Hardware withdrawal of zEC12, zBC12 and zBX Model 004

It’s become customary by now, the announcement of one system is accompanied by the End of Marketing announcement of the previous generation, in this case the zEC12 and the zBC12 : 'Hardware Withdrawal: IBM zEnterprise EC12, IBM zEnterprise BC12, and IBM z BladeCenter Extension (zBX) Model 004 - some replacements available (ZG16-0021)'

However, it’s a bit more complicated this time because what used to be a two step operation is now somewhat of a three step generation. Remember with the z10 EC and z10 BC or with the z196 and z114.
First there was the End of Marketing of the system itself and all hardware MES upgrades like disruptively adding memory, adding books or I/O cards.
And secondly, a year later, all LIC upgrades like e.g. adding a processor within the same book or drawer, non-disruptively adding memory was ended as well.
This is again the case with the zEC12 en zBC12, except that six months before the first step all delivery of and upgrades to a z12 are no longer possible “for the listed RoHS Jurisdictions”. This includes, I think, most of the European countries. So, this is how the withdrawals go

June 30, 2016 : RoHS jurisdictions

• All Models of the zEC12 and upgrades towards them
• All models of the zBC12 and upgrades towards them

December 31, 2016 : all countries

• All Models of the zEC12 and upgrades towards them
• All models of the zBC12 and upgrades towards them
• Model conversions and hardware MES features applied to an existing zEC12 or zBC12 server

December 31, 2017

• Field installed features and all associated conversions that are delivered solely through a modification to the machine's Licensed Internal Code (LIC)

You know I mentioned before that I thought the End of Marketing for previous generations was quite tight from a customer point of view. Here’s a brief overview.

Click on image for larger version

I also mentioned the zBX 004. Well, as of March 31, 2017 the last zBX Model 004 will have been marketed and no more upgrades from previous models will be possible either. I guess no further comment is needed with regards to the zBX ?

End of Marketing - End of Service

Last week some one asked me the difference between End of Marketing - End of Service and End of Support. Perhaps it's interesting to share that information with you as well.

End of Marketing is the date IBM stops selling a product. This is always announced well beforehand through, yes, the announcements, or as it's also called, the IBM Offering Information Page. Mind you, most of the time, withdrawal of marketing is announced at a feature level. Take e.g. the DS8000, you've seen pass by a lot of announcements regarding e.g. the DS8300. They do not withdraw THE DS8300 all at once. And I must admit, sometimes it's a bit of a puzzle. Can I still order the base frame, an expansion frame, this kind of disks or that kind of adapter. You sometimes really have to dive into the announcements. When you don't find the answer on my blog, that is, of course.

I don't find any real evidence about this but I'm pretty sure End of Service and End of Support are the same. I think the official term is End of Service. This means you can no longer get the official support from IBM for a specific product. A product can mean hardware or software of course.

So, there's a couple of places where you can look for End of Marketing and End of Service information. Officially it's always in the announcements. Allthough I must say that I usually go looking in the 'Sales Manual' which you can also look for on the same Offering Information Page. At the beginning you always find the 'Marketing Withdrawn' and 'Service Discontinued' dates. Be sure, however, to look in the right region. Because there are differences.

There are some pages where you can also find information for specific products.

• z/VM has its own IBM page where you can find a summary.
• z/VSE also has it, but pay attention, it's split into two : there's a page for the supported versions and a page for the unsupported versions.
• Or you can find our latest newsletter. There's always an overview of the latest operating systems as well, including z/OS.
• Another important one is the Support Lifecycle page where you can find lifecycle information for all softwares.
• And there's another document I sometimes refer to where you can find information on the mainframe lifecycles. You can find it on TechDocs.

Because of the Mainframe Lifecycle document I must repeat my caution that you really have to check things for your own region. I had a look at the document and was quite suprised to find out that the z900, the z800 and the z990 were already End of Service as of December 31, 2014. So I had another look at the Sales Manuals only to find out that this was only the case for the North American Region and that for EMEA no End of Service was announced yet !

Reminder : Hardware End of Marketing for z196 and z114

I wrote about this in a previous post along with the announcement of the zBC12, but I think a quick reminder may be in place. Last year IBM announced the two-phase end of marketing dates for the z196 and the z114.

A little recap

• June 30, 2014
  Past this date any upgrades towards a z196 or a z114 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. The practical consequences mainly involve connectivity cards and memory. Up to June 30, 2015 you will still be able to activate that zIIP or an IFL or do a microcode upgrade (as long as you don't need an extra book) or even a downgrade. But if that involves adding memory, FICON- or OSA-cards, which is not that imaginary, then you must add them before June 30, 2014. 

• June 30, 2015
  "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, 2015" meaning that everything which is already in the machine will be able to be activated during the next year like, as I already said, zIIPs, IFLs and Plan ahead Memory.
  Capacity on Demand and CBU offerings will be usable until their expiration date. Something to keep in mind when you're planning to use a z196 or z114 after June 2015.

So, if you are not immediately planning an upgrade and you might have some extra workload(s) in the future, do your planning carefully in order to avoid any unpleasant surprises.