AS400 Weekly Brief: June 10–16, 2025
This week has brought a flurry of significant developments across the IBM i and Power Systems landscape, underscoring the platform’s dynamic evolution and continued relevance. From IBM’s ambitious strides in quantum computing and strategic shifts in cloud offerings to critical discussions on nurturing the next generation of IBM i talent and adapting to new pricing structures, the ecosystem continues to demonstrate its resilience and forward momentum. Progress in integrating modern capabilities like Linux environments directly into IBM i further ensures the platform remains at the forefront of enterprise computing, providing robust solutions for today’s complex business challenges.
Key AS400 News & Trends
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IBM Charts Course for World’s First Large-Scale, Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computer IBM has unveiled its ambitious roadmap to build the world’s first large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer, dubbed IBM Quantum Starling, slated for delivery by 2029. This groundbreaking system, to be built in a new IBM Quantum Data Center in Poughkeepsie, New York, is expected to perform 20,000 times more operations than current quantum machines. This significant investment signals IBM’s broader strategic commitment to high-performance computing, which could eventually influence the types of workloads or integration points for enterprise systems like IBM i. It reinforces IBM’s role as a leader in enterprise technology, suggesting future possibilities where IBM i applications might feed data to quantum-powered services for complex analytics.
Published: June 10, 2025
IBM Sets the Course to Build World's First Large-Scale, Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computer at New IBM Quantum Data Center - Jun 10, 2025 -
Meet the Next Generation of IBMers Building IBM i
IBM is actively addressing the “graying” of the IBM i installed base by recruiting and integrating younger talent into its development teams, particularly in its Rochester and Toronto labs. This initiative is crucial for the platform’s long-term vitality, bringing fresh perspectives and skills to the ecosystem. Key young developers like Liam Allan, Sanjula Ganepola, Jonathan Zak, Julia Yan, and Adam Shedivy are already making significant contributions to open-source tools, UI design, and AI solutions for IBM i. This demonstrates IBM’s embrace of modern development paradigms and tools within the IBM i ecosystem. This strategic hiring reflects IBM’s commitment to fostering innovation and ensuring the platform’s future.
Published: June 16, 2025
Meet The Next Gen Of IBMers Helping To Build IBM i - IT Jungle -
IBM Explores Linux-like PASE for IBM i, Broadening Application Horizons
IBM appears to be developing a Linux-like Portable Application Solution Environment (PASE) for IBM i, a move that could significantly expand the platform’s ability to host a vast array of Linux applications. This initiative, informally dubbed “PLEASE,” aims to provide seamless integration for Linux software, mirroring how the existing PASE allows IBM i to run AIX applications. IBM i CTO Steve Will hinted at this development, emphasizing the need to better incorporate Linux-based open source into IBM i without the complexities of managing separate Linux partitions or OpenShift clusters. This strategic enhancement promises to broaden IBM i’s application capabilities and appeal, potentially making it a more attractive target for workloads currently running on x86 Linux servers.
Published: June 16, 2025
Looks Like IBM Is Building A Linux-Like PASE For IBM i After All - IT Jungle -
IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) Dominance Challenges Independent IBM i Clouds
IBM’s Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) offering is rapidly gaining market share, significantly impacting independent private IBM i cloud providers. Fresche Solutions, a notable private cloud provider, has announced a strategic shift, now directing its customers towards PowerVS due to its enhanced capabilities and the high capital expenditure burden of maintaining private infrastructure. PowerVS is experiencing substantial growth, with a 30% annual rate and over 650 customers across 21 IBM Cloud data centers globally as of October 2024. This increasing dominance signifies a major consolidation and standardization trend in the IBM i cloud hosting market, offering IBM i users a more integrated, scalable, and potentially cost-effective path to cloud adoption directly from IBM.
Published: June 16, 2025
Will Independent IBM i Clouds Survive PowerVS? - IT Jungle -
IBM Increases Hardware Maintenance Prices, Signaling Strategic Shifts
IBM has initiated hardware maintenance price increases, beginning with a 10% hike in China for Power8 and Power9 machines, and globally for Storage Expert Care support (excluding Japan), effective July 15, 2025. This move, announced on June 13, 2025, comes amidst a decline in IBM’s Infrastructure Support revenues, signaling a broader strategy to boost profitability. Analysts anticipate a more general worldwide increase for Power Systems hardware maintenance, which will directly impact the operational budgets of organizations running older Power Systems hardware, including many AS400/IBM i users. This pricing adjustment may also serve as a strategic lever to encourage customers to upgrade to newer Power11 iron, compelling AS400 professionals to re-evaluate their total cost of ownership and modernization timelines.
Published: June 16, 2025
Now, IBM Is Jacking Up Hardware Maintenance Prices - IT Jungle
Tools & Tips
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IBM Navigator for i Updates Enhance Cloud and Security Connectivity Recent updates to IBM Navigator for i are streamlining connectivity and security for cloud and remote environments. Key enhancements include improved Kerberos wizard functionality, a move towards requiring all TLS connections by the end of 2025, and better handling of certificates. New GUI Preferences panels for TLS Override and Localhost Override specifically cater to cloud environments and port forwarding, making it easier to connect to Navigator when certificate issues arise or in SSH tunnel setups. The continuous refinement of IBM Navigator for i, particularly its focus on TLS and cloud connectivity, highlights IBM’s strategic effort to modernize the administrative interface and facilitate hybrid cloud adoption for IBM i.
IBM Navigator for i - PTF Update Details -
Fortra’s 2025 State of IBM i Security Study: Six Pro Tips for a Hardened System Fortra’s latest 2025 study, based on hundreds of security scans, offers six crucial tips to enhance your IBM i security posture. These include policing the perimeter with exit programs, restricting user access to database information (least privilege), limiting IFS access and scanning for viruses, assessing and validating system value settings, hardening user access policies with MFA, and leveraging the current focus on cybersecurity to secure budget for improvements. This comprehensive guide provides actionable steps for IT professionals to protect their critical IBM i systems against evolving threats, transforming security into a strategic business imperative for risk mitigation and compliance.
6 Pro Tips from the 2025 State of IBM i Security Study | Fortra
Fun Fact
Did you know? Unlike many modern operating systems, which treat everything as a file (like Linux), the IBM i operating system (formerly OS/400 on AS/400) has a unique object-based foundation where everything, including programs, data files, and even devices like printers, is treated as an object. This distinctive architectural design contributes significantly to the platform’s renowned stability, security, and the concept of “single-level storage,” where all storage (main memory and disk) is treated as one large address space, simplifying memory management and enhancing data integrity.
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