What is an AS/400 system today?

The AS/400 has evolved into IBM i running on Power Systems. It combines an integrated operating system, a built-in relational database (Db2 for i), and native security, backup, job scheduling, and workload management in a single coherent platform.

How reliable is the AS/400 (IBM i on Power Systems)?

According to the ITIC 2024 Global Server Reliability Report, 89% of IBM Power10 enterprises achieved eight nines (99.999999%) of uptime, equating to roughly 315 milliseconds of unplanned downtime per server per year. IBM Power Systems have held the top reliability ranking for over 15 consecutive years.

Is the AS/400 (IBM i) cost-effective compared to other platforms?

In the 2025 IBM i Marketplace Survey conducted by Fortra, a record-high 96% of respondents said IBM i delivers better ROI than other server platforms. The ITIC 2022 Global Server Reliability Survey also found that IBM Power Systems deliver up to 60x lower total cost of ownership compared to the least efficient commodity platforms.

When should you consider migrating off the AS/400?

Migration may make sense when you need rapid elastic scaling for highly variable workloads, are building greenfield cloud-native applications, lack IBM i skills with no plans to invest in training, or require a full front-end modernization program. For stable, transaction-heavy core systems, the AS/400 typically retains a strong cost advantage.

Barry Kunst, Author at SOLIX Blog

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