Month: May 2022

New Nav for i Brings New Stuff to You  IT Jungle

Today, organizations use the IBM AS400 systems, now known as IBM iSeries, to run critical business activities. For example, they can manage business processes such as enterprise resource planning, general ledger, client maintenance, pharmacy benefits, blockchain solutions, and inventory management. There have been few temptations to modernize what has worked for years in these vital … …

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The PTFS for the two new Technology Refreshes:

IBM i 7.4 TR6IBM i 7.3 TR12

Are now able for download as PTFs from IBM Support website. And do not forget to get the PTFs for RPG and Database (SQL) as they are seperate from the TR PTFs.

Start planning to download these into a test partition, and get ready for the testing process to validate your applications with these TRs. Don’t forget the database (SQL) and RPG PTFs come separately.

<whispers> It might be time to get the latest CUM PTFs to ensure you get all the available PTFs for your release </whispers>

The purpose of this is to highlight four major trends that affect all us. While some my tease me about having the gift to state the obvious, some may find my look ahead with interest. Let me know what you think. 

Disclaimer: IBM i is an operating system. iSeries and AS400 are servers. I use these terms interchangeably to make it easy for folks to find this kind of information on the web.

We live in interesting times.

We are coming out of the Covid lockdown. In my lifetime, I have never experienced a pandemic. I have never seen world countries with such restrictions to contain this virus from spreading. I have never seen country and local governments compel restrictions. These steps have had a huge impact on our lives, our careers and how we conduct business.

We have experienced several consequences:

1)     Inflation,

2)     Supply disruptions,

3)     Parts constraints,

4)     Shortages of skilled people to help adapt to the expansion after the Covid restrictions.

So, How Do These Trends Affect The IBM i Market?

For starts, we have already seen IBM increase prices for servers, features and support services. In some cases, these price increases have been surprisingly high. This is a predictable response to unexpected inflation.

Second, in the last 6 months I have experienced unexpected delivery and parts shortages from my major IT suppliers. Not the end of the world but my clients would have preferred smoother and more timely notifications. While we were often surprised, we passed on the news as fast as we learned of it to help our clients adapt to the unexpected changes. This can also be expected with supply chain disruption and parts constraints.

Third, the shortage of skilled people is a trend that has been with us for a while as more IBM i experts retire or leave the market. However, lately I am hearing more about skilled people shortages as more IBM i experts retire and companies move to different technologies.

IBM Power10

Going forward, I think we can expect delays of the IBM Power10 announcement so IBM can provide more predictable deliveries for the expected high demand for this new server.

Additionally, I believe the new IBM server may be more expensive than many had expected. I feel this is understandable for IBM to recover some of its R&D and software enhancements.

Expect IBM i Hosting Growth

While I anticipate high demand and success for the new entry and enterprise Power10, I believe we will also see a pickup in IBM i hosting for two key reasons:

1)     Hosting helps IBM i users deal with a shrinking pool of affordable IBM i experts.

2)     Hosting can help offer IBM i resources at a lower cost.

IBM i Hosting Benefits

Hosting offers IBM i skilled talent at each provider location, so the client need not struggle to search for, train and retain critical skills.

What I find particularly fascinating is, even with more expensive IBM hardware, software and support services, hosting allows multiple tenants to share a fraction of a server’s resources. Because most users’ needs are relatively small compared to the capacity and performance of newer servers, when you divide up the cost with multiple tenants, the cost of hosting is less than the total cost of server ownership … hands down.

Clearly, this is because the total cost of server ownership is more than the cost of the server.

Hosting Satisfies Other Requirements

Hosting has provided users many other requirements for their total solution, including a secure and reductant data center, consistent backup, disaster recovery, and highly skilled people.

My Sense Is That Hosting May Be Less Affected By These Four Trends

Will hosting be affected by inflation, supply disruption, parts constraints, and shrinking pool of experts? Yes, because I do not think anyone is immune to these trends.

While I believe these trends affect all of us, my sense is the ripple of these trends will be less on hosting than with the acquisition and implementation of new hardware.

Optimistic Future

In closing, let me add that I am optimistic about the future. In the last few decades, we have lived through wars, stock volatility, the Great Recession, and Covid 19. We are resilient and adaptive and we will work our way through all of the trends.

Need Help?

Call me at 714-593-0387 or email me at [email protected]. Let us know how we can help!

The post Four Major Trends That Affect The IBM i (iSeries/AS400) Market appeared first on Source Data Products.

The purpose of this blog is to highlight key elements that make your IBM i POWER server your best choice. These are good points to remind the owners why IBM i still right for right for the business. 

Disclaimer: IBM i is an operating system. iSeries and AS400 are servers. I use these terms interchangeably to make it easy for folks to find this kind of information on the web.

In the frenetic race of supporting a competitive business with changing priorities, it is easy to forget why the IBM i POWER server is your best choice for your critical business applications.

Let’s remember the basic aspects of IBM i that make this server a standout compared to the rest.

1)     Reliable. IBM POWER servers have exceptionally high uptime rating. For example, IBM POWER9 are rated at 99.999% uptime. This translates to 1.75 minutes of downtime per year. How does that compare to the experience you have had with x86 servers? When was the last time your desktop ran trouble-free for 9 months…let alone 2 years?

2)     Your IT Staff Supports Your Business…Not The Other Way Around. Over the decades I have observed that IBM i shops’ IT staff are lean, especially compared to other platforms. I have seen a $20 billion auto parts maker supported by IBM i with an IT staff of 2. And, down the road, was a $5 billion competitor on another platform with a staff of 20 struggling to get their system to work.

Many of my small clients outsource their IT. Their IT needs come onsite only when needed.

Quite simply, this translates into less expensive staffing.

3)     Application Software Can Easily Move With Each IBM i Version Upgrade. IBM has done a remarkable job to make migrations to new technology from older hardware and IBM i version upgrades straight-forward and cost-effective. Over the decades we have migrated clients from V3R2 to V7.3 – THAT is a huge jump forward without any applications reprogramming.

4)     IBM i Manages Itself.  Let’s remember that IBM i monitors your requests for data and software. Those elements used most often are saved to the outside of hard drives for fastest access. Data that is used less frequently is saved deeper in the drive. This makes the “hot” data faster to fetch to give you better performance. And you don’t have to manage it.

5)     IBM i POWER Server Is Completely Integrated By IBM – THAT Makes Setup It Easy And Reliable. When you get your IBM POWER server, it is preloaded with IBM i and firmware for you. You don’t have to chase down software licenses for your OS, SQL, or licensed program products. Because it is completely integrated by IBM, it is designed to work together – hardware, OS and firmware. That makes the setup easy. This is also a major factor why the IBM i POWER server is so reliable.

Conclusion

These are just a few highlights that make the IBM i an outstanding platform and why it continues to be a solid choice for critical business applications.

Need Help?

Call me at 714-593-0387 or email me at [email protected]. Let us know how we can help!

The post Let’s Remember Why IBM i (iSeries/AS400) Is Your Best Choice appeared first on Source Data Products.