Thought Model

We will investigate the aspect of different IBM i scenarios as they impact business, what that means, and how that can guide the questions that you are asking as you move to an aligned IBM i IT strategy. Our model considers:

• Importance to Business Outcomes
  • Important to strategic objectives
  • Provides competitive advantage
  • Non-commodity IT service or process
  • Specialized in-house knowledge required
• Vendor’s Performance Advantage
  • Talent or access to skills
  • Economies of scale or lower cost at scale
  • Access to technology

Info-Tech Insights

With multiple control points to be addressed, care must be taken in simplifying your options while addressing all concerns to ease operational load.

Most members relying on business applications/workloads running on non-commodity platforms (zSeries, IBM i, Solaris, AIX, etc.) are first motivated to get out from under the perceived higher costs for the hardware platform.

An additional challenge for non-commodity platforms is that from an IT Operations Management perspective they become an island with a diminishing number of integrated operations skills and solutions such as backup/restore and monitoring tools.

The most common tactic is for the organization to adopt some level of outsourcing for the non-commodity platform, retaining the application support and development in-house.

1. DR Requirements
   Understand what the business needs are and where users and resources are located.
2. Market Lack of Expertise
   Skilled team members are hard to find.
3. Cost Management
   There is a perceived cost disadvantage to managing on-prem solutions.
4. Aging Support Teams
   Current support teams are aging with little backfill in skill and experience.

A customer transitions their hardware environment to a provider’s data center. The provider can then manage the hardware and “system.”

A provider will support the hardware/system environment at the client’s site.

A customer transitions their legacy application environment to an off-prem hosted, multi-tenanted environment.

A customer can “re-platform” the non-commodity workload into public cloud offerings or in a few offerings “re-host.”

Here a provider manages the system data center environment and hardware; however, the client’s in-house IBM i team manages the IBM i hardware environment and the system applications. The client manages all of the licenses associated with the platform as well as the hardware asset management considerations. This is typically part of a larger services or application transformation. This effectively outsources the data center management while maintaining all IBM i technical operations in-house.

Advantages

• On-demand bandwidth
• Cost effective
• Secure and compliant environment
• On-demand remote “hands and feet” services
• Improved IT DR services
• Data center compliance

Considerations

• Application transformation
• CapEx cost
• Fluctuating network bandwidth costs
• Secure connectivity
• Disaster recovery and availability of vendor
• Company IT DR and BC planning
• Remote system maintenance (HW)

Info-Tech Insights

This model is extremely attractive for organizations looking to reduce their data center management footprint. Idea for the SMB.

Here a provider will support and manage the hardware/system environment at the client’s site. The provider may acquire the customer’s hardware and provide software licenses. This could also include hiring or “rebadging” staff supporting the platform. This type of arrangement is typically part of a larger services or application transformation. While low risk, it is not as cost-effective as other deployment models.

Advantages

• Managed environment within company premises
• Cost effective (OpEx expense)
• Economies of scale
• On-demand “as-a-service” model
• Improved IT DR staffing services
• 24x7 monitoring and support

Considerations

• Outsourced IT talent
• Terms and contract conditions
• IT staff attrition
• Increased liability
• Modified technical support and engagement
• Secure connectivity and communication
• Internal problem and change management

Info-Tech Insights

Depending on the application lifecycle and viability, in-house skill and technical depth is a key consideration when developing your IBM i strategy.

This type of arrangement is typically part of an application migration or transformation. In this model, a client can “re-platform” the application into an off-premises-hosted provider platform. This would yield many of the cloud benefits however in a different scaling capacity as experienced with commodity workloads (e.g. Windows, Linux) and the associated application.

Advantages

• Turns CapEx into OpEx
• Reduces in-house need for diminishing or scarce human resources
• Allows the enterprise to focus on the value of the IBM i platform through the reduction of system administrative toil
• Improved IT DR services
• Data center compliance

Considerations

• Application transformation
• Network bandwidth
• Contract terms and conditions
• Modified technical support and engagement
• Secure connectivity and communication
• Technical security and compliance
• Limited providers; reduced options

Info-Tech Insights

There is a difference between a “re-host” and “re-platform” migration strategy. Determine which solution aligns to the application requirements.

This type of arrangement is typically part of a larger migration or application transformation. While low risk, it is not as cost-effective as other deployment models. In this model, client can “re-platform” the non-commodity workload into public cloud offerings or in a few offerings “re-host.” This would yield many of the cloud benefits however in a different scaling capacity as experienced with commodity workloads (e.g. Windows, Linux).

Advantages

• Remote workforce accessibility
• OpEx expense model
• Improved IT DR services
• Reduced infrastructure and system administration
• Vendor management
• 24x7 monitoring and support

Considerations

• Contract terms and conditions
• Modified technical support and engagement
• Secure connectivity and communication
• Technical security and compliance
• Limited providers; reduced options
• Vendor/cloud lock-in
• Application migration/”re-platform”
• Application and system performance

Info-Tech Insights

This model is extremely attractive for organizations that consume primarily cloud services and have a large remote workforce.

• To best understand your options, you need to understand what IBM i services are provided by the industry vendors.
• Within the following slides, you will find a defined activity with a working template that will create “vendor profiles” for each vendor.
• As a working example, you can review the following partners:

• Connectria (United States)
• Rowton IT Solutions Ltd (United Kingdom)
• Mid-Range (Canada)

Info-Tech Insights

Creating vendor profiles will help quickly filter the solution providers that directly meet your IBM i needs.

Vendor Profile #1

Rowton IT

“Rowton IT thrive on creating robust and simple solutions to today's complex IT problems. We have a highly skilled and motivated workforce that will guarantee the right solution.

Working with select business partners, we can offer competitive and cost effective packages tailored to suit your budget and/or business requirements.

Our knowledge and experience cover vast areas of IT including technical design, provision and installation of hardware (Wintel and IBM Midrange), technical engineering services, support services, IT project management, application testing, documentation and training.”

IBM i Services

• ✔ IBM Power Hardware Sales
• ✔ Co-Managed Services
• ✔ DR/High Available Config
• ✔ Full Managed Services
• ✖ Co-Location Services
• ✔ Public Cloud Services (AWS)

URL
rowtonit.com

Regional Coverage:
United Kingdom

Vendor Profile #2

Connectria

“Every journey starts with a single step and for Connectria, that step happened to be with the world’s largest bank, Deutsche Bank. Followed quickly by our second client, IBM. Since then, we have added over 1,000 clients worldwide. For 25 years, each customer, large or small, has relied on Connectria to deliver on promises made to make it easy to do business with us through flexible terms, scalable solutions, and straightforward pricing. Join us on our journey.”

IBM i Services

• ✔ IBM Power Hardware Sales
• ✔ Co-Managed Services
• ✔ DR/High Available Config
• ✔ Full Managed Services
• ✔ Co-Location Services
• ✔ Public Cloud Services (AWS)

URL
connectria.com

Regional Coverage:
United States

Vendor Profile #3

Mid-Range

“Founded in 1988 and profitable throughout all of those 31 years, we have a solid track record of success. At Mid-Range, we use our expertise to assess your unique needs, in order to proactively develop the most effective IT solution for your requirements. Our full-service approach to technology and our diverse and in-depth industry expertise keep our clients coming back year after year.

Serving clients across North America in a variety of industries, from small and emerging organizations to large, established enterprises – we’ve seen it all. Whether you need hardware or software solutions, disaster recovery and high availability, managed services or hosting or full ERP services with our JD Edwards offerings – we have the methods and expertise to help.”

IBM i Services

• ✔ IBM Power Hardware Sales
• ✔ Co-Managed Services
• ✔ DR/High Available Config
• ✔ Full Managed Services
• ✔ Co-Location Services
• ✔ Public Cloud Services (AWS)

URL
midrange.ca

Regional Coverage:
Canada

• Create a vendor profile for every vendor of interest.
• Leverage our starting list and template to track and record the advantages of each vendor.

Mindshift

First National Technology Solutions

Key Information Systems

MainLine

Direct Systems Support

T-Systems

Horizon Computer Solutions Inc.

Vendor Profile Template

[Vendor Name]

[Vendor Summary]
*Detail the Vendor Services as a Summary*

IBM i Services

• ✔ IBM Power Hardware Sales
• ✔ Co-Managed Services
• ✔ DR/High Available Config
• ✔ Full Managed Services
• ✔ Co-Location Services
• ✔ Public Cloud Services (AWS)

URL
https://www.url.com/
*Insert the Vendor URL*

Regional Coverage:
[Country\Region]
*Insert the Vendor Coverage & Locations*

The overall quality of the IBM i questions can help you understand what it might be like to work with the vendor.

Consider the following questions:

• Is the vendor clear about what it’s able to offer? Is its response transparent?
• How much effort did the vendor put into answering the questions?
• Does the vendor seem like someone you would want to work with?

Once you have the vendor responses, you will select two or three vendors to continue assessing in more depth leading to an eventual final selection.

Vendor Conference Call

• Review the vendor questions.
• Go over answers to written vendor questions previously submitted.
• Address new vendor questions.

Commonly Debated Question:
Should vendors be asked to remain anonymous on the call or should each vendor mention their organization when they join the call?

Many organizations worry that if vendors can identify each other, they will price fix. However, price fixing is extremely rare due to its consequences and most vendors likely have a good idea which other vendors are participating in the bid. Another thought is that revealing vendors could either result in a higher level of competition or cause some vendors to give up:

• A vendor that hears its rival is also bidding may increase the competitiveness of its bid and response.
• A vendor that feels it doesn’t have a chance may put less effort into the process.
• A vendor that feels it doesn’t have real competition may submit a less competitive or detailed response than it otherwise would have.

Vendor Workshop

A vendor workshop day is an interactive way to provide context to your vendors and to better understand the vendors’ offerings. The virtual or in-person interaction also offers a great way to understand what it’s like to work with each vendor and decide whether you could build a partnership with them in the long run.

The main focus of the workshop is the vendors’ service solution presentation. Here is a sample agenda for a two-day workshop:

• Meet and greet
• Welcome presentation with objectives, acquisition strategy, and company overview
• Overview of the current IT environment, technologies, and company expectations
• Question and answer session
• Site walk

• Review Day 1 activities
• Vendor presentations and solution framing