Glossary

Third-Party Maintenance (TPM)

TPM

Hardware maintenance and support provided by a company other than IBM, typically used for hardware past IBM's own end-of-service date.

Third-party maintenance (TPM) is a hardware support contract from a company other than IBM, covering parts, field service, and response-time SLAs. For Power5 hardware, now years past IBM's own standard support, TPM is the only route to a formal hardware maintenance contract while planning a migration.

Related Terms

End of Service (EOS / EOSL)

The date IBM stops offering standard hardware maintenance for a given system, after which factory parts, contracted field service, and firmware updates are no longer available through IBM directly.

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