Why IBM Power is moving to the cloud

For decades, AIX and IBM i ran on Power servers in the corner of the data center. Two forces are now pushing those workloads toward the cloud.

For decades, AIX and IBM i ran on Power servers sitting in the corner of the data center, reliable, but tied to a hardware refresh cycle and a shrinking pool of specialist skills. Two forces are now pushing those workloads toward the cloud: aging Power8 and Power9 fleets reaching end of support, and IBM's own expansion of Power Virtual Server as a first-class cloud destination.

What changed

Power Virtual Server made it possible to run AIX, IBM i, and Linux on Power as a cloud service, billed by consumption, in IBM data centers worldwide. Partner-hosted Power clouds and Skytap on Azure followed. For the first time, leaving your own Power hardware no longer means leaving the platform, or rewriting the applications that depend on it. See our full comparison of IBM Power cloud options to map out the available destinations.

What's pushing teams to act now

• Power8 and older systems past or nearing end of service support
• Capital cost and lead times of a like-for-like hardware refresh
• A retiring generation of AIX and IBM i administrators
• Data-center consolidation and exit mandates from the business
• Pressure to put DR and resilience on a modern footing