In July 2025, IBM introduced Power11, the first major advancement to the Power Systems platform since Power10 in 2020. Power11 delivers improvements in performance, energy efficiency, and system resiliency across supported server models and is designed to support the next decade of enterprise computing workloads.
Power11 systems support IBM i, AIX, and Linux, and IBM i is fully enabled on certified Power11 platforms with the appropriate IBM i OS and firmware levels.
The introduction of Power11 also includes updates to virtualization enablement and cloud readiness, ensuring IBM i workloads can run on-premises or in IBM Power Virtual Server, providing flexibility for hybrid-cloud deployments.
Power11 incorporates architecture-level support for AI inference workloads through the Spyre Accelerator, a matrix computation engine available to Linux and AIX partitions. While IBM i does not directly execute AI frameworks using Spyre, IBM i applications can integrate with AI services running on adjacent partitions, supporting modern AI-assisted business processes without disrupting core IBM i workloads.
These features strengthen overall system posture for organizations operating in regulated, security-sensitive, or high-availability environments.
With the 2025 release of IBM i 7.6, IBM broadened hardware enablement across Power10 and Power11, adding support for new adapters, expanding storage capabilities, and improving virtualization and management efficiencies.
These updates provide improved bandwidth, reduced latency, and enhanced support for RDMA-capable networking.
Power11 enables organizations to modernize infrastructure, adding higher-performing compute, enhanced networking, improved security, and AI-adjacent capability while maintaining full compatibility with existing IBM i applications.
Advanced diagnostic, maintenance, and firmware update mechanisms enhance the system’s ability to minimize planned outages and improve reliability, supporting workloads where uptime and data integrity are essential.
Customers on earlier Power generations have a defined upgrade pathway to Power11, allowing adoption of modern I/O, storage, virtualization, and tape technologies without architectural disruption.
Support for IBM Power Virtual Server allows organizations to replicate or extend IBM i environments to the cloud, enabling hybrid operating models and new approaches to DR, elasticity, and integration.
The combination of Power11 hardware and IBM i 7.6 creates a platform that can integrate AI/ML, API-driven architectures, cloud services, and modern development practices while preserving decades of business logic and data structures.
The introduction of Power11 aligns with a broader trend toward infrastructure that can support AI inference, hybrid cloud integration, and high-security workloads.
Industry analyses indicate steady or increasing investment in enterprise-grade platforms within regulated and data-intensive sectors, such as financial services, healthcare, government, and manufacturing, where deterministic performance, transactional integrity, and hardware-enforced security are required.
While this trend is not universal across all industries, Power11 and IBM i remain strategically aligned with modernization initiatives in organizations that rely on long-lived, critical systems.
Briteskies, an IBM partner for 25 years, offers comprehensive services for IBM i (AS400) systems, including consulting, development, staffing, security audits, EDI solutions, and integrations. Our team combines over 40 years of IBM i expertise with fresh talent, delivering both legacy knowledge and innovative perspectives. Skilled in every RPG iteration and modern technologies like Node and API solutions, we seamlessly integrate applications to support business goals. Dedicated to modernization, security, and efficiency, we help businesses optimize and upgrade their IBM i environments for long-term success.
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