Re: Third party maintenance

jim t wrote:

I use to work for a 3rd party maintenance company so can tell you that you would probably not be able to download Microcode ptfs, would have to pay for your O/S release upgrades and of course not be able to call IBM for software support. We actually had a better supply of some parts & disk then IBM did, but if something like the processor or the larger memory simms went then IBM would have a better supply.


Jim

I used to work for SORBUS/Bell Atlantic Business Services/Decision One. Started as a tech and was in tech support before I left. I think you are lumping HW and SW support from IBM into the same bucket. They are separate contracts at least here in the US ( all bets are off out the US ). You can still get a SW Support contract to my knowledge without a HW Support contact. So getting SW support and current releases will not be a problem. Microcode PTFs via SNDPTFORD that's a problem, but I haven't seen any restrictions via Fix Central. It never has asked me for a machine serial number. PTFs with SF( cumes or groups) or SI prefixes are software and SNDPTFORD should work for those with or without SW contract.

Depending on your location will depend on the IBM or other provider's skill set and parts availability. Currently as tech for Business Partner, it's not uncommon for me to assist/guide an IBMer thru upgrades. Repairs are generally pretty simple on today's systems at least on the 550's and down.