For mainframe software products, it’s important to keep track of when they are withdrawn from marketing and when service will be discontinued.  This information can be found in a number of ways, but one quick way is to use the following link, enter the IBM product number, and then click on the search result.  The resulting page will show the product’s lifecycle data.

Product Information

For example, enter 5655-M15 in the product number field and then click on the search icon located a few lines up.  When the search entry is returned, click on it and you should see the lifecycle chart.  The document also includes descriptive and technical information about the product – useful for planning purposes.