Reminder : Hardware withdrawal of z10 EC and z10 BC

I blogged about this some time ago over here. But I thought a reminder might be in place as the first End of Marketing date is closing in fast now.

This first End of Marketing date is June 30, 2012. Past that date 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. And, really, that's just a couple of months away.

The second End of Marketing date is June 30, 2013. Until then, any microcode upgrade will still be possible.

As we have seen with the z9, unlike the past, IBM has taken a strict policy of adhering to these End of Marketing dates. So, you must really bear in mind that after the dates I just mentioned, nothing will pass anymore. Not even a microcode downgrade.

At first sight, I think that the practical consequences mainly involve connectivity cards and memory. Up to June 30, 2013 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). But if that involves adding memory, which is not that imaginary, believe me, then you must add it before June 30, 2012. And when you have a New Workload project, but you need additional connectivity, you should put in these cards now or it will be too late.

I know, there's a solution for this : upgrading to the zEnterprise. But we know that not everyone is willing or able to take that step yet. So, just in case you plan to stay just a little bit longer on the z10, have a good look at your future planning in order to see whether you have to take any actions now. The entire announcement is over here.