Your Roadmap for Replacing Retired IBM i Security and Compliance Tools

On Jan 1, 2026, the IBM i Security Expert Labs team withdrew from marketing these 5 tools: CART, CART Express, Advanced Authentication, Network Firewall, and Privileged Elevation Tool.

As a result, these products are no longer available for new sales, and an end‑of‑support date has been set for December 31, 2027 (or earlier, depending on your software maintenance contract).

Given the critical role these tools play, their withdrawal raises important questions about ongoing security, compliance, and operational continuity. Before exploring replacement options, it’s worth taking a closer look at what relying on unsupported software really means for your environment.

The Importance of Moving to a Supported Solution

When a security tool reaches end of support, the risks compound quickly. Unsupported software introduces several challenges that can’t be ignored:

No Ongoing Security or Maintenance Updates

Once development stops, so do:

• Security patches
• Bug fixes
• Performance improvements
• Feature enhancements

This creates a widening security gap as new vulnerabilities emerge and old issues remain unresolved.

Compatibility Issues as Your Environment Evolves

Unsupported tools often struggle to keep pace with:

• OS upgrades
• Hardware refreshes
• Middleware or application updates

Over time, this can lead to instability, broken integrations, or complete loss of functionality.

Operational Risk for High‑Demand Environments

Organizations like managed service providers (MSPs) that depend on speed and reliability cannot afford tools that degrade over time. For them, unsupported solutions eventually become a bottleneck.

This is compounded by the fact that solution support is also eliminated, meaning when engineers will not have a point of contact to reach out to with issues related to the product and will be forced to resolve them on their own. 

Why Powertech Is a Strong Alternative

You’re Backed by World Class Power Security Technology and Expertise

Powertech has been a global leader in IBM i security since 1986. Our solutions build on IBM i’s robust, built‑in controls and extend them into a suite of award‑winning commercial tools trusted by organizations worldwide.

Beyond proven software, Powertech customers gain access to a knowledgeable, highly experienced support team. Questions, concerns, and requests for best‑practice guidance are handled by experts who have spent years assisting customers and, in many cases, managing real‑world IBM i security operations themselves.

With that foundation of stability and expertise, Powertech offers several supported, modern alternatives to the IBM tools being sunsetted:

• Powertech Exit Point Manager: This solution takes network firewalling to the next level by allowing you to monitor and control any and all back doors to your network through centralized, rule-based administration. Easily:
  • Control access to specific protocols
  • Restrict by function or location
  • Maintain detailed recordings of network transactions
  • Analyze activity reports for advanced forensic capabilities
• Powertech Authority Broker: Delegate and monitor the use of elevated privileges, eliminating the need for special authorities in staff members’ everyday profiles. With Authority Broker, you can:
  • Define the users who have the ability to swap into privileged profiles
  • Control what authorities they can switch to
  • Set date or time restrictions for how long they can use that authority
  • Record their activity while using elevated authority.
• Powertech Compliance Monitor: Simplify the task of generating reports across your IBM i systems. Compliance Monitor consolidates audit and security data from multiple systems into a single report. Easily:
  • Select, run, and view the reports you wish to see
  • Compare systems and identify areas of improvement
  • Retrieve and store audit data without consuming too much space
  • Automate the generation and distribution of reports

Please reference the following table to see which Powertech tools can be used to replace which Expert Labs products: