Timothy,
What exactly is the S&S? Is that the question and answer subscription where
you can ask questions of support other than product defect questions? Maybe
you could provide a link to an explanation. Also, it sounds like if you
discontinue the service, you then have to pay for all the time you didn't
have it when you resubscribe. That doesn't make sense. If you don't pay
for it and don't use it, why would you have to pay for all the time you
didn't use it?
I know when I worked at P&H Mining, we often were unsupported for periods of
time. Especially, the last 2 years before they shut down the MVS
datacenter. We never had any problems during those times that required
support, or for us to upgrade before IBM would look at the problem. If you
aren't doing leading edge things, you are usually pretty safe going without
support. One thing though - if you go for 2 or 3 years, and then decide to
keep the MVS datacenter, it will be really hard to catch up. In P&H's case,
the plan was to get off of MVS in 18 months, which they pushed back by 3
months. I thought that was very aggressive, but they did it!
Eric Bielefeld
Sr. z/OS Systems Programmer
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
414-475-7434
----- Original Message -----
From: "Timothy Sipples" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
2. For most vendors (including IBM), if you stop paying for subscription
and support ("S&S" in IBM parlance, sometimes known as "maintenance") on
your One-Time Charge (OTC, known as IPLA software in IBM parlance), you
have a considerable back payment to make when the likely inevitable future
S&S reinstatement happens, and there's usually a significant penalty.
That's a serious financial risk to the city taxpayers and part of the
picture. (My advice: don't end S&S unless and until you stop using the
software.)- - - - -
Timothy SipplesIBM Consulting Enterprise Software Architect
Specializing in Software Architectures Related to System z
Based in Tokyo, Serving IBM Japan and IBM Asia-Pacific
E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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