IBM BladeCenter Blade-Chassis Maintenance
side by side.

TechCare TPM vs. TLS / Hardware Maintenance Services. Cost range, EOSL advantages, migration path and DACH compliance at a glance — for IT leadership and procurement.

10–18 % OEM list-price share per year

50–70 % EOSL savings vs. OEM

5–10 % Multi-year discount (3–5 yrs)

One contract for all lines · Fixed price in 48 h techcaresolutions.de

Cost comparison

OEM list-price share approx. 10–18 % of list price per year (mainframe class higher)

Example Power S922 with 4-year HMS 24×7×4: TechCare TPM roughly 35–56% below the OEM price.

EOSL hardware: On EOSL models (Power 7/7+/8, System Storage DS3500/DS5000, older zSeries hardware) 50–70 % savings vs. IBM HMS — IBM mainframe/Power EOSL typically very expensive.

Multi-year contract: 3-year TPM contract: additional 5–10 % discount, 5-year contract: 10–15 %. Plus fixed-price lock against OEM list-price increases.

Active EOSL lines

BladeCenter H / E (Chassis) · EOSL 2021-12-31
Flex System x240 / x440 Compute Nodes · EOSL 2022-12-31
PureFlex System (FSM + Chassis-Topologie) · EOSL 2024-12-31

Which BladeCenter components we service

BladeCenter H (high-performance, 14 bays): BC-H chassis · AMM v1/v2 · PSUs (2900W/2980W) · 10GbE/8Gb FC switch modules · BladeCenter Open Fabric
BladeCenter E (entry, 14 bays): BC-E chassis · 1200W/2000W PSUs · 1GbE switch modules · pass-thru modules
BladeCenter S (SMB, 6 bays + storage): BC-S chassis (6 blade bays + 12 SAS disk bays) · DSM · SMB power config
BladeCenter HT (telco/hardened): BC-HT chassis · NEBS certified · DC power · telco switch modules
Blades (x86 & Power): HS21 · HS22 · HS22V · HS23 · HX5 (4-socket) · LS22 (AMD) · PS700/PS701/PS702/PS703 (POWER6/7)
Switch & I/O modules: BNT 6-port 10GbE · Cisco Catalyst 3110X/3012 · Brocade 8Gb FC switch · Voltaire 4036 InfiniBand · pass-thru modules

EOSL status of BladeCenter generations

Generation	Released	End of vendor support	TechCare TPM
BladeCenter S (BC-S)	2008	2018	Recommended
BladeCenter E (BC-E)	2002-2007	2018	Recommended
BladeCenter HT (BC-HT)	2007	2019	Recommended
HS21 / HS22 x86-Blades	2007-2010	2019-2021	Recommended
HS22V / HS23 x86-Blades	2011-2013	2022-2024	Recommended
HX5 (4-Socket)	2010	2021	Recommended
PS700/PS701/PS702 Power-Blades	2009-2011	2020-2022	Recommended
PS703 Power-Blade	2012	2023	Recommended
BladeCenter H (BC-H)	2006-2014	2024	Recommended

Why TPM maintenance for BladeCenter instead of IBM/Lenovo Maintenance

After the 2014 Lenovo acquisition of IBM's x86 server line, BladeCenter sits in a complex maintenance situation: IBM handles Power blades (PS series), Lenovo the x86 blades (HS22-HS23, HX5) and the chassis. EOL declared 2019. TPM consolidates into one contract.

We stock BC-H/E/S/HT chassis components (AMM, PSUs, fans, backplane), x86 blades (HS21-HS23, HX5), Power blades (PS700-PS703), switch modules (BNT 10GbE, Cisco Catalyst Blades, Brocade FC), and pass-thru modules.

OEM vs. TechCare — where the switch pays off

The full OEM-vs-TPM matrix (spare parts, SLA tiers, language, sub-outsourcing, compliance docs, reporting) is the same for every IBM line — see the IBM battle card.

Stays with IBM BladeCenter

AIX / IBM i / z/OS software licenses + updates
PowerSC / IBM Cloud / Storage Insights subscriptions
IBM TAC software tickets + microcode subscription

Moves to TechCare

Hardware defects (memory, disk, PSU, mainboard, modules)
24×7×4 on-site SLA with German-speaking field service
Spare-parts logistics DACH + global hub network
Fixed-price contract in 48 h, one inventory — one contract

DACH compliance by design.

BAIT/MaRisk documentation package, DORA Art. 28 contract template, ISO 27001 and GDPR-compliant media handling apply identically to every IBM line — details on the IBM battle card.

Migration path from first contact to hand-over.

Same four steps for every IBM line: inventory → fixed-price quote in 48 h → contract (BAIT/MaRisk/DORA hooks) → hand-over with spare-parts provisioning. Details on the IBM battle card.

FAQ on IBM BladeCenter maintenance

Which BladeCenter components do you service?: Complete BladeCenter family: BC-H, BC-E, BC-S, BC-HT. AMM v1/v2, PSUs (1200W-2980W), fans, backplane. x86 blades (HS21-HS23, HX5, LS22). Power blades (PS700-PS703). Switch modules (BNT, Cisco Catalyst, Brocade FC, Voltaire InfiniBand). Pass-thru modules.
What does TPM cost vs. IBM/Lenovo?: For a BC-H with 10 active HS22 blades + 24×7×4, TechCare is roughly 55% below the Lenovo price (if still renewable). BC-S or older HS21 (EOSL): TPM is the only option.
Do you service Power blades (PS700-PS703)?: Yes. PS700, PS701, PS702, PS703 (POWER6/POWER7) in BC-H chassis — including CPU modules, memory DIMMs and mezzanines. POWER Hypervisor and VIOS stay functional. AIX workloads and IBM i continue unchanged.
Can we migrate to Flex System / ThinkSystem during TPM?: Yes. Lenovo Flex System (x240 M5, x440) is positioned as BladeCenter successor; ThinkSystem rack servers (SR630, SR650) as modern alternative. TPM bridges 12-24 months of blade migration.
Spare availability for mezzanine cards (CFFh, CIOv)?: We stock common mezzanine cards (Brocade 8Gb FC CFFh, Emulex 10GbE CIOv, QLogic 8Gb FC, Mellanox InfiniBand). Rare configs verified per site before contract.
Does Open Fabric Manager stay functional?: Yes. BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager (BOFM, for virtual MAC/WWN pooling and boot-from-SAN profiles) stays functional. License check runs locally in AMM.