This blog briefly describes IBM’s SWMA (Software Maintenance for IBM Licensed Program Products) price increases beginning April 1, 2020 and an overview of some of your options.
Disclaimer: IBM i is an operating system. iSeries and AS400 are servers. I use the terms interchangeably to make it easy for folks to find this kind of information on the web.
IBM plans big SWMA price increases effective April 1, 2020.
You can expect to see your SWMA renewal to increase in a range of 10%-24%, depending on your software version.
For P05 and P10 users, expect to pay about $1,600 and $5,000 per year respectfully. Some may see higher price increases based on their software tier and IBM Licensed Program Products.
I expect many IBM i users will be upset with the SWMA price increase.
Nobody wants to pay more money than they have to.
What can you do?
1. Discontinue SWMA…at your own risk. If you have a static system and have no plans to add new peripherals, Windows 10 or smart devices, this may be an option.
You need to be aware that by discontinuing SWMA, you not only lose the availability of future IBM i OS upgrades and PTFs, you also lose access to new software to support Windows 10 and smart devices.
2. Leave the IBM i platform. While I speak to many companies with plans to leave the IBM i platform, many of those leaving have bigger reasons such as a need for new software, broader access to skills, and changes in their business. A big SWMA price increase may add to the decision to leave the IBM i platform.
Practically speaking, while no one wants to pay more than they have to, I believe that the IBM i platform offers so much benefit in terms of reliability, security, and total cost of ownership that leaving the platform because of a price increase may not be prudent in the near term.
3. Outsource your IBM i applications and support with hosting. By hosting your IBM i applications on a large IBM i system, you and other clients share that cost of IBM SWMA and other related costs.
To be totally transparent, my company provides IBM i hosting (Cloud400).
Evens so, I know first-hand that when many user tenants share an IBM system, their effective costs for SWMA, HWMA (hardware maintenance) and expert IBM i system support is a fraction of an on premise system.
Further, when prospective clients compare the total cost of ownership of a new on premise system to application hosting, hosting is generally 30%-70% less expensive.
Need Help?
Call me at 714-593-0387 or email me at blosey@source-data.com.
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