A concise list of Third Party Maintenance Acronyms

TPM Acronyms Glossary

Like many industries, third party maintenance has its own set of terms and jargon that are well-understood among IT professionals. They aren’t, however, always easily understood among our clients! And almost all of them tend to be in the form of confusing acronyms. Support 24/7 offers this acronyms glossary to serve as a reference for our customers, or simply blog readers, when we fail to remember that such abbreviations are not common knowledge.

AMC

See MMC & AMC below.

CIO

A Chief Information Officer is the company executive that oversees the information technology (IT) needs of a company. However, this doesn’t mean they’re the IT director. In fact, many CIOs are starting to distance themselves from such operational responsibilities. Because technology is increasing and reshaping industries globally, the role of the CIO has increased in popularity and importance.

CTO

The Chief Technology Officer is the individual within an organisation who oversees the current technology and creates relevant policy. A CTO should have the business knowledge necessary to align technology-related decisions with the organisation’s goals.

DCIM

This stands for Data Centre Infrastructure Management. DCIM software is used to monitor, measure, and manage data centres, covering both IT equipment and supporting infrastructure like power and cooling systems.

DR

Disaster recovery is an organisation’s method of regaining access and functionality to its IT infrastructure following a natural disaster, cyber attack, or even human-induced business disruptions.

EOD

End of Development. This occurs during years 6-9 and signals the end of all product development and software/OS updates. OEM support renewal may no longer be available, or is significantly more expensive. At this point TPM or limited OEM support is available.

EOL

Standing for End of Life, this is the period of time between years 3-6 when the manufacturer is no longer producing, marketing, or selling the product in question, but they are offering extended support warranties at an increased rate. At this point both TPM and OEM support is available.

EOS / EOA

This stands for “end of sale” or “end of availability”. As the name suggests, it’s a date after which you’ll no longer be able to purchase the product in question directly from the manufacturer. Though you may still be able to get the product through other third-party vendors, the product itself will no longer be offered from its OEM.

EOSL

This stands for End of Service Life or End of Support Life. This announcement usually occurs during years 6-12+ and signals that the OEM no longer sells, provides updates, or renews support contracts on certain systems. At this point OEM support isn’t available, while TPM can continue supporting most brands of storage, server, and networking equipment.

ETR

The Estimated Time of Repair is the total time taken to recover from a planned or unplanned outage in a data centre. Before formalising data centre availability, SLAs are drafted to include this value into the agreement.

FE

Field Engineers, also known as field service technicians and equipment engineers, are specialist technicians responsible for identifying and resolving issues with client equipment and systems. A field engineer is sent on-site to complete work.

GA

Standing for General Availability, this is the period of time between years 0-3 when new equipment that’s been brought to market by the manufacturer is still under its initial warranty agreement and TPM is not necessary.

HWMA

HWMA stands for Hardware Maintenance Agreement. Sometimes the acronym HMA is also used. A hardware maintenance contract is exactly what it sounds like—a contract for maintenance services for hardware (equipment and devices).

IT

Perhaps overly obvious, IT stands for “Information Technology” and is pronounced “I.T.” It refers to anything related to computing technology, such as networking, hardware, software, the Internet, or the people that work with these technologies.

ITAD

ITAD stands for Information Technology Asset Disposition. The goal of ITAD is to recycle or refurbish retired data centre equipment in a secure way, protecting both the planet and your company’s data in the process

L3

L3, or a level 3 support engineer, is the last line of support and typically consists of a development team that addresses technical issues. They are experts in their domain with many years of technical experience, and can handle the most difficult problems. Tier 3 technicians attempt to duplicate problems and define root causes, using product designs, code, or specifications.

LAN

See ‘WAN and LAN’ below.

MMC & AMC

MMC stands for Monthly Maintenance Cost and AMC stands for Annual Maintenance Cost. Both of these are pretty self-explanatory. Monthly maintenance costs are defined on a monthly basis and annual maintenance costs are defined on a yearly basis.

MSP

A managed service provider is a company that remotely manages a customer’s IT infrastructure and/or end-user systems, typically on a proactive basis and under a subscription model.

NAS

Network-attached storage is a file-level computer data storage server connected to a computer network. This dedicated file storage enables multiple users and heterogeneous client devices to retrieve data from centralised disk capacity.

OEM

This stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer – essentially the company that produced and sold your data centre parts/equipment. Some popular examples include, Dell EMC, HPE, Cisco, NetApp, IBM, or Nimble.

ROI

In terms of data centre equipment, a high return on investment ratio means the investment’s gains compare favorably to its cost.

RMA

A return merchandise authorisation is a part of the process of returning a product to receive a refund, replacement, or repair during the product’s warranty period.

RMM

Remote Monitoring and Management, also known as network management or remote monitoring software, is a type of software designed to help managed IT service providers remotely and proactively monitor client endpoints, networks, and servers.

SAN

A storage area network or storage network is a computer network which provides access to consolidated, block-level data storage. SANs are primarily used to access storage devices (such as disk arrays or tape libraries) from servers so that the devices appear to the operating system as direct-attached storage

SLA

This stands for Service Level Agreement. A service level agreement is an agreement in the form of a contract arranged between the TPM provider and the customer. It outlines the level of service that is to be expected by a customer from the supplier. From most to least responsive, the four most common levels include: 24x7x4, 24x7xNBD, 8x5xNBD, Parts Only.

SMBS

Small and medium-sized businesses are typical TPM customers, and can benefit greatly from third-party data centre support.

SME

An SME is a Subject Matter Expert. A subject matter expert is an engineer that has significant training and experience and often specialises in a particular manufacturer.

SSL

Secure Stocking Location. Much like parts depots, these warehouse sites are located around the world and are used to store replacement parts and spares within 50 miles of a client’s particular location. This cuts down on the transit time for parts making them more readily available when they are needed.

TCO

The total cost of ownership is the purchase price of an asset plus operating costs over the asset’s lifespan. In terms of data centre infrastructure, TCO is a calculation method that determines the overall cost of a product throughout its lifecycle.

TPM

TPM stands for Third Party Maintenance. Within the data centre industry, third party maintenance is an option for hardware support and service offered through a provider that’s not affiliated with the original equipment manufacturer (OEM).Third party maintenance works to extend the useful life of data centre hardware by providing coverage for years after the OEM’s initial warranty has expired.

VAR

A Value-Added Reseller is a company that purchases hardware, software, or other technology products and resells it to end-users with additional offerings bundled in. This practice occurs commonly in the electronics or IT industry, where, for example, a VAR might bundle a software application with supplied hardware.

WAN & LAN

A local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a residence, school, laboratory, university campus or office building. By contrast, a wide area network not only covers a larger geographic distance, but also generally involves leased telecommunication circuits.

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