IBM i Hosting & Cloud Options
What are the main IBM i hosting options?
The main options are IBM Power Virtual Server, managed IBM i hosting, dedicated or private Power cloud, colocation, and keeping IBM i on-premises. The practical choice depends on how much operational responsibility you want to retain, whether the provider supports your IBM i and application stack, and how the full cost changes after backup, connectivity, licensing, disaster recovery, and migration services are included.
Options at a glance
IBM i hosting models compared
Hosting is an operating-model decision as much as an infrastructure decision. Compare the responsibility split before comparing price.
| Option | Best fit | Who operates IBM i | Cost model | Primary tradeoff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IBM Power Virtual Server | Teams that want cloud infrastructure and retain IBM i administration skills | Customer or a separately contracted partner | Provisioned or consumption-based infrastructure | Flexible capacity, but the operating system is not fully managed by default |
| Managed IBM i hosting | Teams that want to offload daily platform operations | Hosting provider under a defined responsibility matrix | Bundled monthly infrastructure and services fee | Less operational burden, with more provider and contract dependency |
| Dedicated or private Power cloud | Workloads needing dedicated capacity or stronger isolation | Customer, provider, or a shared model | Reserved capacity or term commitment | More isolation and control, usually with a higher minimum commitment |
| Colocation | Teams exiting a facility while keeping owned Power hardware | Customer | Facility, network, hardware, and support costs | Preserves control but does not remove the hardware refresh cycle |
| On-premises refresh | Stable environments with staff, facilities, and capital budget | Customer | Hardware purchase plus ongoing operations | Maximum control, with continued ownership of lifecycle and capacity risk |
Service scope
What managed IBM i hosting should define
The phrase managed hosting is not a standard scope. Get each responsibility and service level in writing.
IBM i administration
Release and Technology Refresh planning, PTF coordination, user and authority administration, job monitoring, and incident response.
Backup and recovery
BRMS ownership, save schedules, retention, off-site copies, restore testing, encryption, and evidence that backups are recoverable.
High availability and DR
Replication monitoring, standby capacity, RPO and RTO commitments, failover authority, testing cadence, and failback procedures.
Security operations
Vulnerability response, logging, privileged access, alert handling, configuration ownership, and access to current compliance evidence.
Connectivity
Private circuits or VPNs, routing, bandwidth, latency, redundancy, DNS, firewall changes, and connections to other clouds or sites.
Application boundaries
A clear line between platform support and responsibility for ERP, custom RPG or COBOL applications, integrations, and third-party software.
Decision path
How to narrow the right IBM i hosting model
Best fit
Keep control with PowerVS
Start with PowerVS when your team wants infrastructure flexibility but can still operate IBM i, backup, monitoring, security, and the application stack.
Best fit
Offload operations with managed hosting
Start with managed hosting when staffing, after-hours coverage, patching, backup, or platform support are the primary constraints.
Use caution
Do not treat relocation as modernization
Moving an LPAR can solve infrastructure and facility problems, but it does not automatically change application architecture, interfaces, or technical debt.
Use caution
Do not compare incomplete quotes
Normalize compute, storage, backup, network, licenses, DR, support, migration labor, and contract terms before comparing providers.
What drives IBM i hosting cost
Processor and memory
LPAR entitlement, shared or dedicated capacity, peak demand, and headroom for growth.
Storage and performance
Usable capacity, IOPS, flash tier, snapshots, replication, growth, and retention.
IBM i and software licensing
Transferability, processor group, subscriptions, third-party entitlements, and support terms.
Management scope
Coverage hours, monitoring, patching, BRMS, security, incident response, reporting, and named expertise.
Resilience
Backup copies, standby capacity, replication, recovery objectives, test frequency, and geographic separation.
Migration and connectivity
Discovery, remediation, test moves, cutover support, private network services, and data transfer.
Questions to ask every IBM i hosting provider
- Which IBM i releases, Technology Refresh levels, Power generations, and third-party products are supported?
- Who owns PTFs, BRMS, monitoring, security administration, capacity planning, and after-hours incidents?
- What are the committed response, recovery point, and recovery time targets, and how are they measured?
- How often are restore and failover tests performed, and what evidence will the customer receive?
- Which costs are excluded from the quote, including network, backup, licenses, DR tests, projects, and after-hours work?
- What happens to data, licenses, backups, and migration assistance when the contract ends?
IBM i hosting: frequently asked questions
What is IBM i hosting?
IBM i hosting places IBM i logical partitions and related infrastructure in a provider or cloud environment instead of customer-owned facilities. The service can range from infrastructure-only capacity to a managed model that includes operating-system administration, monitoring, backup, and support.
Are AS/400 hosting and iSeries hosting the same as IBM i hosting?
They usually describe the same workload family using older IBM product names. The current operating system is IBM i, while AS/400 and iSeries remain common shorthand. Provider compatibility should be checked against the actual server model, IBM i release, application stack, and license terms.
What is the difference between PowerVS and managed IBM i hosting?
IBM Power Virtual Server is primarily infrastructure as a service, so the customer or a partner usually manages IBM i and the application stack. Managed IBM i hosting adds operational services such as patching, monitoring, backup administration, and incident response under a service agreement.
Can IBM i hosting include disaster recovery?
Yes, but disaster recovery should be scoped separately. Confirm the replication method, recovery point and recovery time commitments, failover responsibilities, test frequency, network changes, and the capacity available during a declared event.
How should IBM i hosting providers be compared?
Compare providers using the same workload baseline and responsibility matrix. Include supported IBM i releases, processor and memory allocation, storage performance, backup, high availability, disaster recovery, monitoring, security evidence, connectivity, migration services, contract exit terms, and total recurring cost.
Need a Like-for-Like IBM i Hosting Comparison?
Build one workload baseline, normalize provider responsibilities and exclusions, and compare the viable paths before you commit to a contract.