G2

Javier H.

Lead, Infrastructure Specialist iSeries IBM i

Information Technology and Services

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

9/24/2026

"28 Years on IBM i: Stable, Secure, Still Evolving"

5/5

What do you like best about IBM i?

After 28 years working with the platform, what I value most is how much keeps working without surprises. The integration of the operating system, Db2 for i, and security in one environment means fewer moving parts and fewer points of failure, and performance stays consistent even under heavy transactional workloads. I have migrated systems from V5R3 all the way to IBM i 7.5, and backward compatibility is remarkable: applications written decades ago keep running while you adopt modern features. Db2 for i has become very strong on the SQL side, with IBM i Services that let you query system information directly with SQL. BRMS provides solid backup and recovery management, and the platform integrates very well with high-availability replication solutions, which makes planned upgrades much safer. IBM support for the platform is knowledgeable and PTF management is predictable. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about IBM i?

The biggest challenge is not technical but perception: many people still see IBM i as a legacy platform, which makes it harder to attract new talent. Skilled professionals are scarce, especially in Latin America, and there is very little training material in Spanish, so building local teams takes time. The traditional 5250 interface can also reinforce the legacy image with newer generations, even though tools like ACS help a lot; more modern, web-based administration options would make onboarding easier. Some documentation could be easier for newcomers to navigate. Finally, licensing and hardware costs can be a concern for smaller organizations, even if the total cost of ownership is favorable over the long term. More official learning content in Spanish would help grow the platform in our region. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is IBM i solving and how is that benefiting you?

IBM i lets us run core business applications for clients in several Latin American countries (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile) with very high availability and minimal administration effort. Operating system upgrades used to be a high-risk event requiring long maintenance windows. Today, combining IBM i with real-time replication, we can upgrade the production partition to a new release while the contingency partition stays protected, which greatly reduces risk and downtime for the business. The integrated Db2 for i and IBM i Services also let us automate monitoring and troubleshooting with SQL instead of manual checks, saving time for the support team. Overall, the stability of the platform means our team spends its time improving processes and supporting clients instead of firefighting. We also complement IBM i administration with AI assistants such as Claude, which help us analyze job logs, draft and review SQL queries against IBM i Services, and document procedures faster. The openness of IBM i to SQL and standard interfaces makes this kind of AI-assisted administration very practical. In my current role I provide level 2 and 3 IBM i support, and I have led OS migrations from V5R3 up to 7.5, including a recent production upgrade from 7.4 to 7.5 on IBM Power in the cloud with a replicated contingency partition. After that upgrade we worked with IBM Support to solve intermittent gateway disconnections by adjusting the TCP/IP Dead Gateway Detection setting, and I use SQL on IBM i Services and BRMS daily for monitoring, troubleshooting, and backup management. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.