Your IBM i Customer Has Chosen Azure. Have They Chosen Their Future Application Platform?
When your customer also wants to retire IBM i and Power dependencies, the application-platform decision needs its own assessment. Explore where Infinite i's Linux replatforming approach could create a qualified Azure opportunity.
The brief is available without registration. An anonymized account scenario is enough to start a discussion.
Recognize the accounts where another option matters
Platform exit is part of the requirement
The customer wants an Azure deployment and a path away from IBM i and Power. Establish which applications qualify and what dependencies would remain.
The current business case is unresolved
The proposal has stalled over economics or operating-model requirements. Evaluate an alternative using the same workload, service levels, and cost horizon.
A second application phase has a business sponsor
The customer has completed its hosting move and is considering a subsequent platform change. Assess selected applications against a separate business case.
Compare the application destination
Retain IBM i on Power in Azure
Kyndryl Cloud Uplift, formerly Skytap, provides an approach for retaining IBM Power applications while moving infrastructure into Azure. This can fit customers prioritizing a data-center exit and preservation of their current application environment.
Assess Linux replatforming on Azure
Infinite i provides a replatforming approach for IBM i applications to Linux. Suitability depends on application compatibility, dependencies, licensing, data behavior, operational requirements, and the results of validation.
Both approaches deserve evaluation against the customer's objectives. A platform change requires its own evidence; an Azure location alone does not determine the best application destination.
Make the opportunity usable in the account plan
An assessment should answer:
- Which applications are viable candidates, and which are excluded?
- What Azure architecture and operating model are proposed?
- What must be demonstrated before the customer proceeds?
- What are the transition and recurring costs?
- What consumption ramp is supported by the delivery schedule?
Review the opportunity brief for a framework your account and technical teams can use together.
An opportunity brief for Microsoft account teams
Azure may already be the agreed destination for your customer's IBM i estate. The application platform can still be an open decision.
A customer pursuing a data-center exit may want to preserve IBM i on IBM Power in an Azure data center. Another may also want to retire that platform dependency and operate selected applications on Linux. Those requirements lead to different technical assessments, commercial models, and delivery plans.
Infinite i offers a replatforming approach for IBM i applications to Linux on Azure. The opportunity for the Microsoft account team is to identify where that approach merits qualification, establish what must be proved, and build an account plan around the resulting workload.
WHERE INFINITE CAN ADD AN OPTION TO THE ACCOUNT PLAN
The customer wants a platform exit
The customer has selected Azure but also wants to retire IBM i and Power dependencies. A hosting proposal may meet the location requirement while leaving that operating-platform objective unresolved. An Infinite assessment can establish which applications are candidates, which dependencies remain, and what a Linux deployment would require.
Seller outcome: a defined application opportunity with technical qualification criteria, rather than an unresolved exception in the cloud program.
The current proposal has stalled
The customer is concerned about long-term economics, operating responsibilities, or fit with its target platform standards. Compare an alternative architecture against the same workload, availability, recovery, and acceptance requirements. Include migration and validation costs as well as recurring charges.
Seller outcome: evidence for reopening the decision, including a clear recommendation not to proceed if the alternative fails the customer's requirements.
The hosting move is complete and the next phase is being planned
A completed relocation can meet the immediate infrastructure objective while leaving a later application-platform decision open. Selected applications may warrant a separate assessment when the customer has a business reason, budget, and implementation window.
Seller outcome: a potential follow-on project with its own business case. A completed hosting move alone is not a reason to recommend another migration.
MAKE THE PLATFORM DECISION EXPLICIT
Kyndryl Cloud Uplift, formerly Skytap, retains IBM i applications on IBM Power infrastructure in Azure. It is positioned around preserving applications, leaving on-premises infrastructure, and extending access to Azure services.
Infinite i's proposition is to replatform eligible applications to Linux on Azure. That changes the application execution environment and requires validation of compatibility, dependencies, data behavior, performance, and operations. Infinite's own runtime, licensing, support, and residual application dependencies belong in the target operating model.
The choice should follow the customer's requirements. Access to Azure integration, analytics, or AI is not, by itself, an exclusive distinction between the approaches. Nor does running an application on Linux automatically give it a cloud-native architecture.
WHAT THE ACCOUNT TEAM NEEDS TO ADVANCE THE OPPORTUNITY
1. A workload decision
Identify the applications included, the business processes they support, the source and licensing position, and any components requiring remediation or retention. Vendor software and IBM i-specific dependencies must be assessed explicitly.
2. A target Azure architecture
Define the proposed Linux application environment, data platform, interfaces, identity integration, observability, backup, and recovery. Separate validated capabilities from design assumptions. Select Azure services because they meet requirements; do not count unqualified services as future consumption.
3. A defensible commercial model
Compare production, nonproduction, recovery, software, support, migration, testing, and temporary dual-running costs over an agreed period. Map Azure resource consumption to a staged deployment schedule. Keep Azure service consumption, partner software charges, customer commitment contribution, and seller-credit treatment distinct.
4. A representative proof
Use customer-relevant transactions, batch workloads, interfaces, and recovery requirements. Set acceptance thresholds and a decision point before the proof begins. The outcome should be sufficient evidence to proceed, revise the plan, or stop.
5. Clear delivery ownership
Establish who performs assessment, remediation, migration, validation, cutover, and ongoing support. A technically plausible approach becomes an actionable opportunity when responsibilities, dependencies, and acceptance are understood.
THE NEXT CONVERSATION
Have an Azure account where the customer wants to retire IBM i—not just relocate it?
Bring Infinite an anonymized workload scenario: the application estate, the business objective, the reason the current approach is insufficient, and the decision window. We can discuss whether a Linux replatforming assessment is warranted and what it would need to establish.
Request an IBM i-to-Azure platform options discussion.
Learn more: https://www.infinitecorporation.com/infinite-i.html
Background references
- Kyndryl Cloud Uplift: https://www.kyndryl.com/us/en/services/cloud-uplift
- Microsoft's Skytap architecture: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/example-scenario/mainframe/migrate-ibm-i-series-to-azure-with-skytap
- Infinite i Marketplace listing: https://marketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/product/infinitesoftwarecorporation1579223971125.fintx2024?tab=overview
Bring us the requirement the current plan has not resolved
An initial discussion can establish whether a scoped technical assessment is worthwhile. No customer source code, credentials, or production data are needed for that discussion.
Contact us to discuss an account scenario →Infinite Corporation. Independent solution provider. Microsoft Azure, IBM i, and Kyndryl product names identify the platforms discussed; this page does not imply a joint campaign or endorsement.