As Halloween is approaching us, and we are thinking of scary things, trick or treats, and grave yards, I thought that would be the perfect way to start my article.
So, one scary thing that we have come across lately is customers who aren’t doing a full backup of their machines, and could never restore their system. Steve will have an article below on a recent scenario where we had to help a customer out with restoring their system to the cloud because their old system just died. When was the last time you tried to do a restore? If you don’t have the extra hardware to do this, we can help you with the entire process. Contact us for more details.
The second scary thing that I keep coming across lately is customers who are not getting the service and support of their business partners. Over the last month, we have met with 6 new customers who have come to us complaining that their business partners don’t have the IBM i skills they require.
In each case, I am happy to report we have been able to help the customer out and exceed their expectations based upon the skills of the people here at iTech Solutions (Both sales and technical). If you aren’t getting the support and skills from your business partner, give us a call and let us show you what we can do for you.
As for Tricks or Treats, below we have some real treats with articles:
We hope that you find these extremely valuable in helping to manage your IBM i. Imagine, if the articles are that helpful, how much help a business partner like iTech Solutions could be for you.
Grave Yards (End of Support)
Grave yards? Well, that is easy. If you are still on IBM i 7.1, it is now out of regular support. If you want to pay for extended support, you will pay double your software maintenance. Why not contact us and have us upgrade you to a supported release?
The cost of the upgrade for a P10 tier machine would be the same as 1 year of extended support, so a 1 year payback, and you are on a supported release. That is like rising from the grave.
The other grave yard to discuss for Halloween is that POWER7 machines are coming to an end of support as well, and now is the time to look at a new POWER9 processor. In addition, IBM recently announced that IBM i Next (the release after 7.3) will not run on POWER7 hardware. If you are on POWER7, we can probably install a POWER9 for the same price as what you are paying for 3 years of maintenance on your POWER7. The nice thing is it will also be about twice the performance for the same cost of ownership. Don’t forget to watch our video of how to install and un-package a POWER9 and HMC.
IBM (Lotus) Domino License Renewals
iTech Solutions is now able to resell your yearly IBM (Lotus) Domino license renewals. Rather than paying your IBM Passport Advantage renewal direct to IBM, feel free to send your IBM Passport Advantage renewal letter to an iTech Solutions account executive who will help reduce your yearly Domino renewal cost.
POWER9 Saves the World
I was an at IBM event in New York City last week, where they premiered the IBM Mission Critical Film. It’s how IBM POWER9 saves the world.
Here is a trailer to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha8h6CQZgqg&feature=youtu.be
Staying Current
I was on a machine earlier this week and the PTFs were five years old. Five years is a long time, especially if you look what has happened in the world around us in five years. If you think about security in the last five years, you have to be proactive. Putting the patches (or PTF’s) on that fix problems will help you become more secure and give you more functionality. Your machine will run better, and you will probably sleep better at night as well.
Did you know that iTech Solutions has a 24 month PTF and OS Subscription service for just $295 a month? We will install PTFs 3 times on your machine/partition, and perform one OS upgrade during that 24 month period. That is only $295 a month for 24 months. You probably spend more on ink for your printers per month.
For $295 a month, we will help you become more secure, ensure you have have the latest fixes, and keep you up to date on all of the technology refreshes. At only $295 a month, I definitely recommend jumping on this.