Third-Party Maintenance (TPM) for Power7, Explained
A mature third-party maintenance (TPM) industry exists specifically to keep legacy IBM Power hardware, including Power7, running with vendor-backed support well after IBM's own end-of-service date. For Power7 operators in 2026, TPM is usually the only realistic way to keep hardware support in place at all.
What a typical TPM contract covers
The critical limitation
TPM keeps the physical hardware running -- it does not and cannot restore IBM's own software and firmware patch stream. On Power7 specifically, that means a TPM contract buys you hardware uptime, but it does nothing about IBM i 7.3's own support trajectory, which ends entirely (even under paid extension) on September 30, 2028.
See our directory of maintenance and sourcing vendors for providers active in the Power7 space, and treat a TPM contract as buying time for a planned migration, not as a permanent alternative to one.
Sources
- https://www.centricsit.com/preparing-for-ibm-power7-going-end-of-service-life-eosl/
- https://www.parkplacetechnologies.com/eosl/family/power/