System i: Upgrading to i5/OS V6R1? - Survey results, common concerns
By Sharon Green
ACOM recently completed a survey asking our users which i5/OS version they currently run and whether they planned to upgrade anytime soon. A big thank you to the 600+ of you who responded. Given the size of the response, this gives a fairly accurate snapshot of what versions are currently in use and also highlights some common concerns.
Before we jump into the results of the survey, here’s the status of ACOM’s products with respect to V6R1. ACOM has tested i5/0S V6R1 with our native solutions and in all tests our software has performed to expectations. We fully support our software on V6R1 and expect our users to have no problems transitioning ACOM products to the new operating system.
Survey results, and common concerns
The majority of you (46%) indicated that you’re running i5/OS V5R3 while 41% are on V5R4. Over 60% of your peers say they plan on upgrading their operating system to V5R4 or V6R1 in the next year or two.
We received a number of interesting comments regarding your reasons for upgrading. Some of you indicated that you'll upgrade only if there are clear benefits or only when your software vendors no longer offer support for older OS versions.
Other survey comments reflected views about upgrades from both ends of the spectrum. A few of you “try to stay current” but others are “dragged kicking and screaming” to a new OS version. Those of you in the middle usually stay one release behind the most current version.
Many users told us that they typically wait six months to a year before upgrading to a newly released OS version to allow time for any kinks to be worked out and for software vendors to certify compliance with the new operating system.
If you’re looking for benefits from V6R1, consider these: advanced performance capabilities, Java improvements, encryption support to meet regulatory requirements, BladeCenter support and virtualization of i5/0S storage to name a few.
Although none of you seem to be eagerly anticipating those OS upgrades, sooner or later most of you bite the bullet and get it done. If you’re among that 46% on V5R3, look at the bright side. You COULD jump right to V6R1 and skip one upgrade entirely.
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