Why workloads rely on IBM Power

That’s why many organizations run these critical workloads on IBM Power. Built for environments where uptime, performance and resilience are non-negotiable, IBM Power has earned a longstanding reputation for reliability, availability and security. These qualities matter most when technology underpins core operations. 

It’s also why customers continue to rely on IBM Power for their most important workloads, from retail transactions and production management to warehouse operations and financial processing. These systems sit at the center of daily business activity, requiring the ability to scale securely while delivering consistent performance under heavy transactional demand. 

A true strategic advantage

Equally important is how these environments are managed. Service Express operates one of the largest privately owned IBM Power cloud in Europe, enabling organizations to consume resilience as a service. Customers gain high availability, disaster recovery and on-demand capacity without the burden of managing firmware, hardware life cycles or complex clustering. 

The result is greater strategic focus. Internal teams can spend less time maintaining infrastructure and more time optimizing the applications that differentiate the business — in turn, improving customer experience, accelerating innovation and ensuring compliance. 

For crown jewel applications in retail, finance, manufacturing and logistics, resilience isn’t a luxury; it’s the foundation the business relies on. Partnering with experts who understand this reality ensures these critical systems continue to perform without compromise. 

Discover why companies like Pall-Ex trust us with their crown jewels today. 

IBM i 7.6 arrives with strong security improvements

The most significant change in this release was the addition of multi-factor authentication (MFA). With this update, IBM i now supports MFA with common third-party solutions such as Duo, Microsoft and IBM’s own authentication tools. This brings IBM i in line with modern security practices. 

The big security improvements in IBM i 7.6 such as MFA, System ASP encryption and CFGHOSTSVR to enable only secure connections for the host servers are unique to 7.6.  Other enhancements to Navigator for i, DCM and SQL are also made available on IBM i 7.5 with a few even sneaking back to 7.4. 

Another area that saw steady progress was SQL development. The team responsible for SQL functions continued to add new capabilities throughout the year. These additions directly addressed user questions and requests, showing that IBM is listening to real-world needs. 

Power11 rolls out focused improvements

Shortly after introducing IBM i 7.6, IBM released Power11 hardware. For many customers, this was a welcome update, even if it didn’t deliver a dramatic performance jump over Power10. Instead, Power11 offers meaningful improvements in memory capacity, efficiency and system consolidation. 

One notable point was the lack of a new entry-level Power11 system equivalent to the Power10 P05 class. IBM chose not to refresh this smaller configuration. With Power10, the P05 and single socket P10 servers were limited to only 5 PCIe slots. This was a problem for multiple LPARs on the machine. In the P10 IBM i software tier, IBM released the 22B models with 2-sockets and thus had 10 available I/O slots.  When Power11 appeared, IBM effectively merged the 22A and 22B models and set the tier based on the selected processor. Up to 8 cores were P10 and above that P10 LPARs were limited to 4 processor cores.  

The S1012 was the last Power10 server announced. It will not be discontinued in July and may be the only model spared. Customers who need this level of capacity can still find value in existing Power10 systems, which are capable and widely available. However, IBM recently announced withdrawal from marketing for Power10, effective July 31, 2026. 

When comparing Power11 to Power10, the two share many similarities. Both use DDR5 memory, and the physical layout and expansion options remain largely the same. Where Power11 gains an edge is with higher memory speeds, more cores per socket and better energy efficiency. These improvements deliver more consistent performance across a range of workloads while maintaining IBM’s focus on uptime and reliability. 

AI and IBM’s Project Bob

AI was another topic people raised when talking about 2025. It’s not yet the main driver for IBM i shops, but it’s gaining attention. One of the biggest AI developments from IBM last year was Project Bob. 

Project Bob is an AI-first development partner designed to help developers write, test, modernize and secure software more efficiently. Unlike simple code suggestion tools, Bob works with an organization’s actual codebase and development standards and uses multiple AI models to deliver context-aware guidance across the software life cycle. Bob is currently in private tech preview and is already being used internally at IBM to boost developer productivity. 

For IBM i customers, this kind of AI tool suggests where the industry is headed, even if most workloads today don’t center around generative AI. Over time, tools like Bob may influence modernization efforts, development efficiency and integration of traditional platforms with modern software practices. 

What this means for 2026

The trends from 2025 show IBM i continuing on a steady path. Key improvements like MFA address real customer needs. Power11 offers the next step in system evolution with gains in capacity and efficiency. Interest in AI points to future innovation without it being the central focus just yet. 

For IBM i users, 2026 will likely be about making the most of these foundations. Whether that means planning upgrades, tightening security or exploring new capabilities, the platform is positioned for continued relevance and support. 

Listening before we lead

When we meet with you, the first conversation is never about a proposal or a platform. It’s about your world.

We invest time upfront to understand:

• Your role, responsibilities, remit and priorities
• Pressures and opportunities shaping their function
• Strategic business drivers, special projects and organizational change
• Operational challenges, constraints and desired future state
• Technology posture, risks, costs, resilience and performance gaps

This is a detailed, research-driven and face-to-face conversation built entirely around listening. We want to see what you see across the business, not just inside IT, so we can support your road map, not just solve isolated problems.

Turning insight into value

After the initial discovery, the real work begins. We help you pull everything together:

• Business context
• Technical realities
• Risks and constraints
• Pain points and opportunities
• Ideal outcomes and future state

This big-picture analysis enables us to identify where we can make meaningful contributions to closing gaps, reducing risk, improving resilience or creating a more cost-effective and future-proof environment.

Demonstrating we’ve truly heard you

This is where collaboration becomes visible.

We meet with you again and replay the narrative clearly, accurately and in your own words. This is one of the most powerful moments in our process. It demonstrates that we’ve listened, understood and internalised what matters to you.

It also builds:

• Credibility because we reflect the reality you live every day
• Trust because the conversation feels familiar and aligned
• Engagement because you see yourself in the story we tell

From here, we begin to open the door to the art of the possible, not by selling solutions, but by co-creating them.

Our clients feel the difference

“From the very first conversation, it was clear Service Express took the time to understand our priorities and constraints, engaging as a joint problem-solving team before offering any recommendations. Their approach validated our thinking, aligned with our business needs and helped us shape a clear path forward. It quickly felt like they were part of our internal team rather than an external supplier.” — Jezz Howell, Group Head of IT, Briggs Equipment UK Ltd. 

This perspective reflects the heart of our approach: a collaborative, consultative and insight-led partnership that feels like working with a trusted extension of your team. 

What does EOSL mean?

When IBM announces EOSL for a product, sometimes referred to as end of standard service (EOSS), it ends standard maintenance and development for that generation. This means that after January 31, IBM won’t provide service, updates or fixes and will cease developing new code updates, patches or fixes.

Your systems will continue to run after IBM ends support. However, losing access to critical updates and guaranteed service levels can introduce risks, such as slower response times or security vulnerabilities, over time. Planning now will help you avoid issues later.

Exploring options for your infrastructure

When your equipment reaches EOSL, your business has options. You can:

• Refresh your hardware: Upgrade to Power10 or Power11 to get full IBM support, performance gains and security updates. This option comes with higher upfront CapEx and requires downtime to complete the refresh.
• Move to the cloud: Rapidly scale workloads without upfront costs or additional resources needed for physical infrastructure. Take advantage of expert support, proven processes and scalable resources that adapt to your needs, helping your organization move faster and more confidently.
• Extend the life of your equipment: Leverage third-party maintenance (TPM) to prolong the useful life of your current assets. You’ll benefit from immediate continuity, predictable costs and little to no downtime, but won’t have the latest generation of hardware.

The right move for your infrastructure depends on weighing the advantages and disadvantages of each option above against your long-term business road map.

Considerations for your strategic road map

While EOSL can feel like a disruption to your operations, you can use it as an opportunity to reassess your long-term infrastructure strategy. Here’s what to consider when determining your next steps:

In this webinar, IBM i expert and IBM Champion Pete Massiello walks you through the essential steps to prepare for your next upgrade. From prerequisites and planning tips to post-installation requirements, this session will equip you with the knowledge and confidence to complete your upgrade correctly the first time. 

What you’ll learn:

• Understand what to check before starting your system upgrade 
• Learn which required PTFs to apply ahead of time to avoid issues
• Gain insight into post-installation steps that ensure a successful upgrade

Why isn’t sharing /QDLS as a NetServer file share a good idea?

Multithreading. NetServer is shipped as a multithreaded facility by default for optimal performance. Because /QDLS is an ancient directory technology that can’t support multithreading, any file share connections to /QDLS must be single-threaded.

Suppose an SMB client (e.g., a Windows PC) makes its initial SMB connection to the system via a share on /QDLS. The NetServer server-side connection will be a single-threaded job, and any additional accesses to other IFS directories, outside of /QDLS, will also funnel through that single-threaded connection.

Suppose an SMB client makes its initial SMB connection to the system via a share on a normal IFS share (“normal” is a share on a directory outside of /QDLS). The NetServer server-side connection will be a multithreaded job, and any requests to access /QDLS after that initial connection will fail. Therein lies the fundamental problem with /QDLS NetServer shares.

How do you avoid connectivity issues with shares on /QDLS?

The best practice approach is not to have a share on /QDLS in the first place. Suppose you have code running on your system that requires using the /QDLS folder. For example, you may have a population of old applications that execute CPYTOPCD commands to create ASCII files of database files in /QDLS. A good workaround is to use the /QDLS folder, but after you place files there, have your application move those files from /QDLS to a standard IFS directory outside of /QDLS. This allows the directory to be accessed via its own SMB share that a multithreaded connection on the server side will service.

If you must continue to use a share on /QDLS for whatever technical/application reasons and you’re experiencing the /QDLS connectivity issue described above, another approach — albeit not recommended for performance degradation reasons — is to configure your system to only use single-threaded server-side SMB connections with NetServer.

This approach ensures that client-side connections to a /QDLS share will always work because a single-threaded job on the system will always service the client’s connection attempts. Still, it’ll impact your system’s overall performance of IFS file shares. Single-threaded sessions that support file systems like /QDLS that aren’t thread safe are handled by prestart job QZLSFILE, and multi-threaded sessions that support file systems except /QDLS are handled by prestart job QZLSFILET. To force all SMB client connections to be single-threaded, you need to remove the QZLSFILET prestart job entry from subsystem QSERVER using these steps:

1. End NetServer: ENDTCPSVR SERVER(*NETSVR)
2. End the QZLSFILET prestart job: ENDPJ SBS(QSERVER) PGM(QZLSFILET) OPTION(*IMMED)
3. Remove the QZLSFILET prestart job entry: RMVPJE SBSD(QSERVER) PGM(QZLSFILET)
4. Restart NetServer: STRTCPSVR SERVER(*NETSVR)

NetServer will now use only the QZLSFILE prestart jobs (single-threaded) for all SMB client connections. Because the multi-threaded prestart job QZLSFILET entry was removed from the QSERVER subsystem, the QZLSFILET job cannot start when NetServer is restarted. Thus, all SMB connections will be forced into single-threaded connections, and /QDLS connection failures should no longer occur.

If you need to re-enable multithreading for NetServer SMB connections, then execute these steps:

1. Add the QZLSFILET prestart job entry back to subsystem QSERVER: ADDPJE SBSD(QSYS/QSERVER) PGM(QSYS/QZLSFILET) STRJOBS(*NO) INLJOBS(1) THRESHOLD(1) ADLJOBS(0) MAXJOBS(*NOMAX) JOBD(QSYS/QZLSPJ) MAXUSE(1) CLS(QSYS/QPWFSERVER)
2. Start the QZLSFILET prestart job: STRPJ SBS(QSERVER) PGM(QZLSFILET)

Many shops still use the /QDLS directory in their application/processing environments; however, sharing the /QDLS directory using NetServer has some caveats, and hopefully, you now have some good insight into what those may be.

What are the benefits of Power11?

IBM Power11 is a reliable, high-performance server platform that supports mission-critical applications, AI workloads and hybrid cloud deployments. It builds on Power10’s success by significantly improving speed, scalability, efficiency and security. 

1. Performance

While we didn’t see the same CPW and rPERF improvements with Power11 that we’ve seen before, we’re still seeing a price-to-performance increase from Power10 to Power11. 

Below is a comparison of our P20 IBM i SW tier systems from Power8 to Power11. We’re comparing 16x IBM i licensed cores across all generations while considering the top-end total CPW for each. 

The two socket S**24 model machines show a minimal increase in CPW compared to previous generation-to-generation increases. Still, the top-end core count on these systems increased significantly. 

For a better illustration of raw performance increase, it’s best to consider the lower-end P10 IBM i SW tier machines. 

Below is a comparison of the last four generations of the 2U, two socket 22S model servers. I included the two-socket 20-core (10 core/socket) models here. You’ll quickly notice a larger overall CPW increase on these machines. 

With Power11, there’s more to consider than just straight CPW for performance comparison. Hardware performance increases were complemented by the optimization IBM built for specific workloads. 

2. Enhanced resiliency and less downtime

Downtime is costly. Power11 is engineered for 99.9999% availability, thanks to features like live firmware updates, automated failover and spare core technology. These ensure systems stay online, even during maintenance or unexpected events. 

3. Security you can count on

IBM Power Servers have continued to be the tip of the spear regarding security. Each new generation introduces innovative technology and features that continue to lead the pack. 

Power11 is no exception, introducing quantum-safe encryption to protect sensitive data, pervasive memory encryption for end-to-end protection and role-based access controls and audit capabilities. 

4. OS support on Power11

Power11 supported operating systems: 

• AIX: 7.2 and 7.3
• IBM i: 7.4, 7.5 and 7.6

Why Power11 is a smart move

IBM Power11 is more than a performance upgrade; it’s a platform for transformation. For IBM i customers, it offers the best of both worlds: the stability and integration of IBM i, combined with the speed, scalability and innovation of IBM’s latest hardware. 

Whether you’re looking to modernize applications, improve efficiency or prepare for AI-driven workloads, Power11 provides a resilient, secure and future-ready foundation. 

Discover how we can support you at any stage in your IBM journey. Learn more here. 

How similar are Power10 and Power11?

Some will say this release is more like Power10+ than a whole new Power11. Others will say that the processor inside is Power11, so that’s what it is. 

We need to look at the big picture, and there are no significant changes for those items. These include: 

PCIe slots are still Gen5 and Gen4

Is this a problem? Since most of the available cards are Gen4 and even Gen3, it’s likely that Gen6 slots would be wasted today. I expect Gen6 slots and cards to debut in the PowerNext generation of servers. 

Memory module locations and interfaces remain the same as Power10

This IBM-designed interface provides twice as many connections per CPU as competing processors. It also moves the DDR logic from the CPU to the memory module. This allowed Power10-based servers to upgrade from DDR4 to DDR5 without CPU changes. 

Logically, Power11 servers should be able to upgrade from DDR5 to DDR6 if the DDR6 specification becomes available soon. For the record, I’m not holding my breath on this! While some lesser systems may try out pre-spec DDR6 memory, it makes no sense for IBM to release anything that isn’t entirely up to the final specifications, and DDR6 is nowhere near completed. 

Before assuming all memory is the same, consider that most memory capacities doubled from Power10 to Power11 with the new higher-density chips on the modules. 

The most prominent feature now delivers 512GB of memory on a single module. That one feature has more than a thousand times the storage of the largest hard drive of the original AS/400! It’s also cheaper, faster, smaller and uses less power. Who knew? 

Looking inside the server

Many visible features are the same as Power10. These include the number and speed of slots, the number of sockets and the number of DIMM slots. Beyond the cabinet, nearly all the I/O cards and NVMe modules are also identical. There’s a new 200Gbps Ethernet adapter for those who feel the need for speed! 

One conspicuously absent member of the Power11 family is the very popular 41A single CPU socket server model. Less surprisingly, the S1012 half-wide 2U edge-level server, announced only last year, hasn’t been refreshed for Power11. 

Other physical system changes include removing support for external drawers that hold old-fashioned spinning disk drives. These couldn’t have been ordered with Power10, but they were at least supported on those servers. Power11 disk choices include NVMe and external storage. Would you like to see that list again? 

If you’ve absorbed everything I’ve said so far, you might be thinking, “Ho hum. It was time for IBM to release a new machine, so they added 1, got 11 and here we are.” 

If you think that way, you haven’t read far enough! 

How does Power11 outperform Power10?

Higher memory frequencies with lower latency

In addition to increased memory capacity in Power11, these servers significantly improve memory throughput using higher memory frequencies with lower latency. Memory in Power11 servers is all DDR5 with frequencies up to 4800 MHz. Compared to Power10 DDR5 memory, speeds are often 50% faster. From Power10 servers with DDR4, the DDR5 on Power11 operates as much as 80% faster! 

An enhanced processor chip

As mentioned previously, the processor chip is Power11, and while it has the same shape and number of pins as Power10, it’s enhanced! The Power11 processor is based on Power10, which is true, but there are updates. 

These include more active cores per socket, two spare cores per socket in most configurations and higher core frequencies. Despite having more cores and higher frequencies, they still achieve improved energy efficiency. The system’s energy efficiency mode can also be scheduled to maximize throughput during peak workload times but scale back energy use during periods of low utilization. 

Reliability and zero planned downtime

Another focus IBM has for Power11 servers is improving uptime for the server line. We all know that Power servers have been the most reliable servers for running your business for years, but IBM isn’t resting on its laurels regarding reliability. With Power11, IBM aims for zero planned downtime, leveraging capabilities like Live Partition Mobility (LPM) for the increasingly rare cases when a server outage is required to perform an update. 

Automated data collection

Starting in the AS/400 days, IBM i gained the ability to “phone home” to report hardware and operating system issues. That capability has improved with every release. With Power11, IBM has automated even more data collection, not just from the operating system, but from all areas across the hardware and supporting components, so that when an issue arises, IBM will automatically have the needed troubleshooting data at its fingertips. For the customer, this means less work to report issues and less time for resolution. 

So, is it Power11 or Power10+?

I’d say you could call it either way, as long as it’s Power10 with more memory, faster memory, more cores and more GHz — thus, better overall system performance with greater efficiency! Additionally, increased reliability, quality and timely reporting, spare cores and reaching Six 9’s of availability. Quantum-safe encryption for Secure Boot and LPM offers improved security. And it wouldn’t be 2025 if the system didn’t gain more AI capabilities. 

While there may not have been any surprises in the naming, one thing remains clear: Power11 is IBM’s next-generation Power server. 

What are some slick features inside IBM i 7.6?

Security is finally at the forefront of everyone’s minds, rightfully so. With breaches, ransomware and cyberattacks making daily headlines, companies are under increasing pressure to tighten how they protect their data. Just yesterday, I sat in a CFO’s office describing a Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) proposal. His biggest question? “How do you protect my data?” 

My most favorite new feature? Well, there’s two: 

Built-in multi-factor authentication (MFA)

First, IBM i 7.6 offers built-in multi-factor authentication (MFA).

That means you can now require users to confirm their identity with a secondary factor, like with an app on their phone. The integrated MFA is an additional layer that validates a user is who they say they are and strengthens the IBM i overall security posture. This extra layer of protection doesn’t cost one penny extra or require any additional software. It just works right out of the can.

Auxiliary storage pool (ASP)

Second, we now can encrypt the system Auxiliary Storage Pool (ASP).

Before this, to encrypt the system ASP, you’d need to purchase external storage and encrypt those disks before presenting logical unit numbers (LUNs) to the IBM i. Customers on the smaller end of the spectrum can’t usually justify purchasing a SAN, so this feature is tipping the hat to the smaller shops. The only requirement to encrypt the system ASP is option 45 of the operating system licensed program, Encrypted ASP Enablement. The feature is accessed from inside Service Tools and doesn’t require any downtime to enable.

Additional honorable mentions

The CFGHOSTSVR command

Another cool feature is the CFGHOSTSVR command, which enables and even forces encrypted connections to IBM i host servers, such as database, file, network print and sign-on servers.

Previously, to prevent your host servers from operating on unencrypted ports, you’d have to mess around with TCP/IP port restrictions; this has never been a simple or straightforward task for the average administrator.

IBM Navigator for i

IBM Navigator for i (the main web-based interface for managing the system) continues to improve steadily. It’s become a clean, more intuitive interface. It includes helpful wizards for setting up things like TLS encryption, managing digital certificates, enabling those new MFA options and managing the host servers we just discussed. Administrators will love how much easier it is to see what’s happening at a glance, especially when managing multiple systems. Some significant new dashboards track license expirations, security events and performance trends.

Is that all there is? Not in the slightest!

In fact, there are a whole bunch of features that I haven’t even touched on here, including many related to security. Digital Certificate Manager had a facelift. IBM Debugger clients can now secure their connections. The ability to view (not change) specific system parameters previously required *IOSYSCFG special authority.

Stronger AES encryption is enabled out of the gate instead of the older DES and triple-DES encryption for Kerberos and Enterprise Identity Mapping configurations. The security PTF group apply date is visible on the WRKPTFGRP screen to show you how old your security fixes are.

However, because of the two main features (in my opinion) of System ASP encryption and multi-factor authentication, the question shouldn’t be whether you should upgrade to IBM i 7.6. It should be when.

And the answer is: yesterday.