Legacy systems repair and maintenance: the IBM AS/400
The dawn of the information age has brought with it a number of new challenges to small businesses for computer repair and system maintenance. One of these is the legacy system, a phrase that applies to hardware as well as software. As technology advances, systems that were state of the art when purchased will inevitably become out of date. Ideally, businesses would have the most advanced technology at all times, but this is rarely the case for small businesses, which must be strict with costs.
SMBs are often faced with the challenge of keeping a legacy system in good repair long after the system can no longer be purchased new. Unfortunately for these cost-conscious businesses, the company that produced the system may have a vested interest in seeing it fall by the wayside, since that can open up the route to a new sale. Being asked to invest large sums into a new system instead of relatively smaller sums into maintenance and repair is clearly not ideal for small businesses.
In this situation, one excellent solution is for SMBs to rely on third-party repair services with experience and expertise in dealing with legacy systems such as the IBM AS/400, a computer first introduced in the late 1980s. The IBM AS/400 quickly revolutionized the world of small business. Almost 500,000 units were sold by the time the system was phased out in the year 2000 in favor of IBM’s eServer iSeries.
In some cases, maintaining a legacy system such as the IBM AS/400 is feasible only through a third-party repair firm. An OEM, of course, can designate a date as the EOSL, or end of service life, which represents an end to any commitment to keeping a legacy system running. An independent third-party repair company is the most viable option at this point. Such a company will have no vested interest in upselling an SMB to another system, and, of course, they will have no reason to discourage repair.
Access to a reliable third-party repair firm can mean that a legacy system, much like the Energizer Bunny of years past, can keep going and going and going.
Contact Great Lakes Computer today for information about our detailed and customized preventative maintenance and repair plans.
