2025 IBM i Predictions, Part One
January 13, 2025 Alex Woodie
The new year is shaping up to be a big one for IBM i. A new release of the operating system is expected, as is a new processor and new servers built with them. Old utilities are slated to get the axe, but no one is quite sure how far IBM will cut. And then of course there’s what will happen in the IBM i community, which is where we turn for insight into what comes next.
We start this year’s batch of IBM i predictions with Charlie Guarino, the president of Central Park Data Systems and the resident expert in RDi. As Guarino sees it, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) didn’t originate on the IBM i, but it’s impact will be felt on the platform all the same. We quote Guarino in full in italics:
Artificial Intelligence is top of mind for nearly everyone in technology, and I suspect many of these predictions will include some discussion on it. AI has moved the level of production expectations in all areas of modern technology forward in a very big way.
On the development front, older tools look even more archaic, particularly when compared to modern tools that offer AI components of code recognition and generation. Every vendor will have some AI component in their product mix, with varying degrees of integration and success with their products. More and more businesses will, as they say, “want to do AI,” but not necessarily know what that specifically means. If ever there was an opportunity for an IT person, the time is now. The roles are many, from education, to design, strategy, compliance, testing, to implementation and beyond.
Another very interesting and important item to watch is AI regulation. With the new Trump administration comes an easing of some existing laws and perhaps stronger guardrails in other areas. Keep a keen watch on the Department of Government of Efficiency (DOGE) headed up by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. They will have great influence in the area of AI, and are expected to work with the AI Czar, should one be named. AI regulation is already underway in the EU, under the EU Artificial Intelligence Act. While this is primarily focused on the EU, US companies using AI and doing business with the EU can easily be affected by its reach, very much like GDPR.
2025 will be a year of progress for programmers and the tools they use, predicts Puneet Kohli, the president of application modernization at Rocket Software and vice president of COMMON.
“In 2025, organizations will increasingly prioritize enhancing the developer experience for IBM i professionals,” Kohli tells us. “This shift will involve a proactive approach to improving their work environment and equipping them with advanced tools that boost productivity and job satisfaction. AI will play a significant role in this transformation–not only through code assistance but also by streamlining non-coding tasks such as documentation, testing, and system monitoring. By focusing on support, companies will empower RPG developers to work more efficiently and innovate within their roles, ensuring the IBM i platform remains a cornerstone of enterprise operations.”
If you are tired of entering texted PINs after inputting your user name and password, then Sandi Moore, the principal security consultant with Fortra, has some bad news for you: Multi-factor authentication isn’t going away, and fact will likely spread even wider in 2025.
“While 2024 saw a big push for implementing multifactor authentication on IBM i, it was primarily driven by external forces such as updated cyber insurance requirements,” Moore says. “I believe that 2025 will bring more internally driven efforts to centralize security and IBM i will be at the center of that focus. Companies that are running their core business applications on IBM i will recognize that seeing the big picture of the threat landscape has to include IBM i security events to truly be successful in combatting cybersecurity threats.”
Peg Tuttle, who is the treasurer for COMMON, sales director at Lightedge (formerly Connectria), and host of podcast The incredible i Show, shared some observations on trends shaping the IBM i Landscape, specifically around AI, skills development, and growth in the IBM i ecosystem. We quote her at length in italics as well:
In 2025, the IBM i landscape is being significantly influenced by three pivotal trends: the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), the ongoing skills gap, and the increasing synergy with complementary technologies, often referred to as the “Friends of the i.”
AI is transforming how businesses leverage IBM i capabilities. Organizations are now automating routine tasks and incorporating machine learning models into their applications to extract insights and boost operational efficiency. Thanks to the robust database functionalities of IBM i and its compatibility with open-source languages like Python, the integration of AI has become more attainable. Businesses are moving past mere experimentation and are actively utilizing AI in areas such as supply chain enhancement, predictive maintenance, and customer data analysis.
Concurrently, the skills gap presents a major hurdle. With many seasoned professionals heading into retirement, organizations are striving to cultivate a new generation of IBM i experts. Today’s training programs are aimed at imparting knowledge of modern tools like APIs, Python, and DevOps methodologies, in addition to traditional skills such as RPG, COBOL and CL. Closing this gap requires not only technical skills but also fostering collaboration between experienced professionals and newer entrants to the field. This initiative aims to ensure a workforce capable of upholding the platform’s reliability while also adapting and expanding its functionalities.
Lastly, there is a noticeable trend toward integrating technologies that complement IBM i. Known as the “Friends of the i,” these technologies encompass tools for cybersecurity, data analytics, cloud integration, and API management. Companies are crafting ecosystems around their IBM i frameworks to meet the demands of modern business. This includes linking IBM i with cloud platforms for hybrid solutions, utilizing advanced monitoring systems, and integrating third-party software to enhance functionality – all while preserving the core IBM i experience.
Together, these trends – embracing AI, developing skills, and expanding the technology ecosystem – illustrate the ongoing evolution of the IBM i platform. It is not merely adapting to contemporary IT trends; it is thriving and leading in them.
As an IBM i recruiter based in Wisconsin, Talsco’s Patrick Staudacher is a regular tea-leaf reader. When he looks at the tea leaves for 2025, he sees clear signals in five distinct areas, which we quote in full in italics:
- The Great AI Integration Rush: As AI continues to dominate tech headlines, IBM i shops will frantically attempt to integrate GenAI and LLMs into their RPG applications. By year’s end, we’ll see at least one instance of an AI accidentally ordering 10,000 widgets instead of 100, leading to the most organized warehouse chaos in history.
- The “Modern” Identity Crisis: The debate over what constitutes ‘modern’ in IBM i will reach new heights. Developers will argue whether adding emojis to green screens qualifies as modernization, while somewhere, an RPG program quietly continues running the world’s economy.
- Hybrid Cloud Reality Check: After years of cloud hype, companies will realize their IBM i is actually running just fine on-premises. Cloud vendors will create new buzzwords like ‘ground-to-cloud-to-ground synergy’ to describe what is essentially keeping your IBM i right where it is.
- The Great Skills Evolution: Young developers entering the IBM i ecosystem will create TikTok tutorials about RPG, leading to the first viral #RPGChallenge. Meanwhile, veteran developers will finally admit that maybe, just maybe, not everything needs to be done in fixed-format RPG.
- Security Gets Serious: After another year of high-profile ransomware attacks, IBM i shops will finally implement proper security measures. The most common password will evolve from “QSECOFR” to “QSECOFR123!” –because adding numbers and special characters makes everything secure, right?
The rise of AI is having an impact across the software industry. One area that’s ripe for some AI-powered disruption is the ERP industry, predicts Bill Langston, director of marketing for IBM i BI provider New Generation Software. Langston tells us:
IBM i is an ERP platform and ERP is about automating work flow, business processes, and capturing the resulting data. In recent years IBM i software modernization usually meant improving the user interface, using new methods and languages to rewrite old programs, and upgrading the database. I think this is the year we see AI integration move from chat bots and letter writing to the front of ERP modernization efforts.
Manufacturing and supply chain companies make up a big slice of the IBM i customer base. Those companies are under pressure to relocate production out of China. Doing that will inevitably require software modifications and create data management challenges that will impact IT priorities.
Power11 servers are due late in 2025. That will push IBM i customers to evaluate their on-premises hardware. I think quite a few will decide it’s time to turn over more of their IT work to a managed service provider. Share price drives a lot of the decision making at IBM and as of today they’ve managed to roughly double their share price over the past five years. I think they will have to make some attention-grabbing software acquisitions to keep investors happy in 2025.
And of course, world events and my own blind spots have the strong potential to make these predictions sound foolish a year from now.
As the years stack up, the problem of legacy code gets bigger. According to Profound Logic founder and chief executive officer Alex Roytman, 2025 is the year that code transformation becomes critical for IBM i shops.
“The talent squeeze appears to be a major driver,” Roytman says. “As experienced RPG and COBOL developers retire, organizations are facing what can only be described describe as a ‘severe shortage of skilled professionals.’ This is pushing companies to modernize their applications into more widely-used languages that attract newer developers.”
Here’s a no-brainer of a prediction: Use Visual Code for i will increase in 2025. You can thank Liam Allan for that. But when Allan looks beyond Code for i, he sees a lot going on this year, particularly in AI, memory-safe development, and open-source supply chain security. Allan tells us:
Coming up with a prediction is hard. A lot is happening in the world – especially outside of technology – which sometimes I find blinding. On a high level, Elder Scrolls 6 will come out, Half-Life 3 will be released and, fingers crossed, a new version of IBM i will come out.
In the depth of it: AI will continue to dominate the IT world. It’s being used more and more in the lives of consumers, like content found on Instagram and Facebook, and I suspect in 2025 it will be found in more mediums. I must be careful to draw the line between hope and prediction. Hope is something that I’d like to happen, whereas prediction is something that may or may not happen, whether I am in favor of it or not.
For IT, I predict the continued investment in using AI models. Specific industries will focus on creating models for their needs (e.g. healthcare, IT, finance, etc.) and more people will rely on existing models. Large businesses will run models on their own hardware or in a private cloud and smaller businesses will continue to use models provided in the SaaS model for easy accessibility.
The US government directly mentioned Rust in a paper they released last February regarding the safety of software written in the US due to cybersecurity threats. I suspect this will have a direct impact on a lot of businesses that follow government regulations, and while this isn’t a regulation, it sure is a suggestion and is suggestive of the future of software development. There is direct correlation to IBM i here, but that deserves a separate write-up.
Open source is important and has been for many years,” he concludes. “Considering the US government also talks directly to open-source software, I suspect businesses will continue to look at open-source with a close eye, especially in regard to supply chain cybersecurity and how third-party packages are used when developing software.
That’s it for the first installment of IBM i predictions. Check back here next week for another one.
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