Waving goodbye to downtime and hello to future success

IBM has been a stalwart of technology in businesses for more than 70 years, since the emergence of the IBM Mainframe. While times have moved on and, at least in part, due to the emergence of cloud computing, most organizations have their own midrange, but the company remains at the forefront of enterprise technology.

One example of the company’s continued leadership in business technology is IBM Power. This range of servers has been popular with organizations ever since its creation in 2008 thanks to benefits like large levels of compute power and performance, high availability, scalability, and enhanced security. Most recent models, such as the IBM Power S1022, are also AI-ready, as well as capable of handling common workloads like Oracle databases, SAP HANA, and Red Hat.

Indeed, so popular is IBM Power that eight of the top 10 banking firms, nine of the top 10 insurance specialists, and eight of the top 10 retailers run at least part of their operations on this hardware range. Bosch Group, for example, started using IBM Power10 servers as part of its drive to become a more sustainable business. By using Power Enterprise Tools in conjunction with Power servers, it was able to boost performance by up to 75% and achieve a 20% improvement in energy efficiency.

While the benefits of IBM Power Systems are quite clear, running the hardware in a business is not always so straightforward.

Into the obstacle course

Like many specialist technologies, IBM Power Systems require specialist handling. Think of it like a highly-tuned racing car – capable of doing incredible things, but not without a team of expert engineers and mechanics to maintain it, and a knowledgeable, experienced driver to keep it on the road. Without these things, it either won’t work properly or can only be used for just a fraction of what it’s capable of. This would be a waste of time, money, and effort, not to mention a source of extreme frustration.

For IBM Power Systems the situation is very similar. This technology is capable of doing incredible things and lifting a business to new heights, but only if it has the supporting cast of engineers and maintenance specialists to keep it running as it should.

This situation throws up various obstacles. First, it can be difficult to find people with the right expertise. Most IT and business leaders are familiar with the skills gap – in short that there are more IT roles open than there are professionals to fill them. The more specialist the skills required, the more apparent the problem becomes. For IBM Power Systems, this means finding certified experts and they can often be in short supply. Without them, however, businesses can experience lack of performance and increased downtime. 

The second hurdle is cost. Running and maintaining IBM Power servers on-premises isn’t cheap and, when combined with the need for human expertise, businesses may start thinking about moving their workloads elsewhere. If they want to retain all the benefits of IBM Power, however, they will need to think carefully about what that “elsewhere” actually is and if its TCO is really lower “elsewhere.”

A recipe for migration

For IBM Power users who are struggling with the realities of maintaining the systems they have, there is an alternative solution: Cloud migration.

This may seem like a sensible solution, but migrating IBM Power Systems to the cloud isn’t a simple task either. That’s why it’s worth looking to a partner that specializes in this area, such as Comarch.

Comarch was founded 31 years ago as a systems integrator and software vendor and over the intervening time has built up deep knowledge of IBM Power Systems. This in turn has allowed it to develop IBM Power Cloud, a managed solution that allows businesses to continue benefiting from everything IBM Power Systems have to offer without the associated overheads and staffing stress. In fact, the company estimates its customers can cut costs related to the use of IBM Power by 40% when they migrate to IBM Power Cloud.

Since July 2024, Comarch has been part of the elite IBM Large User Group (LUG). This means it gets access to management, system development, and technical knowledge, directly from IBM,  not just for existing IBM products, but future ones as well.

One real-world example of a customer who has reaped the benefits of IBM Power Cloud is DZI Life Insurance, the oldest insurer in Bulgaria, having been founded in 1946. Following the acquisition of DZI in 2007 by KBC Group, it underwent a digital transformation initiative that included migrating from existing architecture to a new environment it would build itself.

Among the systems that had to be relocated were some IBM i-based environments supporting legacy insurance applications that couldn’t simply be migrated to the public cloud, for example, without the risk of significantly disrupting business continuity. To complicate things further, DZI didn’t have its own IBM Power infrastructure for the IBM iapplications to run on. The cost of acquiring the necessary equipment and recruiting technical staff to set it up and maintain it was also prohibitive, which meant another solution had to be found.

Comarch’s solution to DZI’s predicament was a Power Cloud solution featuring:

• IBM Power9 platform hosted at two of the company’s European IBM cloud regions
• Provisioning IBM i resources in the cloud as virtual servers
• Data recovery as a service and backup as a service
• IBM i security services and IBM i management

“Through its professional attitude in the field of IBM i services and project management, Comarch has invariably proved itself as a reliable, flexible, and trustworthy IT supplier,” says Ivaylo Ganchev, IT director at DZI.

“With a partner like Comarch, DZI was able to accomplish its business objectives and maintain the availability of IT systems during the whole transition period.”

To find out how IBM Power Cloud can boost your IBM Power Systems implementation and reduce downtime, download Always On, Always Available, a free eBook from Comarch.