Third-Party Maintenance
Vendor-backed hardware support and parts replacement for a server model after its manufacturer's own end-of-service date.
Third-party maintenance (TPM) providers offer contracted hardware break-fix support, parts replacement, and often monitoring for systems like Power8 after IBM's own support ends. Gartner reports typical savings of 50-70% versus OEM support pricing, with 3-5 (sometimes up to 7) additional years of supported hardware life. TPM does not restore IBM's firmware or operating system patch stream.
Related Terms
End of Service
The date IBM stops providing standard hardware maintenance, machine code updates, and security patches for a given server model.
Power8
IBM's 2014-generation Power processor and server family, spanning the entry S812 through the flagship E880, now fully past IBM's standard end-of-support window.