IBM i in Your World

When you go to a bank, do you know what kind of IT equipment is being used to run it? How about when you go to your local courthouse? Or a big retailer? When you check into that hotel? When you call your cable company? When you ship a package?

I wish I were at liberty to tell you the names of every client we have using IBM i, but the fact is, most companies do not give IBM permission to use their names. Those who do, become “references” and we use those references frequently. Current IBM i customers, or companies considering adopting IBM i, like to hear about other businesses who are successfully using it.

Still, while I cannot list every customer, I can mention some. I can also tell you in general about some of the ways you probably encounter users of IBM i in your daily life. In fact, I tweet about these every once in a while, so let’s see a couple of examples.

The above is an example of a long-time client, a member of the IBM i Large User Group (LUG), which is very successful. The business is growing, and if I told you their name, there is a very good chance you would recognize it. In fact, this description could apply to several of our LUG members.

Here’s another “anonymous” example.

Now, you might not have heard of this specific (fast-growing) company, but I can pretty much guarantee you have heard of its parent company. Even without the name, it’s pretty impressive to know that this customer successfully handled more than 100 million online transactions on the Monday after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, and those transactions were running on IBM i, on a very large Power System.

IBM i is extremely prevalent in several key industries in the world. One of them is banking, and the follow tweet contains an actual reference account.

Alex Woodie wrote the article in the link above, about Bank Ekonomi Raharja (BER) in Indonesia. Now, if you are not working with that bank, you might not think this has much to do with you, but the point is that you might well have dealings with a bank that is running on IBM i. Three of the most prevalent banking solution ISVs in the U.S. (FIS, Jack Henry & Associates and Fiserv) have highly successful IBM i solutions – the bank I use is a customer of one of these three – and DataPro is a strong IBM i banking solution provider in Central and South America. Additionally, several of the largest banks around the world use IBM i for key portions of their diverse financial offerings.

What about the parcel delivery industry? This quote from FedEx Ground is in many of my presentations, because they are a long-time reference for the platform.

“Its stability, TCO and speed of development convinced us we should not only maintain our mid-range environment, but expand it to keep it at the center of our operations for the long term. IBM i has enabled us to grow the scale of our environment, while at the same time become more nimble and resilient.”

            --Ken Spangler, VP of IT

However, FedEx is not the only company in the shipping business that counts on the reliability of IBM i running on Power Systems. If you used a package delivery company in the U.S. during this past holiday season, there’s a pretty good chance the business was running on IBM i. You might not have known it, but based on our client list, it certainly could be.

Many of the most successful large businesses in the world, as well as many thousand smaller businesses and governmental entities, keep their customers satisfied while relying on Power Systems and the IBM i operating system. They are all around you, and just like your company, they use this platform because it delivers stability, security, value and innovation that helps them succeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[dale janus]

Why tease everyone with these mysterious "well known companies"? IBM should pay them to be a reference. Heck, maybe just give them discounts on the hardware. Anything so that their names can be used. You're IBM, you've got more money and lawyers than you know what to do with.

This is the kind of stuff that should be shouted from the rooftops, that IBM i is great and strong and used by these well known companies. Instead the rest of the world thinks IBM=old and antiquated, Microsoft and Linux= new and cutting edge.

[Susan Gantner]

Many times we don't see the platform in the background, but every now and then ... I was in a store of a large retail chain earlier this week and asked if they had an item in stock. The sales clerk walked over to her 5250 green screen terminal, signed on and I had the answer in about 10 seconds. It wasn't pretty, but it sure worked!

It's by no means the first time I've seen 5250 screens in stores. I guess that has to be some advantage to companies that still use the green screen interface - at least it's obvious to us "insiders" that it's an IBM i in there. With a browser interface, chances are it's also IBM i, but it's not nearly as obvious.

[Ed]

I agree with the commenter, IBM should be flaunting the companies that use an IBM i. Especially since banks and casinos seem to be big customers. I used to work for a bank that ran Jack Henry on an IBM i. If they got the word out to the public that the i is a very secure and reliable machine, and that banks and casinos trust it for their systems, it would get others thinking that an IBM i could be part of the solution they are looking for.

[Ranga Deshpande]

I will confess one of my long, long back old dreams ... I will be at the cash desk, see the green screen, see that it is stuck and will tell them what keys to punch and see their big smile because it was once again working ... Alas, I used to see many green screens but they were never stuck ... always and always worked. Nostalgia, it is not what it used to be!

[BobL]

I agree that IBM should be trying to convince more large companies to allow their names to be used. While the financial industry may not have a shining public reputation right now, the fact that many use IBM i is an indication of it's reliability and security--two very important factors for companies now. And anyone that wants a reliable system to keep their website running can't do better than IBM i!

And, like Susan, I too have seen employees at a major hardware/home supply store switch to the green screen to check inventory. It's not often that I cheer in a checkout line!