THE FOUR HUNDRED - Power Systems & IBM i Insights

1. IBM Boosts Prices Even Further Outside The United States

   Back on November 4, we told you about a price increase that IBM instituted across its Power Systems, storage hardware and storage software, and Software Maintenance services. These price increases were supposedly announced on September 3, but IBM’s system did not notify us of them until October 29, and we told you about it in the subsequent edition of this newsletter. The delay didn’t matter much because the price changes are not effective until January 1, 2025.

   And now, the rest of the world is going to get an extra taste of inflation, as you will see in announcement letter …

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2. Dell And Big Blue Call It Quits On Storage Driver Support For IBM i

   It looks like IBM and sometime rival Dell Technologies are having a tiff over the licensing of technology that allows disk arrays descended from the venerable Symmetrix arrays created by EMC more than three decades ago to link to descendants of the AS/400 platform and OS/400 operating systems created three and a half decades ago.

   The fallout from what we presume is that a technology licensing fee agreement between Dell and IBM is similar, we think, to the one between IBM and the company that owns Information Builders. In October 2023, out of the blue, IBM announced that it was …

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3. How ERP Giants Are Building GenAI Into Their Products

   We are still near the top of Gartner’s hype curve when it comes to generative AI. Larger companies that have discipline and money, and startups with time and ambition, are finding success with GenAI, but many organizations are still in the planning and roll-out phase. The same could be said for ERP vendors, who have started their GenAI journeys but are expected to ramp up adoption significantly in the years to come.

   Since the dawn of the mainframe age, computers have automated the work that was previously done by people. Large armies of file clerks were no longer needed once …

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4. Happy Holidays From All Of Us To All Of You

   Every year has its own twists, turns, and challenges for any company and for the people who comprise that company. Over the years, we have had our share of adversity. 2019 and 2020 and 2024 were tough years for us, and we are all frankly happy to have pushed through the to end of this one so we can hit reset and attack 2025 with the usual vim and vigor.

   No matter where you are, everybody gets their turn with adversity, and if hard times have come to you, we just want to know that we feel you. Do your …

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5. IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 26, Number 47

   Just a reminder: For the first time in a long, long while there are pre-requisites for a Technology Refresh. Sorting out the contingencies will keep us busy for a while. Here’s the word from IBM: OSP-Technology Refresh : Prereq licensed internal code PTFs, which you can find out more about at this link. These are the pre-reqs for the Technology Refreshes:

   • IBM i 7.5: SJ02898
   • IBM i 7.4: SJ02897

   Now there is another issue you need to be aware of. Specifically: Potential to render new Feature Code EN24 / EN26 CCIN EC2A adapters inoperable, which you can find out …

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