This blog provides key insight into why IBM i users turn to expert IBM i hosting for their core business applications.
I recently attended a summit sponsored by a leading High Availability software solution provider. Fifteen IBM i (iSeries/AS400) Cloud Hosting providers attended.
The solution provider presented several recent studies that noted that 70% of IBM i users in North America have 2 or less IBM i skilled people on staff. In fact, about 36% have no on-premise IBM i skilled people. Yet, the IBM i runs about 75% of the core business applications.
My sense is that most readers know this first-hand – or instinctively. It is a tribute to the IBM i architecture that require dramatically fewer skilled staff to run than other platforms as well as its rock-solid reliability.
At this point, most of the cloud hosting providers note that IBM i skills depletion and IBM i talent retirement age are two major factors for IBM i users moving to cloud hosting.
Quite simply, IBM i users muse, “If my business critical applications run on IBM i, and my talent pool is shrinking, what do I do?”
Surprisingly, studies show that only about 8% think about jumping ship to another platform. This is actually good news…it means the majority of IBM i users are still committed to their IBM i server to run their business applications.
IBM i users also look at outsourcing and hosting.
As IBM i users assess their options, they discover that not all outsourcing and hosting services have IBM i expertise.
Fact is most outsourcing and hosting services have little to no IBM i skills. Most have a background in Windows or UNIX. And while several will claim IBM i expertise, it is not their primary focus.
While cost savings (cloud hosting can be 30%-70% less expensive than on premise server) and data center risk mitigation (superior security and redundancy) are still compelling factors why IBM i users switch to the cloud, more frequently the need for IBM i skills continuity starts the evaluation.
Clients that switched to Cloud Hosting point out the importance of IBM i expertise in their decision making process:
“The thing that impressed me and my client’s technical guy was when Cloud400 talked about the environment and the system, it was immediately clear the depth of their knowledge of the OS400 environment. I personally felt like we found the guys we need to be dealing with.”
Mike Miller, CEO, Omikron Data Systems, Inc.
“Our 9406-270 server was at a data center with redundant power and cooling, but no IBM AS400 expertise. If I can’t physically get there, we have to pay one of their employees to look at something. They will basically push a power button…and that’s about it. They did not know anything about the AS400. The situation did not provide us enough security to host customers.”
“I wanted a way to host our applications where the hardware was newer and more reliable and where the data center had IBM AS400 expertise so we could continue to host our customers that still wanted to use our software.”
Brady Klick, CEO, Intelligent Health Systems
“I know Cloud400 is managed by competent people who know what they are doing. With Cloud400, I feel comfortable that if something were to happen to me Rex Hide has a team in place to manage the iSeries side of our business.”
Brian Cook, Manager of Information Systems, Rex-Hide Industries
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