T.S.S. - Technical Support & Services. GSE z/os SYSTEMS WORKING GROUP

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1 T.S.S. - Technical Support & Services IBM Maintenance on Mainframe Wednesday June 13 th, 2012 System z European Front End - Montpellier Bruno Marsilio - b_marsilio@fr.ibm.com

2 Agenda Wednesday June 13th, 2012 Hardware support structure and solution. Retain overview and RSF benefits. System z specialists organization and competencies. Spare parts logistic.

TSS - European System Support Center Main roles: Influence the "design of products Implement product services and support strategy Monitor product

Hardware Maintenance & problem determination assistance Follow up done with Mop & US Labs Performance / Financial aspects: Monitor and improve service

3 TSS - European System Support Center Main roles: Influence the "design of products Implement product services and support strategy Monitor product performance Education responsible for current and new product Product support / Technical aspects: European Front End Support Technical Support 24/7 Hardware Maintenance & problem determination assistance Follow up done with Mop & US Labs Performance / Financial aspects: Monitor and improve service quality Service offering (study and pricing) Define actions needed to improve products and plan education. Goal : I/T availability and Customer satisfaction

Clients Support Structure for IBM Mainframes Level 1 T=0 Europe and Middle East / Africa ***Client Facing Team *** SSR - Service Support Representative Front End per country Total Solution Support

4 Clients Support Structure for IBM Mainframes Level 1 T=0 Europe and Middle East / Africa ***Client Facing Team *** SSR - Service Support Representative Front End per country Total Solution Support Level 2 24/7 Level 3 24/7 on duty ***Technical Resolution Team*** EFE (Emea Front End ) Montpellier European sites >> VEFE ( Virtual Emea Front End ) PFE (Product Field Engineering) Montpellier Customer Satisfaction Office Level 4 24/7 on duty ***Labs / development*** USA and Germany Quality Management

5 T.S.S. represents high availability and skilled support No longer a "Break and Fix" service but instead, an enhanced maintenance service for maximum availability of your IT system Invest and capitalize on the connection capabilities of the System z, as well as Retain connection via Broadband : Remote Support Facility (RSF) Constant proactive and preventive maintenance, dynamic and robust (RAS). Corrective Maintenance in order to determine a fast and accurate action plan. Quick access to Microcode, to LIC-CC, to CoD

6 ReTAIN (Remote Technical Assistance Information Network) Network used for European Systems z Applies to System z, p, x, DASD, Tapes, Network Mirrored centers. 24x7 availability. Boulder (Colorado) Portsmouth (U.K.) Ehningen (reroute) 35,000 users per month. Hardware & Software problem handling. Alerts, PMR, APAR, product & Ucode information & fixes, service tips. Intellectual capital, applications, tools. Information about Customers Identification, Eligibility, CCPF, etc... Productivity tool to serve our Customers Worldwide knowledge sharing and easy Teamwork

7 Some of the major RETAIN components System z specialist (Remote Support Centre) Remote Support Facility (RSF) (Maintenance agreement only) Acronyms: PMH: Problem Management Hardware PMS: Problem Management Software HSF: Hardware Support Facility TDR: Technical Data Record PAS: Product Application Services CoD: Capacity on Demand FDL: Fix Distribution List TSAD: Transmit System Availability Data R E T A I N PMH / PMS HSF PAS FDL Call management Hardware / Software Technical Data Base Fix and Info (TDR) LIC-CC management CoD orders Microcode management VPD Database Resource Link Vital Product Data TSAD

8 RSF and RETAIN : management tool and microcode support, alerts, errors and hardware problems. Automatic transmission of VPD, TSAD Microcode information (HMC - SE) Centralized Information management Preventive Maintenance facility CUoD / OOCoD / CIU / CBU orders download Activation done by Customer when needed Retain Automatic call for any problem, alerts, customer request Error log transmission to support centers Centralized technical follow up, A/P if needed Automatic Microcode transfer Automatic LIC-CC transfer during repair action The advantages provided by Remote Support Facility are key to availability for systems that are under Maintenance Agreement

RSF Connection for a high availability Regular checking of configuration change and correct status. On a weekly basis, System z connects automatically to Retain and transmit its health check.

During this connection, every configuration change compared to previous week is updated in the VPD database.

9 RSF Connection for a high availability Regular checking of configuration change and correct status. On a weekly basis, System z connects automatically to Retain and transmit its health check. These information, named TSAD, are analyzed by robot and an hardware incident is automaticaly generated in case of error detection. During this connection, every configuration change compared to previous week is updated in the VPD database. Error detection (with or without visible impact) and alert sending When an incident is detected, an automatic PMH is open and sent to the support structure. All associated data are then decoded and formatted by expert systems to be easily interpreted by specialists who are able to create an accurate Action Plan Automatic microcode update (MCLs) download. Every week, System z connect automatically to Retain and collect all microcode updates related to the firmware running in the system. The high complexity of microcode induces a lot of updates and having the latest level installed is a key point for machine reliability. Capacity on Demand (CoD) records download for temporary or permanent upgrade. Customer can plan several temporary upgrades and permanent upgrades in Resource Link. These records Are then sent to Retain and in case of need they can be immediately downloaded via the RSF connection Immediate fetch of the associated LIC-CC during parts replacement. Some parts like PU book, ISC cards memory cards etc need a Licenced Internal Code Configuration Control (LICCC) to set up the requested configuration. Without this code, parts are not operational.

10 T.S.S. represents high availability and skilled support No longer a "Break and Fix" service but instead, an enhanced maintenance service for maximum availability of your IT system Invest and capitalize on the connection capabilities of the System z, as well as Retain connection via Broadband : Remote Support Facility (RSF) Constant proactive and preventive maintenance, dynamic and robust (RAS). Corrective Maintenance in order to determine a fast and accurate action plan. Quick access to Microcode, to LICCC, to CoD Adapt support structures, skills and capabilities of involved people Education : Acquire the highest skill level in all TSS Services support centre. Means : Suitable personnel having access to all known problems and their solutions by way of private Databases, Knowledge Base Systems, unique tools etc

11 T.S.S. Organization and competencies 1/2 T.S.S. => Regions controlled by an international process. One " Front End " per Region Communication in native language First level PD / PSI Hw & Sw One " European Front End " per product line Covers all European countries, M.E and Africa In contact with PE & Laboratories worldwide Montpellier : Systems z Technical Resolution Team Aware of all problems at T0 with logs availability. Goal: 24/7 problem resolution. 30 "Top Guns" Hardware specialists on System z. Continuous Education & workshops and participation in new product tests. Development of specific facilities, Tools, Databases, Web, Expert systems... Escalation to Laboratories at T+4h. Immediate access to the highest level of technical support

12 T.S.S. Organization and competencies 2/2 A skill network spread across EMEA countries. EFE & VEFE structure ( flexibility & performance ) Exchange & communications to resolve Customer problems Collection of the activities and calls by country and unit type. Means of Communication on the Mainframe platform Specific intranet Web site dedicated to IBM technical support people. Situation and Message boards Instant messaging using Lotus Note Sametime / NotesBuddy Interactive European conference call every 2 weeks for technical information and situation status exchange. Monthly worldwide conference call PE RTS : Labs & US support centers, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Australia. Communication and interactive exchange within technical community

13 T.S.S. represents high availability and skilled support No longer a "Break and Fix" service but instead, an enhanced maintenance service for maximum availability of your IT system Invest and capitalize on the connection capabilities of the System z, as well as Retain connection via Broadband : Remote Support Facility (RSF) Constant proactive and preventive maintenance, dynamic and robust (RAS). Corrective Maintenance in order to determine a fast and accurate action plan. Quick access to Microcode, to LICCC, to CoD Adapt support structures, skills and capabilities of involved people Education : Acquire the highest skill level in all MTS Services support centre. Means : Suitable personnel having access to all known problems and their solutions by way of private Databases, Knowledge Base Systems, unique tools etc Ensure a comprehensive spare parts logistic Parts are maintained at the highest level. Stocks have the most powerful components.

14 Parts Logistic WORLDWIDE: 5 Hubs : Mechanicsburg Amsterdam Tokyo Singapore Rio de Janeiro Mechanicsburg Amsterdam Tokyo some figures: Rio de Janeiro Singapore Part numbers to manage. 30 millions moves per year. 5 interconnected hubs 300 main Stocks in 180 different countries Stock inventory accuracy of % 96% parts availability in 58 main countries IBM is the leader in parts logistics within the IT world

15 T.S.S. Parts Support Exclusive Parts Support for T.S.S. Dense network of part locations within Europe (Geographic distribution map) Stock inventory dynamically adjusted according to usage, microcode, etc Some expensive and critical parts are classified as High Technology If no extra part is available in TSS stock, an order is sent through to manufacturing. T.S.S. installs the most powerful component in the product family Provide more spares for the customer Possibility to quickly perform model changes (permanent or temporary) Parts are maintained at the highest technical level Each time a technical improvement is made to a part, this part will be distributed to all European stocks, replacing the down level predecessor. Infrastructure and logistic Every LIC-Enabled part in stock can be identified by their part number (P/N), serial number (S/N) and their internal configuration (LIC-CC). All European stocks are available 24h/24 and 7 days a week. (presence or stand-by) High availability requires huge financial investment.