GENERALWhat is being announced?Avaya, in accordance with its normal commercial policies, is announcing the end of sale of the Avaya S8800 servers with an initial notice date of October 25, 2010 (Revision 1 released November 4, 2010). Avaya S8800 servers will remain available for purchase until June 6, 2011 for those customers wishing to continue to purchase Avaya applications on this hardware platform. This will allow our valued customers up to eight (8) months to transition to the new server platforms.
Beginning in November 2010, Avaya will introduce two replacement servers, the HP� DL360 G7 and the Dell� R610. Avaya applications will begin to utilize these servers on new application releases as indicated on the table below. Note that, in the near term, not all applications will be available on both platforms. Details of the applicable server and application parings will be made available as new application releases are introduced to the market.
Why is Avaya moving towards a Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) strategy?Avaya is moving towards the COTS strategy to provide customers with a number of benefits, including:
- Accelerated customer access to the latest developments in hardware and processing power;
- Reduced cost and complexity in supply chain and field support;
- Reduction in the number of server variations; and
- Continuation of Avaya's "Open and Standards Based" solutions strategy.
Avaya will continue to integrate the necessary components into its applications solutions so that each application is complete and ready for deployment. As such, Avaya will remain the single source of supply for these server solutions for the foreseeable future.
How were the initial server-to-application pairings determined?
Initial server-to-application pairings were based upon a number of factors including:
- The desire to reduce the total number of orderable variations necessary to support Avaya's complete solution suite;
- The requirement to offer customers meaningful server options across the applications; and
- Supply chain factors including forecast volumes and delivery times.
Avaya will expand these server-to-application pairings over time with a view to providing our customers with the greatest possible flexibility.
SOURCING
Can customers source their own HP or Dell servers for deployment with Avaya applications?
No, for the foreseeable future Avaya will remain the single source of supply for Avaya applications shipping on the HP and Dell servers. Avaya will continue to provide complete solutions that have been optimized for each individual application based on the unique requirements of processing power, Random Access Memory (RAM), hard drive capacities, and Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) requirements. This optimization process also ensures that our customers will continue to receive solutions that are easy to install and maintain in the field.
Can customers source their own HP or Dell spares or field replaceable units (FRUs)?
Customers are encouraged to continue to source spares and FRUs directly from Avaya and are reminded that the use of third party parts may void their Avaya warranty.
Will this change in servers result in price changes for Avaya applications?
While Avaya reserves the right to adjust pricing on its solutions in accordance with its normal policies, this specific change in server platforms will not result in any price changes.
SUPPORT
How long will service and support be offered on the S8800 servers?
Firstly, it is important to remember that the S8800 servers will remain orderable until June 6, 2011. Avaya is providing customers with eight (8) months notice of this decision to ensure that customers have the time they need to transition to the new server platforms at a pace that makes sense for their own requirements and current deployments.
After June 6, 2011, Avaya will continue to support the S8800 servers in accordance with our standard support practices. These dates are summarized in the End of Sale section above.
How will this change impact support for my software applications?
The change in servers from the S8800 series to the HP and Dell servers will not impact existing software support. Specifically:
- Customers with existing applications on S8800 servers will continue to be able to upgrade those applications on their S8800 servers even though the new software releases will ship on the HP and Dell server platforms; and
- The change in server hardware does not impact the sale or support of any existing software applications. New software application releases will continue according to their individual program time lines and new releases will continue to be available on the S8800 series servers until June 6, 2011.
DEPLOYMENT
Are there any issues with having a mix of servers in a single network or cluster?
This change in server platforms will have no impact on existing application specific rules associated with having a mix of servers in a single network or cluster.
Are there any issues with type approval and/or localization?
No. Avaya will establish a certificate repository to support customer queries but we anticipate no type approval or localization issues.
If you have further questions or need more information, please contact your CCC Technologies' Representative.
What software company admitted its creations Bob and Clippy were the two most annoying things in computer history?
Greg, the oldest of the Brady boys, formed a singing group called the Brady Six with his brothers and sisters and tried to break into the music business on his own. What name did he use?
This week's update is dedicated completely to a recap of Avaya's recent End of Sale and Support announcements across their entire portfolio of solutions. At CCC, we understand the critical nature of these announcements and the importance of communicating this information to you so that you and your teams have as much time as possible to plan for necessary changes and/or updates.
