Organizations with mission-critical workloads on IBM Power servers are increasingly looking at hybrid cloud strategies to balance flexibility, cost-effectiveness and performance for their IT infrastructure. These in-house power systems have core business applications and data that are critical to day-to-day operations. Maintaining and upgrading server hardware and software is happening less frequently than it should. Acquisition and operating costs, technical support and in-house technical skills are issues. The path to modernize them is not always clear or easy. And, simply maintaining the status quo is not an option any longer as it will contribute to technical debt, performance, security and increased business risk if these workloads aren’t kept current. 

When it comes to creating new native microservices in the cloud, the decision is straightforward. However, the situation requires more thought when considering your core business applications and workloads, particularly if they run on IBM Power. Whether you refer to them as IBM i, AS/400, PSeries or AIX, these encompass essential workloads such as Oracle, SAP or other ISVs that are the backbone of your business. As other workloads may transition to the cloud, you seek a solution for these as well. Your aim is to transition to an operational expenditure (OPEX) model, maintaining an environment that is consistently optimized, secure, and available, all without the burden of constant management concerns. The idea is to shift the risks and management responsibilities to a reliable cloud provider. You might even be interested in experimenting with new technology on Power or modernizing the application, development and test of your Power workloads by taking advantage of cloud-specific benefits while maintaining the same level of confidence in security and resilience you currently enjoy on premises.

IBM Power Virtual Server is what you are looking for. IBM Power Virtual Server on the cloud has an identical architecture with enterprise Power systems on-premises — from microprocessors, firmware, PowerVM, PowerVC, dual VIOS and SAN storage devices — with access to IBM Cloud services. This ensures no application changes or refactoring are needed. IBM Power Virtual Server enables frictionless migration to the cloud as part of your modernization journey. It offers dependable failover solutions, including backup, high availability and disaster recovery. With a flexible consumption model, you pay only for the resources you use. It reduces the reliance on specialized skills enabling broader usability and adaptability. Additionally, it establishes a highly secure environment with improved isolation, encryption, and compliance measures. This solution presents a straightforward and swift approach to help modernize your infrastructure, whether through the process of moving workloads or hardware upgrades, granting you quick access to the immediate benefits typically associated with cloud infrastructure.

Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Power Virtual Server empowers organizations with the ability to seamlessly manage and orchestrate containerized applications. The result is a more agile and cost-efficient IT environment. By bridging the world of containers and the power of IBM servers, businesses can rapidly deploy and scale applications, accelerate innovation, and streamline their path to a modernized, hybrid cloud landscape.

IBM Power Virtual Server runs on Power9 and Power10 servers which provide enhanced performance, security, reliability, and efficiency. Power9 and Power10 servers are optimized for modern software applications, ensuring better performance and compatibility with the latest software advancements.

IBM Power Virtual Server enhancements

We increased our investment and revamped the roadmap to quickly and significantly improve the onboarding experience: 

• Network: We know that Power Virtual Server won’t stand alone in your IT infrastructure, and it needs to be connected. We have committed to simplifying the network integration, reducing complexity and time. First, we are adding Power Edge Router (PER) to all our datacenters, starting in Dallas; a move that promises to significantly simplify network configuration. We will deliver a new VPNaaS service that along with PER will improve overall network setup time to under 3 days, and then tackle significant improvements in Direct Link.
• Migration: Migration of your on-premises workload to Power Virtual Server needs to be easy and quick, as straightforward as an on-premises migration from Power9 to Power10, and significantly easier than moving to an alternative platform. We have rolled out prescriptive step-by-step automated migration approach for IBM i and AIX that you or a service provider can perform with success in less than 5 days, whether you want to transfer via a high-speed network or you want to use an appliance-based approach.    
• SAP Installation: We have implemented a deployable architecture that streamlines the Power Virtual Server SAP installation process, reducing the installation time from 4 weeks to just 2 weeks.
• Business Continuity: We know you are moving mission-critical workloads to Power Virtual Server and need to ensure business continuity, as you do today. We are investing to ensure the same capabilities are available; backup as-a-service, snapshot capabilities, high availability and disaster recovery. We will roll out global replication services between paired Power Virtual Server datacenters to provide asynchronous data replication to maintain a consistent and recoverable copy at a remote site for disaster recovery.
• Operations and Support: We have invested in creating state of the art operations and support within IBM for Power Virtual Server and are already seeing higher client satisfaction when they need to call support. 

If you are eager to explore IBM Power Virtual Server with one of your workloads, you can sign up for a pilot and have your system up and running on the offering within 30 days or less. IBM is also willing to provide funding for up to 50% of the migration costs with IBM or a partner to facilitate a transition of all your workloads.

Success with IBM Power Virtual Server

A number of global, industry-leading companies leverage IBM Power Virtual Server capabilities today for running SAP, Oracle and IBM i workloads.

A financial services company was able to reduce their annual infrastructure spending by over 300,000 USD. This reduction in expenditure was paralleled by a notable optimization of their IBM server capacity by 40%, demonstrating the cost-efficiency and strategic advantages of the implemented solution. The client also gained new capabilities to scale up and down their development, test and DR environments based on daily demand requirements. Furthermore, they met or exceeded all existing latency performance and high-availability requirements for their users. Finally, the client experienced enhancements in security, resiliency, capacity and energy efficiency with IBM Power Virtual Server.

In another case, a North American retailer, running IBM i, achieved yearly cost savings of $450,000 by transitioning from Power7 on-premises systems to IBM Power Virtual Server running on Power9. A significant improvement was evident in the storage solutions, as IBM Power Virtual Server offered faster, more cost-efficient and scalable storage capacity on demand. This transition resulted in enhanced overall performance.

Start reaping the benefits

If you are in search of a cloud solution for your workloads, consider IBM Power Server Virtual to enjoy instant benefits. Please contact IBM today to start your transformation journey. Join us on this path of transformation and unlock the potential of cloud excellence.