Thank you Mark. This is directed at IBM - Auditors do not care tuppence whether a product is 'stable'. If a product is used to support a production workload they expect it to be *supported*. An auditor's reaction will vary from an 'observation' that an unsupported product is being used, to a recommendation that use of the product be discontinued. In a business environment where auditors' reports can cause a company to lose a contract, no one can afford to use unsupported software.
Ian Jones UKOSG - Infrastructure Specialist EDS ITO - UK mainframe Software Services 4 Roundwood Avenue Uxbridge, UB11 1BQ Phone: +44 (0)20 8754 5636 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.mainframe.uk.eds.com -----Original Message----- From: Gillis, Mark [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 19 June 2006 22:24 Subject: Re: RES: VSE/VSAM for VM I received the following reply from Gerhard Zierl from IBM in April: "...The news is that after assessing the situation the product stays withdrawn from market. Toady VM/VSAM is used in very stable environments by customers who have the product already licensed and installed for a long time, IBM hasn't seen new customers to this product for a long time. Therefore we do not see any problem associated with the withdrawal from market.. z/VM 5.2 customers can use their old VSAM distribution tape which they have received with their current version of z/VM. Same is true for end of service. The last APAR was 2001 (more than 5 years). Before that there was one (new function) APAR in 1999 and 2 defect APARs in 1996. VM/VSAM is a very stable product. In addion VM/VSAM is used by customers in mature and stable environments, no new applications, no major changes, etc... I would assume the same applies to your product. So the risk of encountering a severe problem is extremely low. In case customers decide they have a critical need to have service beyond the EOS-date, then there is in general an option to ask IBM for a charged service extension agreement." Mark.
