Enterprise Computer Services Ltd is calling IBM Corp’s bluff with a vengeance over the rebuilt mainframe memory boards that have been the subject of acrimonious litigation in both the US and Europe over the past 12 months. The Newbury, Berkshire company has launched a set of boards that it says are manufactured to the BS5750 British Standards Institution standard – in contrast to IBM’s boards, which it points out are manufactured to unrecognised proprietary standards. Enterprise reminds us that it is IBM’s claim that third party memory is unable to reach its own manufacturing quality levels. It says that Enterprise boards are built using 100% IBM components, and are stress tested and guaranteed to higher levels than IBM’s own, but are offered at about half the price. IBM refuses to support customers with reworked memory in their machines, but Enterprise will arrange full maintenance and service to buyers of its boards. The company points out that according to IBM statements, IBM-manufactured memory boards may contain up to 1,024 single bit errors on delivery, and are replaced only when this threshold is exceeded. Enterprise on the other hand says its reworked boards are fully tested and are warranted to contain zero single bit errors.
