The term End of service Life (EOL) and End of Support (EOS) are professional terms used by an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) after making a piece of equipment.
This is because the OEM immediately after manufacture creates a series of events that will ultimately lead to the end of production for the product and an introduction of a new one.
The OEM creates the product in such a way that as your IT hardware ages, you will have no option but to upgrade your equipment. This is why you are usually advised to change your hardware every 3-5 years.
In-Depth Understanding Of OEM
OEM is simply a marketing tactic to get you to keep purchasing products because of an assumed need created by the OEM. If this method of getting you to upgrade your product to the new product fails, then your OEM introduces either an End of Service Life (EOL) or end of support.
These methods will force you to get the latest product at their own scheduled time of marketing.
This doesn’t mean that your product is no longer useful; it just means that you OEM has something new to sell.
End of Life and End of support are terms used for all manufactured hardware to bring clarity to this process as used in the IT world. Understanding the specificity of these cycles will help you grasp the lifecycle of the products you buy. This way, you can make smart and cost-effective choices.
End Of Life (EOL) vs. End of Support (EOS)
Here’s to help you better understand the difference between the end of life (EOL) and end of support:
End Of Life (EOL)
Each time you come across the word End of Life (EOL) on your product, you need to understand that it is a term that is used to describe the useful life of your product. After this period, the OEM will stop marketing, selling, or updating that particular item.
End of Life indicates that your manufacturer will soon replace your equipment with a newer generation of the product. So, at this point, your OEM stops manufacturing the current product, thus creating a scarcity of the hardware.
Doing this will cause a significant boost in demand for the newer generation product when launched. When your equipment enters the End of Life (EOL) phase of production, your OEM may still offer you maintenance services for your hardware even after the End of Life phase has long passed. However, this will come at a premium price.
End Of Support (EOS)
End of Support (EOS) for a product is also often referred to as the End of Service Life (EOSL) of a product. It is the final phase of your equipment lifecycle.
This term is used to point out that your equipment’s OEM are planning to bring a complete end to the existence of your hardware.
It goes beyond OEM not selling or manufacturing already out of stock hardware, but they will also terminate the maintenance services they were providing before, thus rendering your device inoperable.
At this point, you will be referred to a third-party service provider who, of course, can still give you all the fast supports that you need, but your OEM will no longer be held responsible for this.
Once the OEM decides to stop supporting a product, it releases an End of Service Life List. This data informs the public about the development and also the rise of a newer generation product.
What This Means For You
Now that you have an idea of the difference between End of Life and End of Support for your hardware, the next thing you need to know is what these two terms mean for you.
First, since you now understand the difference between these two phases in your hardware’s lifecycle, you can make plans to extend the life of your device and save yourself some money.
One of the ways to save money is to always check the end of the service life list before buying a product. That way, you know when the manufacturer will stop offering support, and you can make informed decisions concerning your purchased product.
You would have also noticed that the firmware for that product becomes exceptionally stable when a product enters the End of Life (EOL) phase. It also means that the manufacturer has more than likely discontinued releasing new updates.
Imagine using a product without having to worry about the periodic updates that bugs the hardware and occasionally reduces their usefulness. At this point, the security patch is generally available to everyone, thus saving you OEM service costs.
Besides, you also don’t have to pay their party service provider anymore, once the OEM support services stop providing support because of the stability of your product. It is a cost-effective way that extends your product life, especially if you don’t see a reason to upgrade your product.
If, however, you need an upgrade in service delivery, choosing a third-party service provider can also save you money and give you benefits that are unique to the service provider. You get to have equivalent service level agreements (SLA), expert remote support, and highly skilled consultants.
Conclusion
The significant difference between EOL and EOS lies in the fact that an EOL begins the process of disengagement, whereby the manufacture stops producing, selling, and marketing the product.
An EOS, on the other hand, is the final phase of withdrawal. Here, the manufacturer removes all support and obligation and move on to the latest version of the hardware.
The OEM of your products are going to change your hardware, either you like it or not as they seek to upgrade their product and increase revenues. It is up to you to decide what will be your reaction.
Are you going to keep changing your hardware with each EOS, or are you going to find a way around it?
