IBM to abandon support and maintenance for mainframe range

ANALYSTS FEAR that users will be forced to move off their low-end mainframes in the wake of IBM's decision to drop full support and maintenance for more than 60 models by the end of the year.

The move will affect up to 8,000 customers using various models of 9021 and 9121 mainframes, which will no longer receive full support as of 30 June, 2003. From 31 December this year, the same will apply to users of various models of 9221 and 9672 machines. Most run in the five to 10 MIPS range and were shipped before 1994.

For those users wanting to migrate, however, IBM recommends that they jump to a 40 MIPS Z800 OE1, which also runs Linux, or invest in a 10 MIPS second user 9672 machine.

But Phil Payne, managing director of Isham Research, warned: "Moving from a five MIPS machine to a 40 MIPS one will involve a huge increase in software costs. IBM has said that users won't have to pay the higher software charges for four years, but 60 per cent of the software bill comes from third party ISVs, which will say 'you've got a 40 MIPS machine now' and charge accordingly."

Moreover, while maintenance fees for a five MIPS Systems 9221 Model 150 amount to about $625 per month, equivalent charges for a series 0LF 3605 2066 Linux mainframe are approximately $3,171, a huge leap for a small user.

These Linux mainframes "are too powerful for most of the users being orphaned this year," said Payne. "The moratorium on higher software charges applies only to IBM software and is limited to 48 months - enough time perhaps to get off the platform. These IBM customers need a system of appropriate size -- even if given as a gift, a larger system can bankrupt a small company with its software costs."

But Doug Nielson, a system consultant at IBM's enterprise systems group, denied the move would cause users problems because, he said, "we'll continue to supply maintenance and support, but due to the small inventory of these machines, we'll move it from a monthly maintenance fee to a time and materials basis.

"This is business as usual and we're simply using the same withdrawal process that we've been using for 40 years," he added.

For those users wanting to stay with their existing mainframes into the long-term, Nielson recommended purchasing emulation software such as Fundamental Software's Flex/ES, which sits on an Intel-based PC server and emulates 10 MIPS mainframes, from an IBM business partner.

But he said IBM was no longer supplying low-end mainframes because "to get down to 10 to 20 MIPS would be less than cost and we can't get the price point any lower for very small customers".

L'INQ
Isham Research