{ "title": "IBM Power Migration Stories", "description": "Seven source-backed migration stories showing what organizations changed, what improved, what went wrong, and what later Power users can carry forward.", "canonical_url": "/power-migration-stories/", "dataset_url": "/data/power-migration-stories.json", "updated_at": "2026-10-24", "claim_note": "Outcome figures are attributed to the named organization, IBM case study, IBM community account, or trade publication. Power7.AS400System.com did not independently measure them.", "items": [ { "id": "retailer-power7-to-power9-cloud", "canonical_url": "/power-migration-stories/#retailer-power7-to-power9-cloud", "number": 1, "title": "Power7 to Power9: A retailer changed the storage problem too", "starting_point": "A North American retailer ran IBM i on an on-premises Power7 environment. Its storage was due for replacement, and the platform had become expensive and inflexible.", "move": "TCS and IBM moved the AS/400 environment to IBM Power Virtual Server running on Power9.", "outcome_summary": "The public account reports lower annual cost, less iSeries capacity, faster storage, and more room to scale storage when needed.", "results": [ { "value": "$450,000", "label": "reported annual savings" }, { "value": "30%", "label": "reported decrease in iSeries capacity" }, { "value": "Power9", "label": "landing generation" } ], "what_worked": "The team did not treat the server as the whole project. Moving compute and storage together removed an aging storage purchase and changed how capacity could be added.", "hard_part": "The public story does not publish the downtime window or the application changes. It proves the business result, but not that every Power7 workload can make the same move the same way.", "lesson": "The strongest migration may solve the storage bill and capacity problem at the same time as the processor change.", "related_links": [ { "label": "Compare Power7 through Power11", "url": "/power7-migration-comparison/" }, { "label": "Explore the Power9 resource", "url": "https://power9.as400system.com/" } ], "source": { "publisher": "IBM", "title": "IBM and TCS team up to drive hybrid cloud adoption using IBM Power Virtual Server", "url": "https://www.ibm.com/case-studies/blog/ibm-and-tata-consulting-services-collaborate-to-drive-hybrid-cloud-adoption-with-ibm-power-virtual-server", "accessed": "2026-10-24" } }, { "id": "carhartt-power7-consolidation", "canonical_url": "/power-migration-stories/#carhartt-power7-consolidation", "number": 2, "title": "Power5 and Power7 to Power8: Carhartt replaced eight servers with two", "starting_point": "Carhartt had eight Power5 and Power7 servers supporting IBM i workloads while its international sales operation kept growing.", "move": "The company consolidated those systems onto two Power8 servers and IBM storage. It later moved to Power E980 enterprise servers as the workload kept growing.", "outcome_summary": "The smaller physical footprint reduced upkeep while virtual servers gave a three-person operations team room to expand for seasonal demand.", "results": [ { "value": "8 to 2", "label": "physical Power servers" }, { "value": "70%+", "label": "reported footprint reduction" }, { "value": "30 min", "label": "reported planned downtime per application" }, { "value": "$1.1M", "label": "estimated savings" } ], "what_worked": "The smaller Power estate supported seasonal growth. Carhartt could add virtual application servers during peak online demand, then scale the virtual estate as needs changed.", "hard_part": "The useful result was not a faster chip by itself. The team had to move data, storage, and application workloads while keeping planned downtime short for each application.", "lesson": "A generation change earns its keep when it removes machines and daily work while preserving room to grow.", "related_links": [ { "label": "See the Power generation graph", "url": "/power-generation-graph/" }, { "label": "Read the Power7 history", "url": "/power7-history-and-architecture/" } ], "source": { "publisher": "IBM", "title": "Carhartt drives international growth while saving with IBM i and Power Systems", "url": "https://www.ibm.com/case-studies/carhartt-systems-hardware-consolidation-power", "accessed": "2026-10-24" } }, { "id": "copel-power795-to-power8", "canonical_url": "/power-migration-stories/#copel-power795-to-power8", "number": 3, "title": "Power 795 to Power8: Copel kept the core count and changed the economics", "starting_point": "Copel ran Oracle Database on two Power 795 systems with 128 Power7 cores. Business growth was pushing the environment beyond the performance it could comfortably deliver.", "move": "The utility moved the Oracle workload to two Power E880C systems with 128 Power8 cores after comparing Power with x86 alternatives.", "outcome_summary": "Copel reported more capacity, shorter backups, reusable Oracle licenses, and a lower migration and hardware cost than the next-best option it studied.", "results": [ { "value": "$2M", "label": "estimated savings" }, { "value": "49%", "label": "Oracle licenses freed for other use" }, { "value": "43%", "label": "reported backup-time reduction" }, { "value": "128", "label": "cores before and after" } ], "what_worked": "The team compared the full business case instead of treating core count as the answer. Power8 delivered more work per core while the same total core count supported a larger workload.", "hard_part": "Oracle licensing made processor efficiency part of the financial decision. A technically smaller design would not have been useful if the licensing plan had been ignored.", "lesson": "Count the software tied to the cores, not only the cores in the frame.", "related_links": [ { "label": "Open the IBM Power 795 record", "url": "/directory/power7-models/ibm-power-795/" }, { "label": "Open the Power E880C record", "url": "https://power8.as400system.com/directory/power8-models/ibm-power-e880c-9080-mhe/" } ], "source": { "publisher": "IBM", "title": "Copel re-energizes key business applications while cutting cost of growth", "url": "https://www.ibm.com/case-studies/copel-oracle-power", "accessed": "2026-10-24" } }, { "id": "dekko-power9-to-power11", "canonical_url": "/power-migration-stories/#dekko-power9-to-power11", "number": 4, "title": "Power9 to Power11: Dekko cut every reported save window", "starting_point": "Dekko ran IBM i and AIX on a Power9 9009-41A with internal SSD storage.", "move": "The team moved to a Power11 9824-22A with an IBM FlashSystem 7300 SAN and NVMe drives. Consultants configured VIOS, Fibre Channel switches, and the SAN.", "outcome_summary": "All four LPAR save windows reported by the owner became shorter. The team kept the same virtual tape library for backup.", "results": [ { "value": "2:04 to 1:30", "label": "LPAR 1 save time" }, { "value": "1:07 to 0:33", "label": "LPAR 2 save time" }, { "value": "0:23 to 0:14", "label": "LPAR 3 save time" }, { "value": "2:21 to 1:22", "label": "LPAR 4 save time" } ], "what_worked": "The owner used a scratch install from tape so microcode and program temporary fix levels matched. Storage and network specialists handled the parts that were outside the day-to-day application role.", "hard_part": "The story is refreshingly plain about outside help. VIOS, the switches, and the SAN were consultant work rather than magic performed by the faster server.", "lesson": "A successful generation move can keep a familiar recovery method while specialists rebuild the storage and virtualization foundation around it.", "related_links": [ { "label": "Open the Power9 9009-41A", "url": "https://power9.as400system.com/directory/power9-models/ibm-power-s914-9009-41a/" }, { "label": "Open the Power11 9824-22A", "url": "https://power11.as400system.com/9824-22a/" } ], "source": { "publisher": "IBM TechXchange Community", "title": "Power 9 to Power 11 migration", "url": "https://community.ibm.com/community/user/discussion/power-9-to-power-11-migration", "published": "2026-03-11", "accessed": "2026-10-24" } }, { "id": "electrolux-x86-to-power9", "canonical_url": "/power-migration-stories/#electrolux-x86-to-power9", "number": 5, "title": "x86 to Power9: Electrolux moved the recovery plan with the workload", "starting_point": "Electrolux had SAP HANA workloads spread across x86 appliances and expected its storage demand to keep rising.", "move": "The company centralized its European SAP HANA environment on two Power E980 systems with FlashSystem storage. IBM Services also built and supported a disaster recovery environment.", "outcome_summary": "The migration finished in under four weeks. Electrolux reported faster recovery, lower disaster recovery cost, and shorter maintenance work.", "results": [ { "value": "Under 4 weeks", "label": "reported migration time" }, { "value": "30%", "label": "reported disaster recovery cost reduction" }, { "value": "75%", "label": "reported recovery-time reduction" }, { "value": "60 to under 10 min", "label": "key-system restart time" } ], "what_worked": "System replication moved the SAP environment while training helped the internal engineers take over the new platform. Recovery was designed as part of the project instead of a later promise.", "hard_part": "This was more than a server replacement. SAP, storage, private cloud management, financing, staff training, and disaster recovery all moved together.", "lesson": "A migration is stronger when the recovery system is one of the deliverables, not a note at the bottom of the project plan.", "related_links": [ { "label": "Explore the Power9 resource", "url": "https://power9.as400system.com/" }, { "label": "Explore the FlashSystem resource", "url": "https://flashsystem.as400system.com/" } ], "source": { "publisher": "IBM", "title": "Electrolux moves SAP HANA to IBM Power Systems and FlashSystem", "url": "https://www.ibm.com/case-studies/electrolux-systems-hardware-sap-hana", "accessed": "2026-10-24" } }, { "id": "jebsen-hpux-to-power", "canonical_url": "/power-migration-stories/#jebsen-hpux-to-power", "number": 6, "title": "HP-UX to IBM Power: Jebsen & Jessen traded seven servers for three", "starting_point": "Jebsen & Jessen SEA needed to move a business-critical SAP environment to a new database while reducing physical server sprawl and total cost.", "move": "The company replaced seven HP-UX servers with three IBM System p5 servers running AIX and moved SAP ERP to IBM Db2.", "outcome_summary": "IBM's published account says the project doubled performance and reduced total cost of ownership.", "results": [ { "value": "7 to 3", "label": "physical servers" }, { "value": "2x", "label": "reported performance" }, { "value": "20%", "label": "reported TCO reduction" } ], "what_worked": "The change joined platform consolidation with the database move. Fewer servers mattered because the application and database were redesigned around the new environment.", "hard_part": "This older story uses IBM System p5 rather than Power7 or a current model. Its value is the migration pattern: an HP-UX move changed the database and server estate together.", "lesson": "Cross-platform migrations create more work, but they can remove more of the old environment when the database and hardware decision are made together.", "related_links": [ { "label": "See the Power generation graph", "url": "/power-generation-graph/" }, { "label": "Read how Power7 changed the architecture", "url": "/power7-history-and-architecture/" } ], "source": { "publisher": "IBM", "title": "Jebsen & Jessen benefits from scale-up and consolidation", "url": "https://public.dhe.ibm.com/software/os/systemz/pdf/sysmgmtseminars/01_-_Introduction_2008_v3.0.pdf", "published": "2008", "accessed": "2026-10-24" } }, { "id": "gci-power5-failure-to-power9", "canonical_url": "/power-migration-stories/#gci-power5-failure-to-power9", "number": 7, "title": "Power5 failure to Power9 recovery: The backup existed, but the recovery had not been tested", "starting_point": "GCI lost an old stand-alone Power5 system running OS/400 V5R3. The company had extended hardware support and off-site backups, but the failing server could not simply be repaired.", "move": "The recovery team rebuilt the logical partition in a hosted Power9 environment running IBM i 7.4.", "outcome_summary": "The business returned in just over 36 hours. The delay came from a recovery process that was not fully automated or tested and from the backup specialist being unavailable when needed.", "results": [ { "value": "36+ hours", "label": "reported time from failure to recovery" }, { "value": "Power5 to Power9", "label": "generation move" }, { "value": "V5R3 to 7.4", "label": "operating-system move" } ], "what_worked": "The off-site data existed, a hosted Power9 target was available, and experienced people were able to bridge an unusually large operating-system jump.", "hard_part": "The recovery plan had never proved that the data could be retrieved and restored during an actual outage. A required technician was not immediately available during the holiday weekend.", "lesson": "A backup is not a recovery until someone has restored it on the equipment and schedule the business will actually have during a failure.", "related_links": [ { "label": "Check Power7 support and recovery risk", "url": "/power7-end-of-support/" }, { "label": "Explore the Power9 resource", "url": "https://power9.as400system.com/" } ], "source": { "publisher": "IT Jungle", "title": "Disaster Recovery: From OS/400 V5R3 To IBM i 7.4 In 36 Hours", "url": "https://www.itjungle.com/2023/03/27/disaster-recovery-from-os-400-v5r3-to-ibm-i-7-4-in-36-hours/", "published": "2023-03-27", "accessed": "2026-10-24" } } ] }