A New Choice: Third-Party Maintenance. Inquiries Surge from Enterprises and SIers Facing Uncertain Server Lead Times and Budget Overruns due to Memory Shortages

## A New Choice: Third-Party Maintenance. Inquiries Surge from Enterprises and SIers Facing Uncertain Server Lead Times and Budget Overruns due to Memory Shortages

With the global shift toward AI, memory shortages have become severe. Consequently, lead time delays and price hikes are forcing many customers to reconsider their latest server upgrade projects. It is estimated that it will take three to four years to resolve this situation, necessitating mid-term countermeasures.

Meanwhile, the End-of-Service-Life (EOSL) dates for original manufacturer support are approaching as scheduled, posing a critical issue for IT administrators.

In response to these challenges, the third-party maintenance services provided by Datalive Corporation (hereinafter, the Company) are increasingly being chosen as a solution.

### The 'Triple Crisis' Intensifying Behind Generative AI Adoption

Due to the rapid adoption of generative AI, semiconductor manufacturers are shifting production resources toward AI-focused hardware. This has caused a severe global shortage and price surge in memory for standard enterprise servers.

Under these circumstances, IT environments are facing a 'triple crisis,' making replacement with the latest models extremely difficult:

- Uncertain Delivery Lead Times: Even if companies want to order new servers, lead times are not guaranteed, preventing the execution of replacement plans.
- Significant Budget Overruns: The combination of a weak yen, rising commodity prices, and surging component costs has caused equipment acquisition costs to significantly exceed initial projections.
- Imminent Manufacturer Support Expiry: The EOSL deadlines for current machines are already published, leaving IT teams anxious about maintaining equipment they wish to continue using.

Caught between the inability to obtain new machines and the loss of support for current ones, there is a growing need among enterprises to utilize third-party maintenance to extend the life of existing hardware.

### Third-Party Maintenance as the Solution

Third-party maintenance offers a viable path to continue operating current equipment when upgrading to the latest models is difficult.

- Allows continued use of current equipment until delivery dates are confirmed, removing the pressure to prematurely push forward with replacement plans.
- Focuses procurement only on truly necessary items, extending the service life of others to suppress budget burdens while maintaining operational stability.
- Ensures stable operation even after manufacturer support ends, backed by adherence to rigorous service standards and one of the largest inventories of spare parts in Japan.

In this way, third-party maintenance effectively addresses the 'triple crisis'—delivery, budget, and support—enabling the continued use of legacy systems.

### Toward a Sustainable IT Management Strategy

By leveraging third-party maintenance, companies can significantly reassess the massive capital and labor required for unnecessary server replacement. This allows budget to be reallocated to urgent priorities such as next-generation DX verification, equipment migration testing, and counteracting recent security vulnerabilities.

As a specialist provider of third-party maintenance, Datalive uses mainly domestically sourced used parts from major manufacturers to support storage, networking, and server equipment installed in customer data centers. We extend the life of existing systems and optimize the utilization of IT assets in uncertain times.

We advocate 'server life-extension' not merely as a cost-cutting measure, but as a 'strategic option' to protect corporate IT infrastructure and budgets in an uncertain modern era, and we will continue to support Japanese IT management from the ground up.