One item to consider when looking at upgrading to the z9BC or z9EC is whether it is a new buy or an upgrade. When I went from the z900 to the z9BC, it is a new buy and if I went to the z9EC it would be an upgrade. Considering today even in an upgrade what is usually done is a "box-swap" the terminology for Upgrade becomes fuzzy. One strategy for calling things an upgrade versus a new computer has to do with how things are procured and the politics of it all. There is an advantage to the idea this is a replacement box and not an upgrade.
In an upgrade the hardware maintenance usually just continues at either a lower or higher rate. In a replacement buy, the machine generally comes with a 12 month Warranty. You might contend that cost is buried in the cost of the z9BC and I found it not to be true. In the end, the z9BC machines were implemented as additions to the Parallel Sysplex, z900s were withdrawn and with very minimal impact on operations. The coming maintenance charges are less than the z900s when they kick-in. jim ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
