Bob Cancilla on IBM i

Move to the Cloud?

2012-01-31T11:02:00.000-08:00

Is it time to put your old trusted IBM i based war horse out to pasture and move to the cloud? Most of the major traditional IBM i or OS/400 based software vendors have versions of their software that run on modern Linux or Windows platforms. There are now vendors such as Logica in the UK who offer secure reliable cloud based platforms to host these applications and more importantly guide you through the migration from your IBM i based version of software that is probably a few releases back from the vendor's current software running on modern systems.

Are you running WebSphere applications? Should you be? Proprietary (and expensive) application servers like WebSphere have given way to Apache Tomcat. You should be able to run your Java based apps on Tomcat with an improvement in productivity and a major reduction in cost.

I personally recommend moving your applications to a cloud based hosting company, engage professionals to help manage migration to your existing vendor or a new vendor's software.

It is sort of ironic that today many IBM i based companies who originally selected the AS/400 as a turnkey machine, complete with hardware and software to run their business now have a highly customized and extended set of applications that has grown their IT staff from zero to many.

What are you IT folks telling you? That RPG will be here forever that IBM will keep the IBM i OS forever? Are they telling you that you are sitting on a powder keg that can explode at anytime WHEN not IF IBM withdraws support for IBM i and the RPG programming language?

I've been working with European companies who put the best interests of their companies first over their own careers. They are with very few exceptions working to modernize and move to Linux or Windows based system and many are doing so in a combination of public and private clouds.

Clouds are pretty amazing. You can buy additional capacity when you need it to handle peak period demand on your systems. All reputable cloud vendors have automatic load balancing and replication to multiple physical data centers so that if there is a local outage your systems automatically switch to the remote site. In fact if you are a geographically distributed organization you will most likely have applications running on systems in many locations.

There is no system maintenance! It is the responsibility of the cloud vendor to keep both their hardware and software current with the latest vendor fixes and insure that they have stable reliable operating environment. Translate that to read you do not need system support people.

The total cost of cloud based operations is a fraction of what you will pay in terms of hardware, software, and people to maintain and support your own Power Systems IBM i based environment.

There was a linkedin topic that reports that going rate for an IBM i system administrator is $90k per year plus in most parts of the United States. So figure about $120k total cost. That is a lot of money for any company, but especially smaller companies with small IBM i based machines! This is a totally unnecessary expense in a cloud based environment.

Some cloud vendors can offer IBM i based systems so that you can move your systems to the cloud immediately and eliminate the costs associated with owning your own systems. You can then work with the vendor or other vendor to begin migrating to a Linux or Windows based solution for long term strategic systems.

There is absolutely no reason to own your own hardware or operate your own data centers and infrastructure today! You can save thousands to millions of dollars running your systems in a cloud.

Call or email me (see: http://www.rjcancilla.com/ContactUs.html).

How do your employees feel about your AS/400?

2012-01-14T08:15:00.000-08:00

My wife was shopping in a major well known jewelry store this past week. The employees apologized profusely for the difficulties in looking up her account and resolving an issue. The system was an old AS/400 (IBM i on Power) based system running. It was using a 5250 based user interface and the employee and her manager were totally frustrated in the difficulties of performing what should have been a simple task of looking up a customer and reviewing recent sales to the customer!

I checked into a hotel that was using an IBM i based system. We had a price quote that was not matching the information that the desk clerk had in his 5250 based system. He asked his manager to help and they still couldn't find the information we had. Since we had a printed confirmation they honored the rates that had been quoted, but they had to call corporate to get help entering the overrides into the system.

I began moving the company I was working at the time to the web via Java and WebSphere and subsequently WebSphere portal back in 1995 and implemented our first web based applications in January of 1996 when the web was opened for commercial use. Many AS/400 customers have yet to move to the web. They are still using green screen 5250 terminal based applications written in RPG.

I call these companies AS/400 companies and it really doesn't matter that they may be running the latest version of IBM i on IBM Power system computers. The reality is they are stuck in 1987 or prior.

The real issue is customer and employee frustration or satisfaction. In today's world of instant messaging, video conversations, movies about everything, and the ability for computers to connect to each other around the globe, to be stuck with a green screen menu based system with all of its training requirements and complexity is nuts.

Where is the benefit? What is the cost of supporting these old systems? What are you paying the RPG programmers that maintain these systems?

Isn't it time to move into the 21st century? Isn't it time for systems that work for you instead of holding you back?

Visit us at www.rjcancilla.com and see how we can help.

Figures Don't Lie -- Look at these Job Statistics

2011-11-21T08:22:00.000-08:00

If we look at Indeed.com and their job trends based on evaluation of job openings, we see the graph depicted below with the grim facts.

This graph is based on the number of open jobs for these languages. If anyone believes that the iSeries and RPG programming has a future, this pretty tells the story. If you are a business executive in an IBM i based shop you need to act now before you lose you current staff and cannot replace them.

Take a look at what we do and how we go about it at www.rjcancilla.com. Maybe we can help.

Goodbye to Sam Palmasano?

2011-10-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

Well, finally Sam Palmisano is retiring as IBM CEO! Good riddance! This man following in his mentor's footsteps (Lou Gerstner) has done absolutely nothing to further IBM as an industry leader and has probably darn near destroyed any vestiges of industry leadership that IBM once may have had.

Under Sam's leadership, he has totally shifted the focus of IBM from hardware and software to consulting. He has sold off the IBM Printing Division, the PC Division, was involved in eliminating the System i Division of the Systems and Technology Group! He has been a huge advocate of IBM's ill defined Cloud venture! His head is in the clouds, but IBM sure as heck can't figure it out.

How is that Amazon, Google, Oracle, Yahoo, Microsoft, and others have operational clouds and IBM is still talking about them?

Take a close look at his replacement. While it is interesting and very PC (politically correct) that he is being replaced by a woman, she (Virginia Rometty) is cut from the same cloth as good ole Sam. She was responsible for integrating Coopers & Lybrand into IBM Global Services. She was Sr VP Sales and Marketing most recently.

If anyone has any doubt about the future of IBM i, this pretty much seals its death warrant and close the coffin. Hell it may close the coffin on the IBM that we once new who helped commercial enterprises figure out and manage computer systems!

i in the Sky? Cloud based IBM i?

2011-09-07T09:05:00.000-07:00

Symetry has announced its "i in the Sky" cloud hosting program for SAP running on IBM i in a cloud based environment. While this appears on the surface to be a good thing for many SAP on i customers by eliminating the cost of running your own hardware and the people to support it.

I am quite sure that Symetry has excellent people and support staff and can offer a great service to its customers. I also think that this instead of prolonging the life of IBM i will hasten its demise. If a significant number of customers move to this cloud environment, they will significantly reduce the software maintenance fees paid to IBM that keeps IBM i alive.

If I am right, then what? You are stuck on a dated system running in a cloud where you are the prisoner. SAP offers cloud based hosting on Linux and Windows. Why not go with a solution that offers you longevity and eliminates the risk of being a captive of a single vendor on a proprietary system. You can move a Linux based system to anyone of well over 100 cloud hosting company, with a dozen of the largest providers in the business offering services.

Buyer beware!

IBM i Manifest and Maxava iFoundation

2011-08-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

On March 31, 2011 Alan Campbell, CEO of Maxava a dedicated IBM i ISV announced formation of the Maxava iFoundation funded with $50,000 to be given as grants to non-profit organizations dedicated to promoting the IBM i operating system on Power Systems (click the link to see details).

While the phrase "a fool and his money are soon parted" comes to mind, this is actually a very clever manuever to milk the last dollars of revenue out of a rapidly declining market. You can see more at their web site and praise from the sheep being led to the slaughter at the Linked In group: IBM i Manifest Americas Group. Maxava is a New Zealand based company headquartered in New Zealand specializing in IBM i high availability. They must be commended on some major marketing innovations like a monthly software subscription instead of the traditional upfront purchase with annual maintenance charges.

Maxava must be commended for not only surviving but flourishing in light of IBM's acquisition of Data Mirror Corporation in 2007 that opened the doors for IBM to integrate and sell its storage systems hardware to the IBM i based community. IBM's acquisition virtually wiped out LakeView Technologies and Vision Solutions who were the leaders in IBM i high availability and data replication.

Maxava will probably recover their investment in the foundation with new customers who see Maxava as somewhat of a hero in trying to preseve the IBM i market. I personally think it is a good move that will enable Maxava to retain slow to migrate (to modern technologies) companies for at least 10 years out.

Have you followed the IBM i Manifest Americas group you will see a rather pathetic group of folks both vendors and IT folks trying to promote IBM i awareness and education in spite of the fact that IBM has totally withdrawn all marketing support for the product and reduced a major division of the company to a single product (i.e. an operating system) that runs on Power System machines which is dominated by Linux which is their strategic OS.

I know I was stunned and shocked when IBM announced that it was shutting down its System i organization in 2007. Keep in mind that IBM reduced IBM i development from over 5000 people to less than 100! The lab in Rochester, Minnesota is a ghost town with much of the facility leased to other companies. IBM still manufactures Power Systems machines at this location as they have manufactured the RS6000 for years. You won't hear too many folks talking about IBM i in Rochester these days however.

It is laughable to think that a group of individuals can do what a major corporation will not do. Once again I close by saying The IBM i is finished. It will not be resurrected. It is time to move or at least make sure your applications are platform neutral and can be moved to a new operating system when the time comes and it will! Do it now while you have the time.

IBM's Strategic OS

2011-08-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

Developing Operating Systems cost money!

OS/400 at its peak had about 5,000 developers working on it in Rochester, Minnesota. Today there are about 100 left. There were thousands of developers working on zOS and AIX. All of these operating system have reached their peak and have maxed out in terms of both new sales and support revenues for IBM.

On an industry scale Microsoft Windows is the dominate operating system with over 90% of the servers in the world running Windows. Linux is second followed by all of the UNIX versions then all others including zOS and IBM i bring up the rear. You cannot find IBM i or zOS in any public studies of OS usage any longer. Nintendo and Sony rate higher than these OS's.

IBM is focused on LINUX. Linux is rapidly replacing proprietary Unix operating systems like IBM's own AIX, Sun's Solaris, HP's HP-UX, AT&T's BCD Unix, etc. Linux is free, it is open source, and it runs on every single platform that IBM builds. Application programs are totally portable, unlike Unix.

IBM xSeries (their Intel servers which also support Windows), Power Servers (which also supports AIX and IBM i), and the zSeries (which also supports zOS) all support Linux.

IBM can make more money providing services and support for Linux than maintaining the expense of developing operating systems. IBM will focus on virtualization technologies that allow them to maximize the utilization of a single machine and sell enormous SAN's (Storage Area Networks) with Terabytes of data storage spread across multiple locations.

Note that IBM's WebSphere brand is also going by the wayside. It is also being displaced by open source software.

IBM has found that providing services for existing open source software is much more profitable than developing and competing with open source.

HTML support in RPG?

2011-08-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

Someone posted a note on linkedin.com wishing that RPG could produce HTML as easily as it can the 5250 data stream. Funny enough, HTML support was added to DDS back in about 1996 (I don't remember what release of OS/400) but its there. It required the use of a facility called the "Workstation Gateway" which was never popular, but it was certainly available.

This was never a popular solution as it was extremely restricted in its capabilities, lacked JavaScript support and mainly because RPG developers were not willing to learn HTML.

Comments like this are typical of the current generation of RPG Programmer (the majority, not the few really good people). It points out three key issues:

These folks are not willing to learn anything new unless their company offers it between 8 to 5 and does so in a conference room at their office.
These folks will never buy a book with their own money and lift a finger to learn something on their own time.
Even given the training by their company, they will resist change and argue that this new web stuff is not as good or important as their good old 5250 interface.

Someone commented in the same thread about IBM's push for Java and WebSphere. They also said that the Apache server was on Linux. Well folks get a grip. The Apache HTTP server has been shipped with OS/400 and now IBM i since 1996 when it replaced the native IBM HTTP server. This provides pure HTML support with a CGI interface that allows you to call RPG, COBOL, or any other program that runs on IBM i.

If you want to use Java and don't want to spend a fortune on WebSphere you can install the free open source Tomcat server from Apache.org.

If you want state of the art web development and the ability to call RPG or any other program on your IBM i machine use PHP. Its free, and can be learned by most people in less than a week. There are addon's to PHP like JQuery that give you full interactive Ajax support and thousands of free applications you can download, use or customize. That includes everything from complete eCommerce systems with shopping cart and credit/debit payment support to dozens of industry specific applications.

I was not a big fan of PHP when IBM introduced it on the iSeries. I don't think much of the language from a technical standpoint, but... It is enormously popular and runs on virtually every web server under the sun. It is also available as part of virtually every web hosting package.

I use it on my own web site that I pay about $120 per year to Network Solutions for. Go figure. It includes all of the software I need plus mySQL with a huge allocation of disk storage.

While I am certain that IBM will withdraw IBM i as a supported operating system when the support revenues reach IBM's magic number (less than 5 years IMHO), I was a huge advocate of using the iSeries for eBusiness and it is an emensely capable machine.

This constant crying from RPG types who probably don't use the features of RPG IV is extremely annoying. The OS (IBM i) provides robust support for just about any type of modern web application you can dream up. Are your people smart enough to use it?

This was my pet peeve both as a customer and as an IBM'r! Most IBM i customers have no clue what the system can do. We hear the same old same old BS about RPG this and DDS that. How many shops even used the incredible built-in error handling or message processing support?

HTML support for RPG? Well guess what! HTML support embedded in DDS has been their since at least 1996! Try reading a manual once in a while or at least the memo to users when IBM announces a new release...

IBM i Manifest Americas

2011-08-24T10:40:00.000-07:00

I just noticed a new discussion thread on Linked-In called IBM i Manifest Americas which is a discussion about how to market and promote IBM i. I know this group is a bunch of well meaning (some not so well meaning but desperate vendors) who want to wish that IBM would invest in and sell IBM i based Power machines.

Sadly folks just don't get it. IBM's strategic operating system is actually LINUX. Look at the zSeries! IBM no longer pushes zOS, but rather pushes Linux on zSeries. Power Systems sales folks will push Linux over IBM's own proprietary AIX flavor of UNIX!

You can buy Linux to run on IBM xSeries (Intel based PC servers). In other words the IBM i OS is history! The Power machine is most definitely strategic, but not the IBM i OS nor the RPG programming language which only runs on IBM i.

Do these 500 plus folks posting marketing ideas in this thread actually believe that they can influence IBM and change its direction and save their operating system?

IBM's iSeries died when IBM shut down the System i brand and eliminated an entire division of IBM Server & Technology Group. Dream on folks, but IBM i is nothing more than a way of milking the last drops of revenue from an install base that shrinks daily.

Get real and figure a way to migrate your applications to LINUX or Microsoft Windows! Doesn't anyone ever think about the company they work for any more? These folks seem to be fighting to preserve their jobs and little more.

Both Linux and Microsoft Windows are today equal or actually better than the old rebranded OS/400 now called IBM i. Note that with the exception of modifying OS/400 to support the sale of disk technology there has been no change to the OS and no enhancements in several years. The change that have been made are to better support virtualization on IBM disk technologies including SHARK and other SAN's. Also to support running IBM i on Power blade servers.

Move now -- the end is near.

IBM i in IBM 2010 Financials

2011-07-29T07:19:00.000-07:00

I just came across a break out of IBM Revenue posted by Bob Djurdjevic on his Annex Research web site. The link above is the data source that I obtained from his site and added the percentages.

The URL for the full report from Annex Research is:

http://djurdjevic.com/2011/Bulletins2011/ibmseg10.pdf

This report is extremely significant. It shows that IBM i revenue has dropped to 3/10ths of 1% of IBM total revenue or 282 Million out of 99.9 Billion in revenue. Note that hardware sales once what IBM was all about has dropped to number 3 at 18% of total sales below Software 22.5% and Global Services 56.5%.

A statistic that IBM remains very quiet about is the fact that xSeries or Windows based Intel compatible servers dominate server sales with a whopping 5.4 Billion or 30.5% of server revenue. Contrast that to IBM i based hardware sales of 6/10ths of 1%. Note that sale of disk storage surpasses IBM's System z sales and System p is behind z.

This does not bode well at all for the future of IBM i as I have been saying for nearly a year now.
Believe what you will, but note that IBM has become a consulting company. When IBM withdraws support for IBM i, they will be most happy to sell you services to move your applications to Windows on System x or Linux on System p.

IBM is Microsoft's biggest service provider! It is also IBM's biggest business partner! Go figure...

Oracle and IBM i

2011-06-30T14:19:00.000-07:00

I just read today's blog post by Jon Paris and Susan Ganter in the IBM Systems Magazine, Power Systems Edition at: http://ibmsystemsmag.blogs.com/idevelop/ entitled an open letter to Larry.

I couldn't agree with Jon and Susan more about Oracle finally being a company that see's the light in a vast darkness of out-of-control technology foisted off on the world by IBM, and many other vendors today.

Oracle is the only company that is focused on selling business application software to medium and large companies with a complete end to end solution including both hardware and software. Jon and Susan lamented the fact that IBM has not recognized that they too have solution like this (the IBM i based Power System).

Well, not exactly true folks. While the IBM i is an excellent operating system it is far from being a complete solution for a business. IBM has not addressed application software since IBM unbundled in 1969 after losing a major anti-trust lawsuit. IBM has tried to provide applications to run on its hardware by attempting to attract business partners (vendors of application software) who developed software that ran on their machines.

Microsoft takes the same partner strategy but backs up there partner program with thousands to millions of dollars worth of support to assist partner in development, sales, and marketing initiatives.

IBM has failed to provide much of any support to the IBM i partners and while there are still many applications built for OS/400 aka IBM i they are old using old technologies and operating on support revenue.

Oracle systems run on lightweight Linux and Unix based machines that can scale from about $1500 to about $1.5 million for a high performance machine. Oracle owns the software solutions and can deliver a complete turn key product that solves business problems.

IBM seems to support old time partners like SAP, CSC, and others who have supported IBM hardware for years. IBM's total number of dedicated business partners is declining as vendors move to LINUX, various open source technologies, or Windows.

IBM's WebSphere Division of Software Group is probably in its last days of glory as vendors and customers realize that they don't need to spend a fortune on middleware software from IBM when they can obtain software that is every bit as good free in the open source community. Quite often you can run on open source software in a cloud based environment and let the cloud based provider maintain all of your middleware for a fraction of the cost of implementing IBM recommended solutions in-house.

Oracle has chosen to continue to support Java and MySQL as if they were Open Source (they are not -- they are owned 100% by Oracle when Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems, Inc.). Oracle leverages open source software stacks and eliminates dependancies on costly middleware while making their money on complete business solutions.

It is a sad, sad, day, but it appears as if IBM has lost all focus on the market and is fumbling around operating on the sheer power of its size and the fear of customers to abandon old IBM technologies like IBM i...

It is only a matter of time. IBM has clearly demonstrated its cost reduction profit generation motivation with the next quarterly statement driving the company. Hey Sam Palmisano should well be remembered as the man that drove IBM to total ruin.

Why is the IBM i a dying machine?

2011-05-29T09:14:00.000-07:00

I have read countless posts in various AS/400 aka IBM i blogs, forums, mailing lists, and on linked-in complaining about how IBM didn't market the machine properly or IBM should have done this or should have done that.

Admittedly, IBM holds the ultimate responsibility for the demise of the AS/400 aka iSeries, aka System i aka Power Systems with the IBM i OS, but...

It has really been the customers of the AS/400 that have killed the machine. IBM is a business that responds to decreases in revenue by cutting costs and investing in technology that represents revenue growth potential for them.

The first big issue with the AS/400 (and all of its many names) was the fact that customers who originally bought software maintenance and hardware maintenance began to stop buying maintenance contracts. IBM made this possible by publishing all of its OS/400 and IBM i PTF's via their web site where any customer could download them free of charge. The very fact that the machine and operating system were as reliable as it was is another reason for its downfall. There are thousands of B model machines running around the world with OS/400 1.3 dating back to 1987 when the machine was first released. These machines are running vendor provided software from many vendors that no longer exist. These machines sit in a corner and just do their job.

While this a great testament to the machine and its architecture, it was not good for IBM. When IBM gives you a number of machines shipped, installed, or running they often include these machines. They get zero revenue from these machines.

The other and perhaps more important reason that the machine is dying are the programmers working for its customers. For the most part these RPG "programmers" are folks that were recruited from the file room, mail room, or folks that took a one semester class at a junior college and left their job as waitress, bartender, painter, or construction worker to become a "RPG Programmer". Most never bothered to take and introduction to data processing course or any other computer fundamentals. Many were taught by IBM SE's at the employers place of business.

These folks did their jobs most often by copying sample programs and modifying them to accomplish their businesses objectives. They were good employees and did their jobs but were hardly programmers.

IBM listened to many of its business partners (companies who sold commercial software) and more advanced customers with professionally trained developers and enhanced the RPG language and the language environment of OS/400 itself with ILE and many enhancements. RPG today is a very respectable programming language. With the exception of a lack of object oriented support RPG is as robust as any other language thanks to the folks at IBM and specifically the leadership of Barbara Morris.

A much touted benefit of OS/400 (aka IBM i) was the fact that programs written in 1969 for the System 3 still run without modification or even a recompile today on IBM's latest machines. This very positive feature eliminated the need for programmers to stay current with language and technology.

IBM also made the sad mistake of never dropping old features form the language. You can still use today's compilers and write code that looks like RPG II from 1969. There are millions of programs running on the IBM i that are basically RPG II. In fact most RPG programmers do not know how to write a modern ILE program or use modern features of the language. There are very few ILE service programs, procedures, etc.

Software vendors driven by cost control are still selling systems written in old architecture and programming style. Why change? Why modernize? Why above all spend money to rewrite an old system?

These are just two reasons that IBM i is destined for the bit bucket.

Folks Still Don't Get it!

2011-04-10T12:08:00.000-07:00

IBM's recent announcements pertaining to cloud based technology on Power Systems pretty well state the case! All of IBM's announcements are targeting Linux as the OS of choice. There was no mention of IBM i in any of its cloud based announcements.

According to Sam Palmisano, cloud computing is IBM's future. Isn't it interesting that zOS and IBM i are not included in that strategy?

IBM zSeries hardware has a unique approach to implementing Linux on the zSeries hardware. On Power, there is no need as Linux runs native on the Power machine. Oh, yeah, you could run Linux under PASE on IBM i but why on earth would you want to do that?

There is a never ending discussion thread out on LinkedIn called:

How true is true tat the younger generation engineers are NO longer keen to work on IBM AS400 ... !

Folks just don't want to admit that the end of life for this venerable machine is just around the corner. The discussion described above took a twist towards outsourcing, which is very likely the transition plan for most IBM i customers.

IBM told everyone back in the 1990's to embrace Java and move to a platform neutral environment. Remember the Code Java or Flip Burgers ad that IBM ran? Well, that has become a reality. If you are not running Java, PHP, or C++ applications on your IBM i and are dependent on RPG or native OS/400 COBOL applications, your company is in big trouble.

There is still time to fix this by using one of many viable modernization strategies, but the bottom line is get off the box, or at least get to a portable environment that will run anywhere.

Also, start thinking about the cost benefit of retaining the old loyal but very limited (in terms of capability) folks supporting your IBM i. I strongly suggest a good early retirement programming coupled with a modernization strategy that includes outsourcing to support your existing applications while implementing your strategy.

Bottom line is get off of IBM i and move to something modern or even move to a cloud based computing environment.

Look at: http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/34197.wss and tell me where the reference to IBM i are for those of you die hard IBM i folks? Cloud is IBM (and the world's) future. Do you really want to spend millions on hardware and IT staff when you can get much better systems and resources for a fraction of the cost?

Vendors Withdraw Support for IBM i

2011-01-29T10:30:00.000-08:00

IT Jungle recently wrote an article saying that the world is not coming to an end just because Oracle has withdrawn support for MySQL on the IBM i operating system.

Well, I'm hear to tell you that is a major sign that the end is near. Microsoft has been aggressively attacking the platform with extremely viable alternatives for several years including the implementation of plan to attack IBM i software vendors and get them to use Windows technology.

Oracle was one of IBM's biggest software partners. Its PeopleSoft line of products, JD Edwards software, etc. all ran on IBM platforms with JD Edwards being one of Oracle's largest ERP packages on IBM i.

When Oracle announced its acquisition of Sun Micro Systems, the end for IBM i was sealed in concrete. The move by Oracle to withdraw support for MySQL is just the first step. Keep in mind that Oracle owns Java (Java is NOT open source and never has been).

I watch a number of old IBM i related discussion forums and watch the media. Sadly, IBM may believe its BS as well as many of the pundits posting to various forums (who happen to make their living from IBM i).

There is no future for IBM i and this move by Oracle is a major wake up call. If your company is running RPG base IBM i applications, move them to anything else and any other platform! There are several excellent companies that can help you move them.

Get rid of the old line RPG Programmers and IBM i focused IT folks. Just flat fire them. It is time to reinvent IT.

I think the day of developing computer programs and applications in-house is a thing of the past. I think the concept of owning your own server class computers (i.e. the IBM i, the IBM xSeries or IBM Power Sytesms) is probably a thing of the past.

This note is really addressed to managers and executives of companies currently using IBM i based hardware. Here is my message.

Find an independent consultant with no ties to any hardware platform.
Look at what is best for your business and not about technology or IT.
Take a close look at your IT organization. Do you need to reinvent it? I mean fire everyone and start over!
Reinvent computer systems support in an entirely new business model, no more programmers!

My predicition folks is that IBM will not see 2021 (I don't like predicting dates, but 10 years seems reasonable). Under Sam Palmisano's leadership one of the greatest technology leaders in the world has become a once ran vendor of old legacy stuff.

This includes the IBM i, xSeries, and Power Systems. These are all old legacy technologies. They represent a very big cash cow to IBM who continues to act as if they are the future. They will not survive.

IBM's big failure is focusing its sales initiatives on IT executives and technologists. Letting PhD's in Computer Science run the company. IBM is no longer an innovator or technology leader. While they are huge and have over $95 Billion in revenue, they cannot sustain their business model into the future. Mark my words, the end is near for this once great company.

I find this a truly sad state of affairs. Lou Gerstner and Sam Palmisano have taken one of the worlds greatest companies and brought it to its knees.

Oh well, the world changes and its time to move on.

An Island of IBM I folks...

2010-12-15T09:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, someone picked up and posted a quote from something I wrote several months ago about the pending demise of the IBM i operating system for the IBM Power Systems series of machines. Folks just don't get it.

Lets be very clear about this. IBM i is today an operating system (one of three) that run on IBM's Power Systems line of computers. It is no longer a machine, it is no longer a brand with its own General Manager, marketing, development, engineering, or support staff! It is an operating system runs along side AIX and LINUX on the machines. Note that unlike LINUX, IBM i runs only on IBM Power Systems.

RPG is a programming language that runs exclusively on IBM i on IBM Power Systems machines. It once ran on IBM Mainframes (S370) but hasn't been supported their in over 10 years. Let us also remember what the letters R P and G mean: "Report Program Generator".

RPG was never intended to be a language but in fact was a report generator for early IBM accounting machines then the S3, S32, S36, and S38 machines. Over the years it evolved into a respectable language, but far too late to be a significant player in the global IT Industry.

Today, RPG runs on one machine and is at best a niche language. RPG programmers tend to be in their late 50's or 60's. Few young people are learning the language and it will soon die of "old age and attrition".

All of this is just background on the industry itself. A viable IBM Power Systems machine capable of running the IBM i operating system costs about $30,000. This makes this a very expensive machine.

There are still a number of vendors who sell software that runs on the IBM i operating system and represent core ERP type software with a heavy concentration in the Retail, Manufacturing, and Distribution industries.

All of this is just background noise that hides the real issue. Companies using an IBM i based machine to run their business are not staying competitive and will soon be eaten alive by their competitors.

Today the future is Cloud computing and Software as a Service. Today the idea of owning and running your own machines at your own place of business is a dubious decision at best. There are dozens of reputable hosting companies with incredible capacity, storage, and Internet bandwidth available at prices as low as $19.95 per month. You can buy enormous systems with full replication and redundancy along with contractually guaranteed 100% availability (something that IBM nor anyone else can do with IBM i). NOTE: that even with very expensive high availability and replication software products it is NOT POSSIBLE to provide 24 x 7 x 365 uninterrupted operations on an IBM i based platform.

Today, it is extremely questionable if a company should have a traditional IT staff at all. It is more cost effective to outsource programming, operations, support, and facilities management. Why hire a programmer when you can rent one (a hundred times better educated and more highly skilled than you could hire) at a fraction of the price for the length of time you need them?

Companies need to reinvent IT. You need people who can:

Manage vendor relationships and insure that vendors provide what you contract for.
Define business requirements and evaluate existing solutions ranging from open source to Software as a Service, or a need to contract out development to off-shore developers (least best option).
People who can define and lead initiatives to integrate applications from many 3rd party vendors -- the day of a single vendor is no longer feasible or desirable.

Some people say that the IBM i can run modern software such as PHP and the LAMP stack with MYSQL and should continue to be the machine of choice. Why? Why would you want a web server on site as a self-hosted machine with all of the internet security problems, technically advanced support issues of a complex Internet based environment, along with high availability, etc.?

Then add to the mix that IBM i was designed to primarily support 5250 green screen terminals and has tons of overhead embedded in the operating system to do so. Quite frankly IBM i (OS/400) was great at running hundreds to thousands of dumb terminals, but is horribly inefficient at running modern Internet based servers and software.

Look at IBM's own Java benchmarks. AIX and LINUX always beat IBM i! True they don't have all the bells and whistles, that IBM i has, but you don't need all that anymore.

Think about how absurd it is to position MySQL on top of DB2 and all of its inherent overhead. Talk about a clunker? The version of DB2 running on IBM i is unique and distinct from other versions sold by IBM. You must isolate the database with no jobs running against it before you can make changes to database tables. Try adding a field to a table! You can't do it unless you can block all access and let DB2 have exclusive access to the database! You can't even handle this in a multi-machine environment making the change on one machine then propagating changes to another. IBM i assumes that everyone goes home at 5pm and that you can run batch and maintenance all night long.

Today folks there is no night! Today most companies have operations 24 x 7! Even incredibly small companies inter operate in an international environment and must have their systems available 24 x 7.

Sorry folks but its time for a new world. One without expensive computers in the backroom of your building. Or programmers in your IT department.

The News Gets Worse

2010-10-19T05:32:00.000-07:00

If what I have been telling you doesn't resonate regarding the decline and fall of IBM's IBM i based Power Systems, the entire Power Systems market is in dire trouble. IBM just announced its 3rd Quarter Earnings and reported "Revenues from Power Systems decreased 13 percent compared with the 2009 period." While all other business segments reported increases in revenue.

IT Jungle is reporting that Microsoft is making huge strides into the IBM Midrange Market. My favorite was a study conducted by IT Jungle using Google Trends to measure the number of times that terminology has been mentioned on the Internet. If you have any doubt in the decline of IBM's mid-market presence read this article: "IBM i Traffic Piddling Compared to iSeries". If you don't do anything look at the graph at Google Trends (click here)

Also look in the decline of WebSphere and SOA.

The bottom line is IBM's technology focus is driving it out of the midrange market. IBM is losing ground to Oracle with its acquisition of Sun Microsystems, HP, and most of all to Microsoft who now have extremely viable low cost offerings for companies in search of mid-range systems.

Microsoft is no longer the unreliable system of the 1980's. It is a robust stable environment that can provide companies with viable systems beginning at prices as low as $2000 and growing to meet needs. It is also ideal for geographically distributed systems and can provide 24 x 7 uninterrupted high availability.

Good buy old iSeries, System i, AS/400, IBM i or whatever you are called, rest in peace.

IBM i and System Availability?

2010-10-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

I keep seeing articles touting high availability and the IBM i OS! Lets get something straight here. An IBM i cannot run 24 x 7, nor does it have the ability to participate in a cloud like environment and have a second machine assume its workload if it goes off-line.

LakeView, Vision, and other high availability vendors can replicate data to a remote machine, but failover to the remote machine with synchronization has a best case of 45 MINUTES. This is an eternity in today's world. It is not possible today and never has been possible to keep two or more IBM i based machines in synch.

You must take you IBM i based machine off-line to apply many APAR's or PTF's and many require that you IPL the machine.

You cannot use SQL's ALTER TABLE command to change a database table unless SQL has exclusive access to the database. This means you must shut down you interactive and any other systems (like web or web service based access) before making a change to a database.

Most companies must shut down their web applications, interactive applications when running nightly batch update programs. This is not a machine issue but bad programming by most AS/400, iSeries, and IBM i vendors and in-house programmers.

Bottom line is that it is simply not possible for an IBM Power System running IBM i to provide the high availability demanded by today's business applications. In a global universe when can you take your machines off-line?

Put Your Lotus Notes Applications in a Cloud!

2010-09-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

I just found out about a great new service provided by force.com (the owners and operators of Salesforce.com the CRM system). They will work with you to convert your Lotus Notes applications to their force.com cloud based application framework. See: http://www.salesforce.com/campaigns/lotusmigration/?d=70130000000FMnb.

The link above has an amazing demo that shows how easy it is to move your Lotus notes applications to force.com's cloud. You get much more functionality than you had with Lotus Notes and you get rid of all of your expensive Lotus notes admin and support people and remove one more obstacle to eliminating the old aging iSeries from your company.

No machines, no administrators, gauranteed availability, backups, security, and all via your browser. No client software! The total cost is a fraction of what you pay for Lotus Notes.

You get much more. You can actually integrate multiple Lotus Notes application and add workflow or management reporting capabilities that you could not do with Notes itself. Additionally, virtually anyone can learn to use force.com's easy form based admin facilities which unlike Lotus Notes are written in simple English that anyone can understand.

Force.com has folks to assist with a conversion or you can do it on your own. Move your apps to force.com and use a simple more robust email system of the many available or host that on the web with many of the Internet based service providers offering advanced email services and eliminate yet one more hassle from your IT organization.

Just for the naysayers out there. I am not employed by or represent or get compensated in anyway by force.com. In fact I have not spoken to their sales team but am sharing this amazing bit of news that I just discovered. You can search YouTube for several videos that demonstrate how easy and robust this is. Just search on "Lotus Force.com".

Is IBM i still better than Windows, Linux, Unix?

2010-09-19T14:25:00.000-07:00

I was participating in a discussion in LinkedIn about RPG Open Access and using RPG as a language to implement modern UI's. Someone threw the old My IBM i based machine is less expensive and more reliable than a Windows Server Farm (i.e. Server farm's are bad).

It is time to look closely at your IBM i or OS/400 based machines and their cost and availability. We live in a global economy today where 24 x 7 x 365 is a fact and necessity, not something we talk about that we might want someday.

Well the sad fact is that IBM has never delivered true 24 x 7 x 365 capabilities with its IBM i operating system and the embedded DB2 database bundled with the machine. If you need to make change like adding a field to an existing database table you must shutdown all subsystems or applications that might open the file so that DB2 can get an exclusive lock on the file to be modified. If the file is of any significant size adding the field and reloading the file can take several hours during which time your system must be unavailable.

Even with the best 3rd party data replication software you still have this downtime. In fact with replication software running for disaster recovery you will experience at least 45 minutes of downtime when you lose a machine before you are operational and with most software its more like 8 hours.

Someone claimed that you can apply maintenance or update programs on IBM i but not on Windows without shutting down a machine. Well, if you are running ILE service programs on iSeries or IBM i you have to shut down too.

Quite frankly, Windows, Linux, and Unix server farms have proven themselves in the largest imaginable high availability situations where an IBM i machine cannot begin to compete.

Is IBM i a good OS? It was! It has not been kept current nor has it been modernized by IBM to meet current requirements. Same goes for the IBM i version of DB2. There are 3rd party databases particularly in the UNIX Linux world that can continue running while you make file changes like adding a field or reformatting a field. With databases like Computer Associate's DATACOM/DB you have been able to add or remove fields, or even extend the size of a field without shutting down you applications since the mid 1980's. You still can't do that with any version of DB2.

Bottom line, its time to look objectively at IBM i based machines and compare it to Windows, Linux, and Unix.

Today it probably makes a lot more sense to run multiple machines than a single iSeries or IBM i. It is probably a lot more cost effective too.

Back to the Future

2010-09-02T12:37:00.000-07:00

It is time to rethink IT and the corporate IT organization. We have seen a transition from COBOL or RPG Programmers trained in Junior Colleges or trade schools to folks with computer science degrees trained in Java, C, C++ and other advanced technologies. We have seen business executives circumvent their own IT organizations and buy complete HW/SW based systems from 3rd parties.

Business has lost faith in IT and IT professionals. Most in-house IT organizations are no longer able to fully and properly support their organization or enterprise.

It is perhaps time to make some changes in the way we deal with IT starting with the senior IT executive or CIO. Not too many years ago, the CIO came out of a strong business oriented background and focused on addressing the business requirements of the business for which they worked. Today many are computer science technologists who have risen to a level based on their technical knowledge and skills.

IMHO its time to clean house. With the low cost of extremely talented technical resources in China and India, it is time to outsource all programming. Its time to get rid of all of the technologists in your organization including and especially a technical CIO.

If your CIO isn't business oriented and focused totally on addressing business requirements, then GET RID OF HIM or HER! Get someone with a business and project management background.

I am working with several clients whose goal is to regain control over their computer systems and solve business problems. We will be building an entirely new systems group within the organization consisting of non-technical business analysts and project managers.

Many people say that there are problems associated with outsourcing (these are usually the people being replaced by outsourcing). The problems that do occur are usually communications and a failure to control projects by the enterprise. Too many enterprises tell the contractor "do this" and expect it to be done. Well that is not going to happen. Indian and Chinese are excellent developers with training and skills well beyond most US or European developers, but communications and strict project management is the key to success.

More on these topics later.

PHP and IBM i or any other Computer System

2010-05-18T13:37:00.000-07:00

I've been around since before PHP was invented. I was a big advocate of IBM's Net.Data macro language (which I still think is better than PHP in many ways), Many of you know that I was a huge advocate of IBM Rational's EGL (Enterprise Generation Language) and convinced quite a number of iSeries customers and software vendors to utilize it.

I do think that EGL and Net.Data are excellent web development tools, but I did not fully appreciate PHP until I had to create my own low budget web site. I subscribed to Network Solutions (the original domain name registry company) who now sells hosting on UNIX systems for as little as $12.00 per month. I happen to like Network Solutions for old times sake (they were the original domain name registry), but there are several other hosting services now including GODADDY.COM who offer very inexpensive web hosting. There are now many other hosting services including Yahoo, Google, and many, many others. Prices start at about $10 per month and increase from there. You can have a pretty robust web site with lots of activity for less than $100 per month.

Well, "web hosting" -- in the old days this was the ability to upload static HTML pages to a server somewhere and have a simple HTML only web site. Today I noticed that PHP is standard on all of these sites. Not only is PHP standard, but so is MySQL as a database engine.

So what did I need? I needed a simple feedback form that asked for name, address, email, and telephone number. I wanted to send an email the person entering their data confirming that we got it and would get back to them, and write the data to the database. I also wanted a simple query that I could run to download data from the database as a CSV File for use in an Excel spreadsheet.

I thought OH HECK (or some other words) I have to learn PHP and MySQL! Well, actually I did and I didn't. I found tons of sample apps that did what I wanted to do from form editing with AJAX. I found an example that showed me how to send an email, and I found several examples of code for MySQL ranging from an INSERT with Database Validation to a query that formats the output into CSV format.

During the process which took about 12 hours spread over 3 days I pretty much learned PHP. If you know any programming language (like Java, Basic, or JavaScript) you know PHP. The language adheres to modern best practices in terms of language syntax and punctuation. A good knowledge of HTML is also very helpful and some basic Internet tools knowledge like a little bit about email servers, etc.

Bottom line 3 days and my application was working.

So PHP and MySQL are easy to use. Is that a reason to use them? Nope! There are other easy to use tools. What makes PHP and MySQL so dynamite is the fact that they are totally pervasive everywhere. Additionally there is a vast library of free applications, utilities, etc. out there on the Internet for free. Stuff written in PHP and MySQL's SQL dialect is 100% portable to any platform that runs PHP and MySQL.

Isn't interesting that IBM advocates PHP over their own proprietary languages and technologies? IBM is the leading company funding the open source community. Zend is a huge business partner and PHP counters many proprietary Microsoft offerings. It also counters several proprietary Adobe offerings.

Folks I was totally stunned when I found out I had a very large disk allocation, MySQL, and PHP on a $12 per month hosted web site! Think about the implications of this. PHP and MySQL are everywhere. They are free for the download and they exist on cheap hosted servers. You can implement SOA components and interoperate on a cheap standalone server with any other server.

TWELVE DOLLARS PER MONTH! Compare that to the thousands you are spending and that I have spent in my previous life. Consider also that if you can learn JavaScript or Basic you can learn PHP! In other words "cheap labor".

I certainly liked many of the features of EGL and Java but you cannot beat PHP for quick easy to use robust and scalable web applications. Took me a while but I finally GET IT!

Bob C.

IBM i and the Future?

2010-04-29T21:34:00.000-07:00

Well, IBM has announced IBM i 7.1. Ross Mauri IBM's GM for Power Systems has made a statement that this demonstrates IBM's commitment to the OS (formerly a platform and IBM division with its own General Manager).

Quite frankly if you look closely at the 7.1 offering the bulk of its enhancements are designed to leverage cross platform offerings from the storage group within IBM's STG organization. It also focuses heavily on running on blade servers with a mix of operating systems on blades in the chassis.

Have you read a single word about application development? You do see a new offering from IBM Rational called "Power Tools" which integrate Java, C/C++ across all three Operating systems that run on Power machines (IBM i, AIX, Linux).

There should be a major message to everyone in this announcement which is that it is time to begin to abandon IBM i the operating system and move to either a Unix or Linux based environment.

Lets face facts. IBM i is obsolete. The bulk of the code in the OS and the overhead that keeps IBM i from reaching the performance levels of AIX and LINUX is the overhead devoted to managing 5250 based interactive jobs as well as a heavy mix of batch jobs.

Modern workloads are server based C++ or Java and leverage application server technology. There is no longer a need for the telecommunications monitors like CICS or the built in support for 5250 in the IBM i. You need a low profile OS that provides a high performance interface to the hardware that maximizes application performance.

While the embedded DB2 in IBM i certainly adds value to the OS when compared to DB2 on other platforms in terms of the astronomical costs of DB2 on those platforms; it still sadly lags behind other vendor databases in terms of performance and functionality such as Oracle, Sybase, Ingress, Microsoft SQL Server, and others, now including the free open source mySQL.

IBM i folks tend to fail to look objectively at the world around them. I spent about 3 hours today learning PHP and mySQL to write my first PHP application using mySQL provided by Network Solutions (my hosting company) along with every other major hosting company. What vendors even supports DB2?

What about modern Cell phones like the iPhone, Blackberry, and others? How do you support those with state of the art applications? They utilize Java based applications.

Look around at the industry. Oracle's now completed acquisition of Sun Microsystems will have a huge impact on IBM Power Systems and the IBM i. Oracle owns JD Edward now as well as PeopleSoft and other major business software packages.

Oracle had been a leading business partner driving IBM i and Power system sales for IBM. I have no idea what the percentage will be but there will be a huge hole in IBM's revenue when Oracle moves people to their own Sun based hardware platform.

What should you be doing right now?

If you have an inventory of RPG, Synon2e, and/or COBOL applications you better have a migration plan and be working that plan. I certainly do not advocate pulling the plug on existing RPG applications, but you better darn well have a plan that moves you away from RPG and IBM i in the next 5 to 7 years.

More important than the pending demise of IBM i is the need to provide modern systems and interfaces to modern devices like cell phones or specialized devices that are materializing throughout your business from the "cash register" to the loading doc and manufacturing facilities.

You need to analyze your existing systems, prioritize the modernization initiatives and not just migrate to a new language or OS but provide the ability to address real business problems and challenges.

It may be time to look at sending some current CIO's out for early retirement if they are focused on technology and not on the company's problems and bottom line. There is way too much talk and argument about technology and programming languages and very little discussion about addressing the needs of the business in a rapidly changing world.

I am coming back into the market place and my focus is on IT as a service to the business it is supposed to support. I am sick and tired of hearing arguments about technology or listening to a bunch of geeks with there heads in a "cloud"...

Lets put IT back on track and support the businesses that it was intended to support. Lets make sure that the computer systems are running on machines that will survive the next 5 to 10 years, and lets get away from my platform or language is better than yours.

Languages and Hardware have become irrelevant. Platform neutral languages and even operating systems like Linux are emerging as clear leaders. Proprietary operating systems are obsolete and no longer add value but rather introduce extreme risk to companies who cling to aging technology.

Sorry, but my view with no axe to grind.

Does Bob Moffat's Arrest Affect You?

2009-10-27T06:29:00.001-07:00

I'm a bit surprised that there has been very little buzz in the industry about the arrest of Robert Moffat, Sr VP STG at IBM and the implications this may have on IBM i.

Senior VP's are most certainly not involved in day to day opeartions at IBM, but they most certainly set the direction, strategy, and objectives for their organizations. Moffat was responsible for all of IBM's Hardware offerings including Power Systems and IBM i.

I'm sure that it will be business as usual until his successor is named, but this could be a good or bad moment for the iSeries. It could be good if an IBM i friendly executive takes Moffat's place or it could be bad if someone with no IBM i experience takes over. Moffat was most likely not a friend of i coming from a manufacturing and technology and supply chain background.

See the Wall Street Journal Article about Moffat.

The Future of Computer Systems?

2009-09-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

All,

This blog is dedicated to iSeries modernization issues. I have another blog that I post to on platform independent issues concerning the state of business systems today and the lack of direction in the market place by leading vendors for business systems.

You might find this interesting: It is called "Computer Systems Today" -- check it out.

Bob Cancilla, Principal
RJ Cancilla & Associates

Office:     916-226-4951
Mobile:    562-290-2849
Fax:           916-690-8453
eMail:        rcancill@mac.com
Skype:    bob_cancilla

Modernization and the Virtualization Engine

2009-09-23T11:07:00.000-07:00

IBM i customers tend to hear very little about the Virtualization Engine at IBM i centric events or from IBM i sales representatives or partners. If you search the web with a focus on Power Systems you will see a great deal about the Virtualization Engine, especially in relation to running Power Linux and AIX.

The Virtualization Engine offers you the ability to run a mix of IBM i, AIX, and Power Linux operating systems in virtual machines or LPAR’s on your POWER5 or POWER6 machine. You can now run an LPAR from as little as 1/10th of one processor to 64 processors depending on your system. Your Processor allocation, memory, DASD, and Network connectivity are all now dynamic and may be allocated and changed in real time for any LPAR you are running in the system.

You have a wealth of options on how to configure and share resources giving you tremendous control over the system with the ability to prioritize workloads.

The five brands of IBM Software Group (WebSphere, Information Management, Lotus, Rational, and Tivoli) all support AIX and LINUX on power systems as well as the attached Intel processors where you can add support for Microsoft Windows if you wish. Note that all of the software group brands are building new and enhanced software for AIX and Power LINUX. I am not aware of any new software products running on i other than Rational's Team Concert for IBM i released in December 2008. Note that IBM Information Management continues to support the integrated DB2 database on IBM i and Web Query on i.

Major enhancements to IBM i 6.1 from i5/OS V5R4 enable IBM i to now utilize external Storage Area Network (SAN) devices where i5/OS V5R4 could not. Let me clarify. i5/OS V5R1 and subsequent releases could interoprate with IBM's SHARK, but not with a smaller SAN. There were also limitations in the implementation of DASD technology and you could not virtualize multiple i5/OS LPARs across shared DASD as you can at IBM i 6.1 and the new Power5/6 machines. It also enables IBM i to dynamically share DASD across LPARS unlike V5R4.

The Virtualization Engine with LINUX or AIX allows you to create separate machines for specific purposes (i.e. one for IBM i, another for your WebSphere Application Server, another for the Apache HTTP Server, and perhaps another for Lotus Domino). You can allocate resources and adjust performance based on the business priority of your workloads. The integrated high-speed internal connectivity between machines provides high-speed communications between machines.

If hiring an AIX or LINUX expert is a problem, can outsource management of this environment to IBM who for a reasonable monthly fee will monitor and manage your environment remotely via secure communications.

IBM is making significant investment in the Virtualization Engine based technology and in a number of articles talks about a 10 year development plan and strategy which may at some point in the future include zOS.

Modernization

So how does the Virtualization Engine affect a modernization strategy? You can move your web applications and related servers off you IBM i LPAR and into high performance LPARS running either one or more AIX or Power Linux and gradually migrate from IBM i centric to Java or other language based applications running in the LPAR’s.

There are a number of vendors including IBM and Databorough Ltd, that can assist in migrating from RPG, COBOL, or Synon/2e to Java or other languages that run on Power Linux or AIX.

You can leverage your existing Power Systems hardware and create a progressive modernization strategy that allows you to focus on key objectives and gradually move to a platform neutral environment running on an open source Power Linux environment.

What about Linux?

A few years ago, I would have argued that you not to use an open source operating system. Today, my attitudes toward open source have changed greatly as Open Source organizations have matured. Today IBM supports Linux across their full line of machines. Linux is also supported on machines of IBM competitors such as HP and Sun.

There is a large pool of highly skilled Linux expertise both as individuals available as employees and as consultants working for a 3rd party. Another key issue is how the Open Source Community control builds of their software. Today there is always a stable build that is well tested that supports the majority of the community. New or experimental releases are isolated form the stable builds of the software and clearly marked as emerging technology.

Articles on the Virtualization Engine

Linux web publication: WebHostGear.com -- September 22, 2009
Redbook: IBM PowerVM Virtualization Managing and Monitoring, March 12, 2009
The Register - March 3, 2009 -- Virtualization soars on Big Blue Power Boxes
IBM's IBM PowerVM web site -- Look at the "learn more" area and watch the video Comprehensive virtualization technologies with Jeff Howard, Director Platform Marketing, Power Systems.