IBM Storage & Flash Maintenance

Protect Your IBM Storage Investment

Your storage infrastructure sits at the heart of your business. Whether you're running mission-critical databases, virtualised workloads, IBM Power Systems or enterprise backup environments, reliable storage maintenance is essential to keeping your business operational.

Baby Blue provides specialist IBM Storage & Flash Maintenance for organisations running both the latest IBM storage platforms and older systems that continue to deliver excellent performance.

Whether you require genuine IBM Hardware Maintenance with firmware entitlement or a cost-effective Third Party Maintenance solution for systems beyond IBM's support lifecycle, we'll help you find the right approach.

As an IBM Business Partner with extensive experience across IBM infrastructure, we understand how important storage availability is to your business.

Supporting IBM Storage Technologies Old and New

IBM has developed some of the world's most trusted enterprise storage platforms. We support many of the technologies still deployed across UK businesses.

Current IBM Flash Storage

• IBM FlashSystem C200
• IBM FlashSystem C400
• IBM FlashSystem 5300
• IBM FlashSystem 5500
• IBM FlashSystem 7300
• IBM FlashSystem 9500
• IBM DS8910F
• IBM DS8950F

Previous IBM Storage Platforms

• IBM Storwize V7000
• IBM Storwize V5000
• IBM Storwize V3700
• IBM SAN Volume Controller (SVC)
• IBM FlashSystem 900
• IBM FlashSystem V840
• IBM FlashSystem A9000
• IBM FlashSystem A9000R
• IBM XIV Storage System
• IBM ESS
• IBM DS8880
• IBM DS8870
• IBM DS8800

IBM Tape Libraries

We also provide maintenance for IBM tape infrastructure including:

• IBM TS4500
• IBM TS4300
• IBM TS3500
• IBM TS3400

If your IBM storage platform isn't listed, please contact us. Our specialists support a wide range of IBM storage technologies.

IBM OEM Hardware Maintenance

As an IBM Business Partner, Baby Blue can provide genuine IBM Hardware Maintenance for supported IBM storage systems.

IBM Hardware Maintenance gives you access to:

• IBM certified engineers
• Genuine IBM replacement parts
• IBM firmware updates
• IBM Microcode updates
• Technical support
• Hardware diagnostics
• Manufacturer-backed service
• Flexible service level agreements

Keeping firmware and Microcode current helps improve stability, reliability, security and compatibility while ensuring your storage platform continues to perform as IBM intended.

Returning from Third Party Maintenance to IBM

Many organisations move to Third Party Maintenance to reduce support costs once their storage systems have matured.

While this can provide significant savings, some businesses later find they require access to IBM firmware or Microcode updates to support upgrades, security improvements or compliance requirements.

Baby Blue can help you return to IBM Hardware Maintenance where appropriate.

We'll assess your existing environment, explain the available options and guide you through the reinstatement process where available, helping you regain access to IBM firmware and ongoing manufacturer support.

Third Party Maintenance for Older IBM Storage

Not every storage platform needs replacing simply because IBM has reached the end of its standard support period.

Many IBM storage platforms continue to provide excellent reliability long after manufacturer support ends.

For older systems, Baby Blue can provide Third Party Maintenance solutions that help organisations:

• Extend the useful life of existing infrastructure
• Reduce annual maintenance costs
• Delay capital expenditure
• Continue supporting business-critical workloads
• Plan future upgrades at their own pace

Whether you're running Storwize, XIV, SVC, DS8000 or other legacy IBM storage, we'll recommend the most appropriate support solution for your business.

More Than Storage Maintenance

Maintaining storage infrastructure involves more than replacing failed hardware.

Our IBM specialists can also assist with:

• Firmware planning
• Microcode management
• Storage Health Checks
• Capacity planning
• Performance optimisation
• Storage upgrades
• SAN design
• IBM Power connectivity
• Disaster Recovery planning
• Backup infrastructure
• Tape library support
• Storage migrations
• Professional Services

By combining maintenance with consultancy, we help ensure your storage environment continues to support your business as it grows.

Why Choose Baby Blue?

Baby Blue combines IBM expertise with practical, independent advice to deliver storage maintenance solutions that meet your operational and commercial requirements.

Customers choose us because we provide:

• IBM Business Partner expertise
• IBM OEM Hardware Maintenance
• Third Party Maintenance
• IBM storage specialists
• Flash and SAN expertise
• Firmware and Microcode planning
• Professional Services
• Independent advice
• UK-based technical expertise
• Flexible maintenance options

Whether you operate a single FlashSystem appliance or a complex multi-site storage estate, we'll work with you to develop the right maintenance strategy.

Looking to Upgrade or Expand Your Storage Environment?

As your storage requirements grow, it may make more sense to upgrade or replace your existing platform than continue investing in ageing infrastructure.

Baby Blue supplies both new and refurbished IBM Storage and Flash solutions, helping organisations modernise their environments while protecting existing investments wherever possible.

From additional capacity and flash upgrades through to complete storage refresh projects, our specialists can help you identify the right solution for your business.

Need IBM Storage or Flash Maintenance?

Whether you're looking for genuine IBM Hardware Maintenance, Third Party Maintenance for older storage systems or simply independent advice on the most appropriate support strategy, our IBM specialists are ready to help.

We'll help you maximise the life of your storage investment while ensuring your business remains secure, supported and resilient.