What does an IBM Power migration cost?
Costs vary widely by path. Plan by component and on a three-year total cost of ownership, not the migration project alone.
A lift-and-shift of a modest AIX/IBM i estate to cloud Power is largely a project-services and consumption cost. For a deeper look at IBM i specifically, see the IBM i migration cost breakdown. A replatform off Power is dominated by application engineering and testing. As with any migration, plan by component and on a three-year total cost of ownership, not the migration project alone.
Cost components by path
| Category | Cloud Power (PowerVS) | On-prem Power10 | AIX→Linux replatform |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform / hosting | $100k–$800k+/yr | $150k–$1.5M capex | x86 / cloud baseline |
| Migration labor | $60k–$300k | $50k–$200k | $300k–$2M+ |
| App testing / rework | Low (lift-and-shift) | Low | Very high |
Ranges are illustrative and for planning orientation only, your actual numbers depend on core counts, OS mix, data volumes, and contract terms. We size them precisely in an assessment.
Hidden costs to budget for
- Network and private-connectivity setup into the cloud Power region
- Data migration and replication transfer for large databases
- IBM i and AIX software / ISV licensing portability checks
- Backup, HA, and DR reconfiguration on the new platform
- Specialist contractor augmentation for scarce skills
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