Report Table of Contents:
1. Introduction & Survey Highlights (current page)
2024 marks the tenth edition of the IBM i Marketplace Survey Results. Each year, Fortra captures data on how businesses use the IBM i platform and the IT and cybersecurity initiatives it supports.
Over the years, this survey has become a true industry benchmark, revealing to readers the trends that are shaping and driving the market and providing insight into what the future may bring for this technology.
This survey is meant to encourage conversation about IBM i and what the community is or should be doing to address recent challenges and plan for the future. The hybrid workforce has been cemented as the new normal, and organizations have done a tremendous job of addressing the infrastructure and security challenges that have come with such a drastic change. As we look towards the future, cybersecurity remains top-of-mind for executives while the need for modernized applications continues to grow.
270 IBM i users from all over the world completed this year’s survey, which revealed a steep increase in adoption of Power10 and IBM i 7.5, a high ROI satisfaction with the platform, and record high levels of concern about cybersecurity and application modernization. IBM i skills, high availability and disaster recovery, and all things cloud also piqued the interested of this year’s survey respondents. We hope you find these and the many other data points to be thought-provoking and informative as you plan your 2024 projects.
As always, I want to thank everyone who participated in the research and who helped bring it all together. Your help and enthusiasm are always appreciated. I would also like to thank our team here at Fortra who puts so much time and energy into publishing these results.
SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS
Modernizing applications is a growing priority.
For the third straight year, concern around modernization has grown, with 72% of respondents now citing it as a top concern compared to just 51% in 2021. This trend is likely correlated with two things: the realization that IBM i is not going anywhere and the growing concern over IBM i skills. Both are resulting in organizations feeling the need to make their user interface and operations more conducive to admins and users with less experience. The concern of modernizing applications has also resulted in a need to outsource certain operations, contributing to the steady increase in cloud-exclusive or hybrid environments.
Concerns around cybersecurity reach record heights.
Even among cybersecurity’s eight-year run as the top concern for those planning their IT environment, the 2024 results stand out. 79% of respondents listed cybersecurity as a top concern, breaking the previous record of 77% and marking an 11% increase from 2023. Not only has cybersecurity remained a top priority, but it is clearly being further emphasized by IT leadership. And although organizations prioritizing security seem to be implementing multiple solutions, it is still alarming that 57% of respondents do not have firewall type software for protecting DB2 and only 37% have antivirus/ransomware protection. If your organization has concerns over IBM i cybersecurity skills, managed security services could be a solution.
Power10 and IBM i 7.5 adoption are taking off.
Organizations are beginning to adopt the IBM Power10 scale-up and scale-out servers running the Power10 processor at a much greater rate. The percentage of respondents that own Power10 increased from 6% in 2023 all the way to 32% in 2024. Similarly, the percentage of respondents using IBM i 7.5 as their primary operating system level made a jump from 2% to 19%. Customers clearly understand the many tangible benefits that come with each new operating system and hardware release. The findings also demonstrate that older hardware (Power8 and older) and operating system levels (7.3 and older) are being gradually phased out. Make sure to plan your upgrades accordingly, so you aren’t left unsupported.
Organizations reward the reliability of IBM i.
It's no surprise that many businesses rely on IBM i as their primary business solution, given the platform's reputation for stability. 71% of respondents use IBM i to run more than half of their core business applications. This is a testament to the reliability of the IBM i system. Less than 3% of respondents expect to have migrated all apps off IBM i within the next two years while 12% will increase their workload and 13% will move to cloud.
Rational Developer for i (RDi) and Visual Studio Code facilitate teamwork in the modern workplace.
One of the most prominent IBM i productivity tools is Rational Developer for i (RDi). For this reason, it’s encouraging that this year's survey further cements RDi as a primary development tool. 56% of respondents reported using RDi, placing it squarely in second behind the Application Development Tool Set consisting of SEU, PDM, and more. Visual Studio Code is another primary development tool, with 37% of respondents reporting that they use it. RDi, Visual Studio Code, and other tools facilitate communication and teamwork, both of which are crucial in the modern, telecommuting workplace. If you're having trouble figuring out how to implement RDi but want some guidance, these six tutorials might help. There are more ISVs that support modernization efforts with other tools listed later in this document.
RPG delivers on its promises.
The amount of development that takes place on IBM i is always a particular area of interest in our research. Once again, RPG is the most widely used language for new development on IBM i (89%), but people are clearly using multiple languages (SQL, CLP, open languages, etc.). This trend is fueled by the fact that modern RPG looks and acts like other languages, which also makes it easier to teach. This is promising for the future of IBM i and can help to close the IBM i skills gap.
Trust and satisfaction on IBM i remain high.
94% of respondents this year believe their IBM i server gives them better ROI than other servers, a number IBM can be proud of. 12% of respondents will increase their IBM i footprint in 2024, and 43% of users will continue to run their IBM i environment as is. In addition, another 13% say will stay with IBM i, but they will move to the cloud. This speaks to the satisfaction that IBM i customers are experiencing.
