On Wed, 3 Oct 2012 12:04:38 -0500, Peter Gammage <[email protected]> wrote: >We currently have IBM Mainframe Hardware maintenance through >a 3rd party and are considering options for how we do hardware >maintenance of the next upgrade (z196 or z12 are most likely). >So far have been unable to source hardware support for these >from anyone other than IBM.
According to last year's ruling by the European Commission, IBM are obliged "to make spare parts and technical information swiftly available, under commercially reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, to independent mainframe maintainers." http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/11/1539 It will be interesting to know how this will work out in practice. The EC press release goes on to say "If IBM were to breach its commitments, the Commission could impose a fine of up to 10 per cent of IBM's total turnover without having to prove a violation of EU competition rules." That would be quite a hefty fine. Regards, Roger Bowler Hercules "the people's mainframe" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
