1. Introduction › 1.1 Modification Philosophy › 1.1.1 Vendor Product Maintenance and Support

1.1.1 Vendor Product Maintenance and Support

Maintenance for CA MICS is distributed on a semi-annual
basis, through the CA MICS Product Support Program. This
maintenance will enhance CA MICS performance or useability,
or correct problems.  Maintenance we distribute can be
applied to all unmodified CA MICS systems with little or no
impact on the existing configuration.  Some users may not be
affected at all by vendor-supplied CA MICS maintenance, which
may apply to some part of CA MICS your site is not currently
using.

While some of the maintenance may seem unnecessary for your
site, it is to your immediate and long-term benefit to apply
the maintenance to your CA MICS system in a timely manner
(eg. upon receipt).  There are several reasons for this:

    1.  Future maintenance may be based on the premise that
        previous maintenance has been applied.

    2.  It may not be obvious which changes apply to your
        site and which do not.

    3.  As the operating system environment and other system
        monitors are enhanced with new versions, CA MICS is
        also upgraded to process new and reformatted data.

    4.  As you upgrade your operating system environment,
        you are likely to begin using more and more CA MICS
        features.

Before you undertake to modify the CA MICS system, you must
have a good understanding of how vendor-supplied product
maintenance will apply to your modifications.  Thoroughly
read section 3.3 of this manual, and examine the CA MICS
System Administrator Guide and CA MICS Product Support
Program materials in detail.