IBM i occupies a distinct place in enterprise technology. It is not the newest platform in the data center, nor is it the loudest presence in conversations about cloud native applications, generative AI, or digital transformation. Yet for many global organizations, IBM i remains one of the most important systems they own. It runs core workloads, protects business data, supports high transaction volumes, and helps organizations avoid the disruption that often comes with replacing proven infrastructure. In modern business operations, its role is less about nostalgia and more about continuity, efficiency, resilience, and controlled modernization.
IBM Power running IBM i is a fully integrated operating system for mission critical workloads, with the database, middleware, security, runtime, and hypervisor delivered as part of a unified stack. That integration is central to the platform’s value. Instead of stitching together many separate components, organizations can operate a tightly controlled environment built around IBM Db2 for i, enterprise security, workload management, and administration tools. IBM’s current product information also highlights deployment flexibility across on premises systems, private cloud models, and IBM Power Virtual Server.
This matters because IBM i is often used where failure is expensive. Banks, insurers, manufacturers, retailers, distributors, healthcare organizations, logistics providers, and public sector agencies depend on systems that can process transactions reliably, preserve data integrity, and support complex rules built up over decades. Many of those rules live in RPG, COBOL, SQL, and custom applications that reflect how the business actually runs. Replacing them wholesale can be risky, costly, and slow. Modernizing them in place, while preserving operational knowledge, is often the more practical strategy.
The strongest evidence for IBM i’s continuing relevance comes from the installed base itself. Fortra’s 2026 IBM i Marketplace Survey, discussed in IBM Community and industry coverage, reported participation from about 310 IBM i professionals across industries. The published highlights stated that 95 percent of respondents believe IBM i provides better return on investment than other platforms, 76 percent run multiple partitions, 53 percent rely on high availability for recovery, 60 percent are using Power10, and 90 percent are on IBM i 7.4 or 7.5. while 3 percent have already adopted the newly released 7.6
Those figures point to a platform that is not simply being kept alive, but actively operated, upgraded, and trusted. IBM i’s value proposition is especially strong for organizations that need high availability, predictable performance, and efficient administration. A smaller team can often manage workloads that might require more personnel on fragmented architectures. The result is a lower operational burden and a clearer line between infrastructure stability and business outcomes.
Security is another reason IBM i continues to matter. TechChannel reported that cybersecurity was the top concern for 77 percent of respondents, followed by IBM i skills and modernization. It also noted that common security measures include exit point security, privileged user management, compliance and audit reporting, and high availability or disaster recovery planning.
IBM has also continued to invest in security and administration. IBM i 7.6 introduced integrated multi factor authentication support, and IBM’s release lifecycle page shows IBM i 7.6 as generally available in April 2025, following IBM i 7.5 in 2022. These updates are important because they demonstrate that IBM i is not frozen in an earlier era. The platform continues to evolve around the same priorities that made it valuable in the first place: security, reliability, manageability, and compatibility.
Modernization is where IBM i’s future (particularly with new developments like IBM Bob AI) becomes especially interesting. The most successful organizations are not treating modernization as a binary choice between staying put and migrating away. Instead, they are exposing business logic through APIs, improving user interfaces, adopting Git and modern development practices, integrating open-source languages, and connecting IBM i data to analytics platforms. This approach lets companies preserve proven transaction systems while building modern digital experiences around them. Rocket Software’s modernization guidance makes a similar point, arguing that organizations can gain productivity, faster time to market, and stronger resilience by renewing IBM i applications rather than rebuilding everything from scratch.
The future of IBM i will likely be shaped by five connected trends. The first is hybrid architecture. Organizations will keep core systems of record on IBM i while integrating cloud services for analytics, customer engagement, development, and AI experimentation. The second is security modernization. Built in MFA, stronger auditing, privileged access controls, and cyber resilience planning will become baseline expectations rather than optional enhancements.
The third trend is skills transformation. IBM i skills remain a concern because many experienced professionals are nearing retirement, while newer developers often know JavaScript, Python, Java, SQL, DevOps tooling, and cloud platforms better than RPG or traditional green screen workflows. The answer will not be one tool or one hiring campaign. It will require better documentation, AI assisted code understanding, training through user groups such as COMMON, mentoring—including multiple Fortra bootcamps—and development environments that make IBM i more accessible to modern teams. COMMON remains a central ecosystem resource through education, events, advocacy, and community programs for IBM i and Power professionals.
The fourth trend is AI and automation. IT Jungle’s analysis of the 2025 survey noted rising interest in AI and machine learning, with AI and ML moving from 18 percent in 2024 to 30 percent in 2025 as a top concern or priority area. AI will not replace the need to understand business logic, but it can help teams analyze code, generate documentation, identify dependencies, improve testing, and accelerate modernization planning.
The fifth trend is steady platform renewal. IBM’s ongoing Technology Refresh model, along with IBM i 7.6 and related updates, suggests continued investment in database enhancements, administration tools, application development, performance, and resiliency. Industry coverage from TechChannel has emphasized improvements in modernization, open-source integration, security, high availability, and developer productivity.
IBM i’s future will not be defined by whether it looks like the newest platform. It will be defined by whether it continues to deliver dependable business outcomes while adapting to new demands. The evidence suggests that it will. Organizations are still running core applications on IBM i, still investing in Power hardware, still prioritizing high availability, and still looking for ways to modernize without unnecessary disruption. In a technology market often driven by replacement narratives, IBM i offers a different lesson: the most modern business platform is not always the one that was built most recently. It is the one that keeps critical operations running, integrates with what comes next, and gives leaders the confidence to innovate without putting the business at risk.
