from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
Plug Compatible Manufacturer
<company> (PCM) A manufacturer of equipment that some other
manufacturer's system can identify and work with. The PCM's
device replaces the original manufacturer's.
Most PCMs competed with {IBM}. PCM devices normally offer a
cost-performance benefit over the original device. For
example, several PCM versions of the {Direct-Access Storage
Device} {IBM 3350} offered twice the storage and improved data
access (dual port).
Plug compatible devices include replacement {CPUs}, such as
the {Hitachi 7/90} series (which could be substituted for {IBM
3090} series processors), {I/O} subsystems, and {dumb
terminals} like the {IBM 3270}.
[Used outside mainframe market?]
(2003-06-24)