IBM Unveils Expert Query To Replace Db2 Web Query
February 16, 2026 Alex Woodie
IBM’s Technology Expert Labs is launching IBM Database Expert Query for i, a new tool that allows users to create and run reports against the integrated Db2 for i database from the comfort of a Web browser. IBM is positioning Expert Query as a replacement for Db2 Web Query, the business intelligence and analytics tool that it abruptly killed more than two years ago.
Expert Query was developed over the past year by Technology Expert Labs (formerly Lab Services). We have heard rumblings that Big Blue was gearing up a replacement for the well-liked Db2 Web Query product, and it looks like that product is now here – or will be here soon.
According to John Westcott, the Db2 for i consultant and team lead at IBM Expert Labs, Expert Query is ideal for smaller IBM i shops that want a reporting tool that’s simple yet functional.
“It is a native IBM i application,” Westcott said during an IBM i Guided Tour in December 2025. “It runs completely on IBM i. You don’t need any other AIX partition or Linux partition or some Windows server someplace or something in the cloud. It’s perfect for IBM i shops who are typically at the medium and small end, who sometimes are very isolated and who just need to report stuff.”
IBM Technology Expert Labs is launching Expert Query to replace Db2 Web Query.
The software enables users to build and run customized reports on data sitting in Db2 for i tables. There will be a business edition of Expert Query that can query data sitting in a single logical partition (LPAR) and an enterprise edition that can pull data from multiple partitions.
Expert Query has two main components: Architect and Explorer. While both are browser-based, the look and feel of the interfaces are slightly different.
Architect is a report designer that supports tabular and pivot reports. It allows users to select their data sources, including which specific columns they would like to use in the report, as well as the order that those columns will appear in the finished report. It supports headers and footers, conditional formatting, and calculated columns, among other features.
Explorer is where users go to run and view reports. It allows users to browse pre-built reports through a hierarchical drill down interface. When the user finds and runs a report, they can filter the data, sort columns, and output the report in other formats, such as Excel spreadsheets, HTML, CSV, and JSON. It also allows users to distribute the reports via email, FTP, IFS folders.
Expert Query supports all of the data types that are supported in the Db2 for i database, including numbers, integers, float, decimal, dates, timestamps, and more. From a reporting standpoint, they all boil down to numbers, Westcott said.
“We don’t care what type of data is in the database,” Westcott said on the Guided Tour. “The specific type of data we handle under the covers. We know that if it’s an integer and we have to do something, we do it. You don’t have to know that. You just have to know that it’s a number. It makes designing easy for people who aren’t familiar with the particular nuances of the 30 types of data that exist in the database.”
Expert Query generates custom reports from Db2 data.
Expert Query uses SQL under the covers to query data from the database. The software is 99 percent SQL with a little bit of RPG, Westcott said. Users for the most part don’t need to know SQL, with one exception: Using SQL expressions for calculated fields.
“So it’s very simple for people who don’t know SQL,” he said. “We will provide some guides. Our beta testers didn’t like that they didn’t have a wizard to implement some formulas so we will implement wizards in the next month.”
Expert Query reports currently include only alphanumeric characters, which users can customize with different fonts, highlights, italics, and colors. However, IBM Expert Labs is planning to add basic charts and graphs to Expert Query, including bar charts, line charts, and pie charts. “That is coming, followed closely by dashboards,” Westcott said.
Expert Query was slated to be formally launched in January. However, there’s no record of that announcement taking place as of February 14. Technology Expert Labs has a webpage devoted to Expert Query, which you can see here.
Pricing has yet to be disclosed, and was still in flux when Westcott recorded the Guided Tour in December. Existing Db2 Web Query users will be getting a discount, he said.
Db2 Web Query customers were left in the lurch in October 2023, when IBM announced the immediate end of marketing and sales of the product, which was an OEM version of Information Builder’s WebFOCUS BI and analytics tool. The collapse of the OEM deal stemmed from a fee increase asked by ibi, as the TIBCO Software-owned company is now known.
While there were, and are, alternatives to Db2 Web Query – including tools from New Generation Software, Fortra, LANSA, IBM Cognos, and ibi itself – many IBM i customers desired to have a reporting tool from IBM. Expert Query appears to fit the bill.
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