Report Table of Contents:
1. Introduction & Survey Highlights (current page)
2026 marks the 12th edition of the IBM i Marketplace Survey Results. Each year, Fortra captures data on how businesses use IBM Power, IBM i, developer languages and tools, applications, cybersecurity, cloud, and more.
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.
Everywhere we go, members of the IBM i community tell us about the significance of this survey. Business partners, IBM, and its customers alike have routinely used this data to help other members of the IBM i ecosystem understand the needs of their users and the trends they should be aware of. We thank everyone who has confirmed that our efforts are appreciated and contribute to the betterment of the IBM i community.
This survey is meant to reflect the thoughts and opinions of the IBM i community, and we encourage you to use the community’s collective voice to spark conversations within your organization on how current challenges can be addressed. Over the 12 years of this survey, we have learned that this marketplace’s longevity is fueled by the unique business applications that thrive on the stability and scalability of this technology.
We have also seen a continued emphasis on security, indicating that customers are no longer convinced that IBM i is immune to malware, or secure just because it sits behind a firewall. IBM i customers rely on the community for education on security, and we expect to see it become even more relevant in the years to come.
320 IBM i users from all over the world completed this year’s survey, which revealed an increased emphasis on IBM i skills and AI, a growing interest in new hardware and software releases, and an uptick in movement to cloud-exclusive environments. We hope you find these and the many other data points to be thought-provoking and informative as you plan your 2026 projects.
As always, I want to thank everyone who participated in the research and who helped bring it all together, especially in languages like Spanish and German. Your help and enthusiasm are always appreciated. I would also like to thank our team here at Fortra who put so much time and energy into publishing these results.
SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS
IBM i Skills Is the Number One Concern in 2026
Every year, we ask IBM i professionals to select their top five concerns when planning their IT environment. For the past nine years, cybersecurity has garnered the most selections. In 2026, that streak has come to an end. IBM i skills now holds the top spot, followed by cybersecurity.
Concern regarding IBM i skills is nothing new, since few higher education programs include this operating system. However, IT personnel shortages worldwide could be disproportionately impacting this unique pool of professionals. Understanding this, IBM continues to emphasize modernization and productivity tools like Bob, RDi, and Visual Studio Code. IBM has also begun investing heavily in a new unified code assistant that will alleviate the workload of IBM i programmers.
New Software and Hardware Upgrades Highly Sought After
With the release of IBM i 7.6 in April and Power11 in July, IBM introduced a number of highly sought-after features into the marketplace. This is evidenced by the 70% of respondents with plans to upgrade their hardware, software, or both in 2026 – a record-high for this survey. This figure also suggests that IBM i shops are keying in on the security improvements in IBM i 7.6 – specifically MFA – and are seeking the hardware that will allow them to take full advantage of the latest software.
Cybersecurity Concern Remains High
While cybersecurity is not the number one concern in 2026, it does remain squarely at number two with 64%. Clearly IBM i professionals are still challenged with keeping their defenses up to date and addressing an evolving threat landscape. However, 64% is lower than the percentage of survey takers who considered security a top concern in 2024 and 2025. So what changed?
One possibility is that IBM i shops are relying on their cloud providers to make them more secure. Cloud providers do not inherently assume the responsibility of securing your data, which is why we recommend that all organizations confirm the extent of their security coverage with their provider. IBM i shops are also increasingly turning to managed service providers to handle critical security functions. It should also be noted that other answer options that are trending upwards – such as AI/ML, IBM i skills, and compliance – overlap with certain elements of cybersecurity concern and could be diverting responses away from it.
Visual Studio Code Usage Has Surpassed RDi
For the first time ever, Visual Studio Code usage surpassed RDi, despite the fact that RDi usage increased by three percentage points. This suggests that the use cases for both tools have been firmly established and are being recognized by IBM i community members. RDi has ingrained itself as the premier tool for mature IBM i development environments while Visual Studio Code offers a lightweight, Git-friendly alternative. These options, among others – such as the Application Development Tool Set – offer IBM i developers a well-rounded set of tools to choose from.
