Reader Feedback on The Carrot: i5/OS V5R4 Gets Execution Stay Until May

January 17, 2011 Timothy Prickett Morgan

Hello, TPM:

This is my second response to the 5.4 conversion requirement. Our company can’t–can not–get the source code for the menu/security portion of the ERP system we utilize. We have money and want to upgrade to Power7 hardware, but do not have the $700,000 to $1.5 million to upgrade or change our ERP system.

IBM has told us, through our business partner, that it would cost them $8 million to allow i5/OS V5R4 to run on Power7 and that they don’t see the market to justify the expense. What is $8 million to IBM, a company party?

Please, we are all not Jurassic laggards. Some of us–I intuitively believe a lot of us–are just plain stuck at V5R4 because of IBM’s not spending just a very little bit more to help the i community.

–Roger

Hi, Tim:

Your article about IBM i 5.4 was spot on. I have spoken to lots of independent consultants and resellers. They see the biggest threat to the platform as the large number of organizations who are sticking with 5.4.

Everyone’s first reaction was to blame IBM. (It’s more than a Pavlovian reaction, it’s our favorite sport). When we got down to discussing specific customers, however, it became obvious that the major cause is the high prices that software vendors are charging to move to a new release.

IBM can make a good argument about why moving to a new system is more reliable, saves energy, etc. But none of that counts when vendors are asking huge sums for no increase in value. Everyone’s fear is that, when the inevitable comes and the software needs to be replaced, nobody will remember why they picked IBM in the first place.

–Name withheld on request

Hi, Timothy:

We have upgraded to V6 last summer, and now we are migrating to V7.

The conversion to migrating to V6 was just one command that runs without problem (in one hour on our system), migrating to V6 is not such a big deal.

–Fred

I hope you had a great holiday break, but I must say that I have really been looking forward to your return. Thanks for creating such a great newsletter and I hope that 2011 turns out to be your best year yet . . . .

–JB

The Stick: IBM Jacks Up i5/OS V5R4 Prices

Whaaa? IBM Gets Stingier with Power Systems Deals

Big Blue Widens IBM i User Fee Discount Deal

IBM Gives Schools Discounts on Power Systems Iron

Entry IBM i Server Deals Greased With License Discounts

IBM Ducks i Pricing on Most Entry Power7 Servers

IBM Allows i and 5250 Licenses to Jump Hardware

Reader Feedback on Allowing IBM i and 5250 Licenses to Jump Hardware

IBM Adds Power7 Boxes to Trade-In Deals

IBM Slashes 5250 Enablement Prices, Other Power Systems Tweaks

IBM Cuts Prices for Upgrades to Power 595s

IBM Cuts Power 595 CPU Prices, Offers Remote Server Migration

i/OS Gets Short Sheeted with Power7 Thread Counts

The i/OS Roadmap Revealed–Sort Of

IBM Tweaks Power Systems Trade-In Deal

IBM Slashes Power Systems Memory Prices

The i 7.1s Have It; i5/OS V5R4 Extended

IBM Rolls Up an i 6.1.1 Dot Release

The Curtain Rises a Bit on the Next i OS, Due in 2010

IBM Sunsets i5/OS V5R4, Kills Older 595 Iron

i Roadmaps: Here Be Dragons

i5/OS V5R3 Support Ends in April 2009

Some Info on i5/OS V6R1 and V6R2 Support

Features Galore Inside i5/OS V5R4

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Best Practices for Doing IBM i Cloud Backup & DRaaS Right

In the technology business for 30+ years including more than a decade in cloud backup and disaster recovery, we’ve learned a few things along the way. Here are best practices to follow – and land mines to avoid.

RELIABILITY. Up to 71% of restores from tape contain failures.

BEST PRACTICE: Use disk-to-disk technology for backups.

With disk-to-disk technology, your backup data resides on disk drives, proven to be far more reliable than tapes. When your backup completes, you know the data is secure and accessible on the disk drive. With tapes you never really know if your data is usable until you try to restore it, at which point it’s too late.

BREADTH OF OFFERING. Choice in product and service offerings meet your business’ needs.

BEST PRACTICE: Don’t settle for less than what you need.

Vendor offerings vary widely. Some are designed primarily for consumers and others for enterprise data centers. Choose a solution that scales and offers the features you need to provide the level of service you expect. De-duplication and delta-block technologies will improve performance, reduce your data footprint and save you money. Find out if their de-duplication offering is at the file level or the block level. Make sure the solution can back up servers, PCs, and laptops as well your applications.

SECURITY. 60% of organizations using tapes don’t encrypt their backups.

BEST PRACTICE: End-to-end encryption with no “back door.”

Using encryption with tape makes backups run slowly and often takes too long to fit within a backup window. As a result, most people simply turn encryption off, creating a security risk. Even with the physical safety of disk-to-disk backup, encryption is essential. Look for 256-bit AES. Find a solution that encrypts your data during transmission and storage. Make certain there isn’t a “back door” that would let someone else view your data.

ACCESSIBILITY. Companies waste thousands of hours waiting on tapes.

BEST PRACTICE: Ensure that you can get your data back with minimal delay.

You should have direct access to your backups, with no time spent on physical transport (no trucks, no warehouses). Restores should take minutes, not hours or days. Set yourself up to work with your data, not wait for it. Make sure your solution provider can meet your Return-to-Operations (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) which determine how quickly you can recover your data and maintain business continuity. Inquire about onsite and offsite replication that provide both improved performance and a solid disaster recovery strategy.

CYBER SECURITY. More than 80 percent of U.S. companies have been successfully hacked, according to a Duke University/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook Survey.

BEST PRACTICE: Regular cyber security training and phishing tests for all employees using company email are essential to your organization.

Your end-users are the weak link in your network security. Today, your employees are frequently exposed to advanced phishing attacks. Trend Micro reported that 91% of successful data breaches started with a spear-phishing attack. Be sure your vendor of choice includes cyber security training as part of their backup and DR package.

SCALABILITY. Some backup systems can’t scale readily.

BEST PRACTICE: Invest in a data protection architecture that can grow with your business.

You should be able to back up your data no matter how large it grows. Starting small? Look for an option that handles your backups automatically. Then, as you grow, gives you tools to manage complex environments. Look for “changes-only” and compression technologies to speed backups and save space. And insist on bandwidth throttling to balance traffic and ensure network availability for your other business applications. Make sure that their solution offerings rely on common technology to scale easily as your business––and data––grow.

COST-EFFECTIVENESS

BEST PRACTICE: Calculate the true total cost of tape-based back up.

A 2019 Server OS Reliability Survey found that one hour of downtime costs at least $100K for 98% of companies to over $5 million for 34% of surveyed companies. When you do the math, the dollars make sense: Go with disk-to-disk. Unlike tape, there are close to zero handling costs—no rush deliveries, loading, accessing, locating, or repeated steps. And there’s one benefit you can’t factor directly: Reputation. Reliability and security can make an incalculable difference with just one avoided breach or failure.

COMPLIANCE. Most companies have problems satisfying privacy, security, and data retention regulations.

BEST PRACTICE: Choose a data protection partner who has deep know-how about compliance, and the technology to ensure it.

Disaster Recovery. Most companies lack a comprehensive, tested plan for disasters.

BEST PRACTICE: Find a vendor that delivers a complete DR solution.

You can’t say your data protection is complete until you have a disaster recovery plan that is itself complete and tested. Your backup vendor should have both the product mix and professional services team to help you prepare for a worst-case scenario. Make sure they can help configure your backups so you rebound quickly. Best bet: A vendor who can train you to deal with disasters confidently, based on your company’s actual configuration.

EASE OF USE. Some companies don’t —or can’t—manage their backups from one place.

BEST PRACTICE: Get control and reporting you can use anywhere, with ease. Managing your backup environment should be simple, and the software you use should eliminate any guesswork that could lead to lost data. You should know at all times if your data is protected across your entire network—including remote offices—by simply looking at a dashboard. The software should be simple to configure using wizards, yet powerful enough to meet your specific needs with customizable views, job propagation, and roles-based security.

OPERATING SYSTEM AND PLATFORM SUPPORT. Most backup vendors support a limited range of OS, server types, and applications.

BEST PRACTICE: Look for broad and deep technology that supports your complete environment. Your backup solution should accommodate your environment, not vice versa.

CUSTOMER SUPPORT. Backup vendors’ product support varies widely.

BEST PRACTICE: Find a vendor whose support is passionate, maybe even slightly obsessed. Customer support should be one of your vendor’s main selling points. You shouldn’t have to wonder if they’ll be there to help when you need them most. Do they offer phone support or email only, and who exactly are you talking to when you call that 800 number? Find a vendor that will treat your data as if it were their own.

REPUTATION. Does your backup vendor have a quality reputation and the financial resources to stay in business for the long haul?

BEST PRACTICE: Find a vendor with strong financial backing and customer references. There are a lot of vendors that have come and gone. When you consider a service provider, look for one that has strong financial backing, a solid business plan and the ability to be in business as long as your data needs to be stored. Ask for customer references and case studies as their customers are the best validation you can get.

Visit VAULT400.com/proposal to receive a FREE analysis and proposal

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