Your “AS/400” Is a Modern IBM i Platform
During a recent client visit, a executive told me that his company was still running an AS/400. His employees had criticized the system as outdated and risky. He defended it because it was stable and reliable, but he also seemed to accept the idea that it was old.
I explained that while the company may once have had an AS/400, today they were running IBM i on Power hardware. They were using it like an old system, but it is modern technology, capable of much more. The executive was pleased and wanted to learn more.
Backward-compatible and future-powered
IBM i’s compatibility with older applications is one of its strengths. A company can continue running proven green-screen software while supporting newer technologies and business requirements.
I reminded the executive that his IBM i system was already running some modern applications, including a PHP-based web portal. What’s more, his system had the potential to integrate with outside services, such as payroll, shipping, customer portals, reporting tools, and other systems through APIs.
IBM i offers an integrated design. The operating system, Db2 database, security model, work management, and application environment work as a team. This architecture supports IBM i’s reliability, data integrity, and security, making it attractive to varied businesses, including retailers, banks, manufacturers, distributors, and insurance companies.
That does not mean every IBM i environment is automatically modern. Some applications need modern web interfaces or API architecture. Integrations may need to be improved. Some systems need updated table design, security practices, newer open source tools, or better development workflows.
AI Potential
As companies explore AI, IBM i systems offer more than the trusted business data and rules that AI tools would need to access. IBM i offers a consistent, integrated, secure environment with a world-class database and a universal SQL interface. As a result, I’ve heard IBM i described as “the first agentic-native operating system.”
Going from AS/400 to IBM i
If you can imagine it, you can do it on IBM i. Backward compatibility lets you move at your own pace.
Now is the time to dream big, call the platform by its right name, and use the power that IBM has given us with this fascinating business platform.
Contact the Seiden team to explore new possibilities for your IBM i applications.
objectively is one of the best architecture to enable LLM interactions with ERPs.
And also to develop. Running a frontier model with the MCP ibmi server is a delight to be seen, seeing it checking docs, using SQL services, producing code.
Unluckily IBM didn’t give it a native graphic terminal interface, perception of the C-suite is important and often superficial.
If IBM and community plays it right , developing a killer ERP app, with low TCO, could be the resurgence of such tech
I find it easier to just refer to the system as an “IBM server” and drop any reference to AS/400 or ‘i’ or even Power. Other platforms refer to their environment in the same way (Windows server, Linux server) and I find it streamlines people’s thinking by referring to all servers that way. It also reduces efforts by others to position it as “old” and my having to explain that it is being kept up to date as a modern system.
Spencer, thank you for your thoughts.
It is an unfortunate truth that “perception is reality”. AS/400 was a modern powerhouse. Pretty much since it took on the “IBM i” name, it has been viewed as old and antiquated. Our system was not that long ago referred to as a “DOS” system. We lucky few know what it’s capable of, but getting that across to those with the purse strings is never easy.
Please correct me if I’m wrong isn’t “IBM i” the OS while “AS/400” the hardware. Apples and Oranges
Ramon, indeed, IBM i is an OS. I made the distinction with the phrase “running IBM i on Power hardware.”
Yes, thanks for the correction you did make that distinction. I was simply trying to point out that people do still loosely use IBM i to refer to the hardware. IBM Server might be a good suggestion. But you know, what’s in a name. They still all refer to the powerhouse we are fond of. Kudos to your newsletters. Informative and we enjoy them. More power!
Thanks, Ramon!
Well said!
Call it the correct name = “IBM i”, convince your colleagues that it is not “old” as it is not an “AS400”, & update your skills!