30th Anniversary of the IBM i and IBM Power Systems
30 years ago IBM, with it AS/400, taught the market about the value that an integrated data base and software could deliver. Way ahead of its time, IBM designed OS/400 (and its descendants i5/OS and IBM i) as a “turnkey” operating system, requiring little or no on-site attention from an IT staff during normal operation. To facilitate this, IBM i has a built-in DB2 database which does not require separate installation. Disks provide multiply-redundant storage and can be replaced online without interruption. Hardware and software maintenance tasks are integrated. System administration has been wizard-driven for years, even before that term was defined. This automatic self-care policy goes so far as to automatically schedule all common system maintenance, detect many failures and even order spare parts and service automatically. Organizations using the IBM Power Systems sometimes have sticker shock when confronting the cost of system maintenance on other systems.
The early IBM System/36 and IBM System/38 series customers were a key target of the AS/400, so OS/400 (i5/OS and IBM i), have built-in subsystems that provide backward compatibility with these earlier IBM general business systems. For this reason, long time users, of which there are many, still refer to the platform as the AS/400. The current user base remains strong and committed and various user groups have played a major part in the evolution of the IBM i. Make no mistake, Power Systems and the IBM i are far from their 30 year old roots and green screens. They have been transformed. Built to crush the most advanced data applications, from the mission-critical workloads run today to the next generation of Artificial Intelligence.
This platform remains relevant for modern businesses today and in the foreseeable future. The Power Systems server and IBM i can accommodate emerging technologies such as mobile access and cloud computing. It can also run and interact with cognitive applications on other platforms. IBM Power Systems are ranked No. 1 in every major reliability category by ITIC and deliver the most reliable on-premises infrastructure to meet around-the-clock customer demands.
The true source of this platforms’ staying power through numerous generations of business computing comes from a wide-ranging group of talented business partners and their commitment to providing essential tools for modern computing. Importantly for Power Systems and IBM i users, partners such as inFORM Decisions have been around to provide innovative business solutions. Since 1994, inFORM Decisions has been a Document Automation provider specializing in state of the art Document Automation solutions for the IBM i – iSeries – AS/400 arena. inFORM’s biggest strength is that their solutions have always run natively on the IBM i and they continue to develop and enhance for this platform. inFORM customers appreciate this commitment and new customers are acquired every month who for various reasons are being forced to a much less efficient and less stable PC based solution.
This platform can do anything and after 30 years of innovation is just beginning. Just ask the users! inFORM Decisions is committed to the IBM i Power Systems platform forever!
Tags: as400, IBM i, ibm power systems, inform decisions