This has nothing to do with the end of life of the 3466. IBM always has
this type of program going; the purpose is to get more customers to buy
a new product. This is just a way for IBM to increase their revenue.
This past year they have had incentives for customers to migrate from
the 3590 B and E drives to 3590 H drives, but this does not mean that
IBM will drop support for the 3590 B & E drives in the near future.

So far, IBM has only announced end of service for the 3466-b02 and
3466-B03. End of service will be June 30, 2003. They have not published
end of service dates for the other models and they still market the
3466-C01.

Do not confuse a marketing program to get a new product into the market
place with the end of service announcement. Once they do announce end of
service they will typically give at least a 1 year warning.

I work for an IBM BP, we see these removal/replacement programs all the
time, and they have not been tied to end of service announcements in the
past.

Adolph


-----Original Message-----
From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU] On Behalf Of
Talafous, John G.
Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2002 9:51 AM
To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Subject: Re: 3466 End-of-Life

IBM U.S. announcements:

Item    Date     Description

302-048 20020402 Modification: IBM Storage Machine Removal Program
102-165 20020611 IBM 3466 Model Conversions Enhance Flexibility
302-124 20020702 Modification: IBM Storage Machine Removal Program
302-216 20021105 Modification: IBM Storage Machine Removal Program

Check it out. As early as April 02, 2002 IBM has been including all 3466
models in their Storage Machine Removal Program.  Problem is, I didn't
pay
very much attention to the Storage Machine Removal Program
announcements.
But even if I would have noticed, there has been no formal announcement
of
end of life.

Yet...

jt



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