IBM Business Partner · In-house team in Europe

Third-party support
for enterprise software

We keep VMware environments and SAP infrastructure running when vendors withdraw support. In-house engineers, contractual SLA, no subcontracting.

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Typical savings vs. vendor
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Years in critical infrastructure
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Emergency support available
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Average cost increase post-Broadcom

Products covered

Direct support with in-house engineers. Each product has its own detail page with exact scope, SLA and engagement process.

VMware vSphere Support for vSphere 7 and 8 Incidents 24/7, configuration, hardening, patching and CVE response. Integration with Ceph Storage, PowerVM and external storage.
  • vSphere 7 EOL covered — compensatory patches and hardening
  • 24/7 SLA for high severity with contractual penalties
  • CVE response within 24h for CVSS ≥ 9
  • Migration support to Proxmox, OpenStack or PowerVM
See VMware support SAP Infrastructure Servers, HANA and OS IBM Power, SAP HANA, OS (SUSE SLES, RHEL, AIX), hypervisor, storage, backup and network. Does not replace SAP functional support.
  • IBM Power and PowerVM — IBM Business Partner since 2009
  • SAP HANA, OS and storage with contractual SLA
  • Backup and network included in the same support contract
  • Compatible with SAP ECC extension to 2030 and S/4HANA migration
See SAP support

Vendor support has an expiry date

The dates vendors leave out of their sales decks.

Feb 2024 Broadcom eliminates perpetual VMware licences End of free vSphere Hypervisor edition. Subscription only. Minimum 72 cores per VCF bundle. Perpetual licence customers without official support.
Sep 2025 End of general support vSphere 7 Broadcom stops publishing patches for vSphere 7. Perpetual licence customers without official security coverage.
2026 — Now vSphere 8: last viable cycle with perpetual Moving to vSphere 9 requires mandatory VCF adoption. The alternative is extending vSphere 8 with third-party support while evaluating Proxmox, OpenStack o PowerVM.
2027 SAP ECC 6.0 mainstream end SAP offers a paid extension to 2030. Infrastructure (IBM Power, HANA, OS, storage) requires maintenance regardless of the chosen path.
SIXE Third-party support — no expiry date Dedicated engineers, contractual SLA. You set the timeline. Clients running technology the vendor declared end-of-life for over a decade.

Direct technical coverage

Our engineers work directly on your environment. No outsourcing, no escalating to a Level 3 team who doesn't know your setup.

VMware technical coverage

24/7 incident resolution for VMware vSphere 7 and 8. Configuration, hardening, applicable patching and CVE response. Integration with Ceph, PowerVM and external storage.

End-to-end SAP infrastructure

Support for the infrastructure underpinning SAP: IBM Power, HANA, operating system, hypervisor, storage, backup and network. Without touching SAP functional modules.

Security and patching

Hardening, CVE monitoring and patching without depending on the vendor's calendar. Response to critical vulnerabilities without waiting for the next official window.

How we work

A model designed for environments where engineer rotation and escalation processes are unacceptable.

Dedicated lead engineer A single technical coordination point who knows your environment. Doesn't rotate between accounts. Available via ticketing, phone and video conference.
Contractual SLA by severity Response time guaranteed by contract: 24/7 for P1/P2, extended business hours for the rest. Financial penalties if not met.
In-house team based in Europe Senior engineers on staff, no subcontracting. We operate in English, Spanish and French. On-site intervention capability if needed.
Direct coordination with your team No intermediaries. Shared ticketing, periodic reports and quarterly review sessions. You always know what's happening and who's doing it.

Proactive security

Third-party support isn't just about resolving incidents. It includes maintaining the environment at a security level the vendor no longer guarantees.

Proactive hardening

Hypervisor, network and storage hardening per CIS Benchmarks and NIS2. Attack surface reduction without waiting for an incident.

CVE response

NVD monitoring and vendor advisories. Mitigation plan within 24h for critical vulnerabilities (CVSS ≥ 9).

Environment patching

OS, hypervisor, database and network patched in agreed windows with your team. Documented rollback for each change.

Compliance

Alignment with NIS2, Cyber Essentials and PCI DSS for infrastructure. Audit evidence, configuration reports and change logs.

Why SIXE

We are not a third-party support aggregator. We are an engineering firm based in Europe, with an in-house team and over fifteen years of production experience with IBM Power, VMware and SAP. Unlike large global providers, our engineers are based in Europe, know your environment from day one and don't rotate across hundreds of accounts.

IBM Business Partner since 2009
Technologies we support
VMware vSphere IBM Power AIX SAP HANA SUSE SLES Red Hat Ceph Storage Db2 PowerVM Proxmox OpenStack Kubernetes VMware vSphere IBM Power AIX SAP HANA SUSE SLES Red Hat Ceph Storage Db2 PowerVM Proxmox OpenStack Kubernetes
Sectors
Industry Public sector Professional services Telecommunications Education
IBM POWER x86 HYPERVISOR vSphere PowerVM Proxmox OPERATING SYSTEM RHEL SLES AIX IBM i SAP ECC / S/4HANA Critical workloads Backup / Storage SIXE THIRD-PARTY SUPPORT
Full stack, single contract

Everything that underpins
your operation, covered

The third-party support SIXE provides covers the complete infrastructure in a unified contract. No escalating to a different vendor for each layer.

  • Hardware — IBM Power and x86 Monitoring, firmware incidents and hardware vendor coordination.
  • OS — RHEL, SLES, AIX, IBM i Patching, hardening and incident resolution across all operating systems in the stack.
  • Hypervisor — VMware, PowerVM, Proxmox Configuration, CVEs and 24/7 support for the hypervisor, regardless of vendor.
  • Storage, backup and network Ceph, external storage, network and backup included in the support contract, no add-on modules.

Service scope

Transparency about what we cover and what we don't. Clarity in the contract prevents misunderstandings in production.

Included
24/7 VMware vSphere incidents with contractual SLA
Complete SAP infrastructure (Power, HANA, OS, hypervisor, storage, backup, network)
Proactive hardening and CVE response
Migration support to Proxmox, OpenStack o PowerVM
Periodic status, configuration and risk reports
Not included
SAP kernel patches or access to SAP Notes
Functional development on SAP modules (FI, CO, MM...)
Physical hardware maintenance outside vendor warranty
Replacement of official support when it remains the appropriate choice

Frequently asked questions

Is it legal to operate without official vendor support?
With a perpetual VMware vSphere licence (or any other software) you have the right to run it indefinitely. The licence does not expire when vendor support ends. SIXE provides the technical support to keep it operational and secure without official support. Common practice among organisations of all sizes that manage their own migration timelines.
How are security patches managed without access to the vendor portal?
For VMware vSphere: patches published before EOL remain applicable. We also apply additional hardening and mitigations for subsequent CVEs. For SAP infrastructure: the OS (SUSE SLES, RHEL, AIX), hypervisor, database and network receive patches from their vendors independently of the SAP cycle.
How does it differ from vendor support or a global third-party support provider?
Unlike vendor support, the engineer doesn't rotate, the SLA is negotiated to your actual criticality and we cover the full stack in a single contract. Unlike large global third-party support providers (with operations centralised outside Europe), SIXE has its technical team based in Europe, operates in English and can intervene on-site. Official support only covers the vendor's own product and closes tickets with "upgrade to the next version".
What savings can I expect?
According to Gartner, average savings with third-party support are 50% over official costs. With VMware post-Broadcom, the increase has been 3 to 5× for many organisations. Calculate your scenario with our TCO calculator.
Can you return to official vendor support?
Yes, with conditions. To reactivate official VMware/Broadcom support the vendor will likely require a licence audit. SIXE helps assess these conditions before any decision is made. Third-party support doesn't burn any bridges if managed correctly.
Is this only for large enterprises or also for SMEs?
For both. It makes sense from environments with 3-4 ESXi servers on perpetual licences up to infrastructures with dozens of nodes. Cost is sized to the actual environment. Let's talk about your specific case.
Next step

No-commitment assessment

We review your environment, calculate the real savings scenario and tell you whether third-party support fits your case. No generalisations: real environment, real numbers.

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