Hardware withdrawal : z10 EC and z10 BC

Next to the announcement of the z114 there were still some other announcements too. I'll try and cover some of them in the next few days that stand between now and my holiday. First there's the announcement that z10 EC and z10 BC will be withdrawn from marketing : 'Hardware withdrawal: IBM System z10 EC, IBM System z10 BC, and a selected IBM zEnterprise 196 feature - Replacements availabe (ZG11-0116)'.

We've seen the same with the z9 last year and we've also seen that (to my knowledge) for the first time 'withdrawn from marketing' really meant what it said. We haven't done any upgrades after June 30, 2010. This used to be somewhat different in the past.

Now, it happens in two phases. As of June 30, 2012 any upgrades towards a z10 EC or a z10 BC will no longer be possible. Nor will you be able to do any model conversions or hardware MES features. Roughly speaking this means that any upgrade which involves hardware changes will no longer be possible.

"Field install features and conversions that are delivered solely through a modification to the machine's Licensed Internal Code (LIC) will continue to be available until June 30, 2013" meaning that everything which is in the machine will be able to be activated during the next year. E.g. you will be able to add a zIIP to a z10 EC E12 if there are still engines available in that book, you will no longer be able to add a book. After June 30. 2013 nothing will pass any more.

One point of attention : Capacity on Demand offerings will be usable until their expiration date. Something to check when you're planning to use a z10 after June 2013.