalmer@NxTrend.com    AS/400  The Ultimate Business Server      
http://www.NxTrend.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alan Pruitt [SMTP:AlanPruitt@kemet.com]
> Sent: Thursday, July 30, 1998 10:06 AM
> To:   MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
> Subject:      Software Subscription Question
> 
> I am still confused about upgrade to 4.2 with Software Subscription.
> Probably Al Barsa could answer this or if any one else knows.  We
> installed
> 2 new AS/400's in January of this year and upgraded from Version 3.2
> to
> Version 4.1.
> Question 1:
> Now I want to install version 4.2.  My local rep is telling me that I
> have
> to commit to software subsription before they can place the order.  My
> understanding is that I have 30 days after placing software order.
> 
> Question 2: Since I had Version 4.1 installed before 2/28/98, don't I
> get
> 4.2 without having to pay the upgrade charges on the products still at
> V3R2
> level.  This is my understanding of an offer that IBM had.  My rep is
> telling me that this program went away when software subsrciption was
> announced.
> 
> Question 3. My local rep is telling me that if I don't have V4R2
> installed
> by Sept 30, 1998 then I will have to pay the upgrade charges of the
> V3R2
> products to Version 4, and still have to pay for software subsription.
> Is
> this correct?
> 
> What I wanted to do way wait until dec 98 to commit to software
> subscription, but the Sept 30 date will cost me a lot of money if I
> let it
> pass.  Approx 60 K.  Since this is new we did budget for FY98 and I am
> attempting to make the best financial choice.
> 
> TIA for any help in understanding software subsrciption.
> 
> 
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