“I Would Absolutely Recommend Source Data Products For IBM i Version Upgrades. Without Hesitation. Source Data Removed The Time, Effort, And Pressure To Prepare For The Upgrade. All Went So Smoothly.”
Background
Carnegie General Insurance Agency, Inc. is a Southern California-based general insurance agency. Besides California, Carnegie is licensed to operate in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Texas and Washington.
Jack Smith is President of Carnegie General Insurance Agency, located in Newbury Park, California.
IBM 8286-41A At V7.3 1.6 TB Storage With Custom Software Supports 100 Users
Carnegie’s software includes SIS, Custom Applications, Rocket DevOps, Fresche Formtastic and Fortra Sequel Data Access for report writing. The programming staff of 6 has also developed custom software and stored procedures with .net applications on the system.
IBM i V7.3 EOL September 30, 2023 – Version Upgrade Planning Begins
Source Data Products notified Jack Smith that IBM i V7.3 would be end of life on September 30, 2023. In mid-July 2023, Jack and SDP Senior IBM i Engineer Mark Breisacher started planning the IBM i V7.4 version upgrade to complete in September.
3rd Party Software Needs Special Settings For PTFs And Version Upgrades
Jack explains, “I told Mark that we had 3rd party software that required special settings to work properly with any new software patches and version upgrades. Our system required extra preparation, so the upgrade was scheduled for September.”
SDP Senior IBM i Engineer Mark Breisacher’s Expertise Puts Carnegie Team At Ease
Jack says, “The last time that I did a version upgrade was 8 years ago. Given Mark’s extensive experience and knowledge, he put me at ease.
“With Mark handling the version upgrade, my IT team and I could focus our energies on other priorities.
“About a week before it was time for the upgrade, we gave Mark access to a desktop so he could download the version upgrade image for our system.”
Upgrade “Weekend” Begins Friday Night, Ends Early Saturday Morning
“Friday evening before the version upgrade, I conducted a complete system Save21. The backup took about 2.5 hours. Once the Save21 was completed that evening, I let Mark know so he could start the upgrade.
“That evening Mark initiated the V7.3 to V7.4 version upgrade and had it completed by 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning.
“It was that quick.
“Mark’s work was excellent.”