29
Fri, Nov
0 New Articles

Rochester Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of AS/400

Analysis of News Events
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

The event presents an opportunity for reflecting on the success of a unique platform and gives rise to the question of whether it will last another decade--or perhaps longer.

 

IBM workers in Rochester, Minnesota, and their guests from COMMON will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the AS/400 today, a milestone that begs the question of whether the venerable architecture that so steadfastly outlasted most of IBM's early competitors will be around for another decade or longer.

 

Trying to describe the essence of the AS/400--or today more appropriately called Power Systems--may be somewhat akin to defining the nature of a human being. Are you your body (the hardware)? Are you your soul (the operating system)? Are you your collective set of behaviors (the software that works on you alone)?

 

With the functional challenges that have emerged in porting the IBM i OS over to the BladeCenter, it isn't even clear that the AS/400 is the sum of its parts; it appears to take on characteristics beyond those individual components contained within it and become a unique creation altogether. The AS/400 clearly wasn't just the operating system, although that obviously was a core element. Collectively, it has been the result of a synergistic effect in the realm of combining two chemical elements and arriving at a third with unique characteristics--one plus one has now equaled nine.

 

The reason the computer has endured and the reason for its somewhat mysterious nature goes far beyond its technology and operating system. It goes deep into the teams of intelligent, hardworking people who have contributed their time, their best and brightest ideas, and their long hours of hard work to make it a success. The mystery of the AS/400 and the explanation for its longevity is not its unique architecture, although that has been an enabling component. Its remarkable success is rooted in the community of dedicated people passionate about its development, growth, and continued usefulness in furthering the ambitions of millions of business people and those who depend on them throughout the world.

 

The 20th anniversary of the announcement marking the introduction of the AS/400, actually this past Saturday, June 21st, is "not only an opportunity to reflect on the technology changes over the years," says Ian Jarman, manager, Power Systems software. "It's also a time to reflect on the community and strength of passion and dedication on their part as well."

 

Jarman notes that a look down memory lane reveals the enormous impact the AS/400 has had on IBM in the small to midsize business segment, where it has been a "powerhouse," providing new sales revenues and opportunities for follow-on business. But a large part of that success "has been through the strength of the ISV community and the application market that grew up around the AS/400," he says. The other tier in supporting the growth and proliferation of the system, of course, has been the Business Partners and the design of the reseller channel model, which has served the market well for many years.

 

"The anniversary is not only a celebration of all the technology achievements as much as it is about the achievements of the community and the marketplace itself," says Jarman.

 

Whether users and the overall marketplace are growing tired of the venerable AS/400 in its later forms and perhaps would like to shed it for something completely new and refreshingly different isn't clear. What is clear is that many businesses are intimately wed to the platform and couldn't easily get out of the union even if they wanted to. IBM, like a good mother-in-law, is always close by, constantly trying to shore up the relationship and smooth over any disputes that could lead to larger problems.

 

Certainly, there are new things to excite loyal users and newbies about the IBM i platform and to help keep the romance alive. These include:

•·        Moving to the faster Power6 processor

•·        Release of V6.1 of the IBM i operating system

•·        Porting the OS onto a blade in the BladeCenter S

•·        Expanded virtualization using PowerVM to seamlessly run IBM i, AIX, and Linux all on the same platform

•·        And the most recent announcement that the lightning-fast Power 595 64-way server, which broke the 5 GHz barrier, will be ready and available in September to customers running IBM i OS

 

In an interview with MC Press Online, Jarman noted somewhat ironically the differences between the first AS/400, a Model B10, announced in June 1988, and the Power 595 in terms of their relative capabilities. Using IBM's performance metric, CPW, the B10 stood at three, but the Power 595 will come in at 300,000--a multiple of 100,000 times more capable than the first machine 20 years ago. What is even more ironic is that the application that ran on the first B10 would still run just fine on the Power 595 with no recompilation necessary due to the underlying AS/400 architecture and IBM's commitment to protect its customers' prior investment in software.

 

Jarman noted that, while IBM has made a large investment in the platform, so have a lot of ISVs, Business Partners, and customers. IBM for several years has been working with ISVs to modernize their applications, a sore point with customers a few years back who saw some ISVs resting on their laurels despite major upgrades in the hardware platform.

 

"At this point, the vast majority of our ISVs have made the move to modernize their applications," said Jarman. "They have adapted their investments by adding new interfaces, Web-based capabilities etc., but at the same time, they have been able to retain the core value of their application code."

 

Jarman notes that the competitors like DEC and VAX, against whom IBM was selling when the AS/400 first came out, are no longer in the market. Today, the company is competing against Dell, Hewlett Packard, and Sun, and Power Systems are doing very well, particularly in the UNIX market with their AIX offerings.

 

Despite some reports to the contrary, Jarman sees the IBM i platform remaining viable for many years to come for several reasons. One is the unique architecture that has allowed it to come this far while protecting businesses investments in software; two is the huge investment in legacy applications that businesses don't want to abandon; and three is the fact that IBM continues to invest in new technology to maintain and enhance both the hardware and the operating system to keep it current with today's business needs.

 

He did acknowledge that one of the major developments this year, the introduction of IBM i onto a blade, has yet to catch on in the marketplace, but there are customers now considering it. New IBM investments to allow support for tape and RAID 5 in the BladeCenter S chassis will mean both features will be available within the next year to address expressed user needs. "The vast majority of sales that we have this year will still be in the traditional model [non-blade]," says Jarman. "There's a long way to go in terms of ramp-up and adoption," he concedes but affirms that IBM foresees significant market expansion in blades and reports there is consensus within the company "that we need to be making investments in order to exploit the growth of blades."

 

With the future of computing seemingly headed toward "the cloud," Jarman believes Power Systems are uniquely suited to play in that virtualized world because of the inherent virtualized architecture of the platform and the introduction of PowerVM, which presently is the fastest-selling software product on the platform.

 

"I think we're very well-positioned in the area already because at the heart of cloud computing is virtualization," he says. "The architecture of the system is actually a virtual architecture," says Jarman, adding that more than 95 percent of the platform's larger clients are already using logical partitioning and virtualization.

 

As to the disparity between available RPG programmers and companies' needs for them to modernize and maintain a vast number of legacy systems, Jarman says IBM continues to work on that challenge with its expanding Academic Initiative and sees the impending retirement of IBM i professionals as creating a "tremendous opportunity" for the next generation of IT workers. "Our systems run in many of the best companies," notes Jarman, "and those are the companies you want to work for." Jarman recommends students become familiar with tools that will enable them to program in multiple environments, however, and says that knowing only a single programming language "isn't going to be enough" to meet the challenges of the next decade.

 

Will the AS/400, or its offspring IBM i operating system, whether it's running on a blade in a virtualized environment or on a standalone box, make it past its third decade in good health? There certainly seem to be enough stakeholders involved to suggest the answer easily could be a dignified mais bien sûr, or, for those who may yet know but one "language"--but of course!

Chris Smith

Chris Smith was the Senior News Editor at MC Press Online from 2007 to 2012 and was responsible for the news content on the company's Web site. Chris has been writing about the IBM midrange industry since 1992 when he signed on with Duke Communications as West Coast Editor of News 3X/400. With a bachelor's from the University of California at Berkeley, where he majored in English and minored in Journalism, and a master's in Journalism from the University of Colorado, Boulder, Chris later studied computer programming and AS/400 operations at Long Beach City College. An award-winning writer with two Maggie Awards, four business books, and a collection of poetry to his credit, Chris began his newspaper career as a reporter in northern California, later worked as night city editor for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, and went on to edit a national cable television trade magazine. He was Communications Manager for McDonnell Douglas Corp. in Long Beach, Calif., before it merged with Boeing, and oversaw implementation of the company's first IBM desktop publishing system there. An editor for MC Press Online since 2007, Chris has authored some 300 articles on a broad range of topics surrounding the IBM midrange platform that have appeared in the company's eight industry-leading newsletters. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: