Alright, let’s dive into the sizzling world of IBM Power Systems and IBM i.

I spend most of my professional life glued to a keyboard working with client applications and it’s easy to become myopic as I glue myself into the client’s code. Sometimes the latest and freshest developments from IBM take me by surprise.

To try and stay a little more aware of what is happening in the wonderful world of IBM i systems, I regularly have a look at the IBM IDEAS PORTAL.

WHAT IS IBM IDEAS PORTAL?
It’s a place where the IBM community comes together to ideate and co-create the future of IBM’s products. On this portal, you can submit new ideas and view the status of the ideas you previously submitted, voted on or are subscribed to. ​

As of this morning, the IBM i crowd is buzzing like a server room on overdrive. One of the juiciest tidbits is the “Top 10 IBM i Requests From IBM Ideas Portal”—think of it as the community’s wish list to Santa IBM, except instead of toys, they’re begging for better tools and shinier features. Word on the street (or at least on X and IT Jungle) is that users are clamoring for upgrades to keep this trusty workhorse galloping into the future. Will IBM deliver, or will it be another case of “maybe next year, kids”?

Virtual IBM i in the Cloud

There is a lot of “What’s New With IBM PowerVS in 2025?” chatter. Power Virtual Server is getting some fresh polish, and the IBM i faithful are hoping it’s more than just a fancy new coat of paint—maybe some horsepower to tackle the hybrid cloud rodeo.

IBM PowerVS, short for IBM Power Virtual Server, is a cloud-based Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offering from IBM that lets you run IBM Power Systems workloads in a virtualized environment. Think of it as a way to get the muscle of IBM’s Power hardware—like the kind that powers big enterprise apps—without needing to own the physical boxes yourself. It’s built on IBM’s Power architecture (you know, the RISC-based beast that’s been around since the ’90s) and supports operating systems like AIX, IBM i, and Linux.

Here’s the gist: PowerVS gives you virtual machines (VMs) running on IBM Power servers (think Power9 or Power10), hosted in IBM Cloud data centers. You can spin up these VMs with customizable compute, memory, and storage options, all on a pay-as-you-go basis. It’s designed for heavy-duty stuff—think databases, SAP HANA, or AI workloads—where performance and reliability are non-negotiable. Plus, it’s got built-in virtualization via IBM PowerVM, so you’re not wrestling with third-party hypervisors like you might on x86 setups.

It’s a hybrid cloud darling too. You can connect it to your on-premises Power Systems or other IBM Cloud services, making it a slick option if you’re already in the IBM ecosystem. Posts on X and IBM’s own docs highlight its appeal for businesses wanting to modernize without ditching their trusty AIX or IBM i apps. Oh, and it’s got security baked in—Power hardware’s known for that—plus options like Red Hat OpenShift for containerized workloads.

In short, PowerVS is IBM’s way of saying, “Hey, you can have our enterprise-grade Power tech, but in the cloud, and without the headache of managing the iron yourself.” Pretty neat if you’re into that kind of thing!

IBM i Price Cuts?

Meanwhile, a cheeky rumor about price cuts for selected Power Systems popped up, only to be met with a collective “April Fools, right?” from the skeptics. Imagine the IT managers’ faces if Big Blue actually slashed prices—champagne corks would pop faster than a PTF install!

And let’s not forget the “Picking Apart Ebullient GenAI Spending Forecast”—a fancy way of saying everyone’s throwing cash at Generative AI like it’s the next big thing since sliced bread (or maybe since the AS/400). IBM i is hitching a ride on this hype train, with folks wondering how it’ll flex its muscles in the AI arena without tripping over its own legacy cables.

IBM i Antivirus

Something I am watching with great interest is a request for IBM i integration with “ClamAV RPM”: An IBM i customer, clearly fed up with the antivirus scene, put in a heartfelt plea to bring ClamAV—the open-source antivirus hero already kicking around on AIX—over to IBM i 7.1 and up. ‘We’ve got just two commercial AV options for IBM i, and their price tags are bonkers,’ they griped. ‘We’re talking shelling out Porsche 911 cash for what feels like a rusty bike with a flat tire. Give us ClamAV, and maybe we can trick a few more folks into joining the party!’ The CEAC and CAAC crews gave it a once-over, slapped a ‘medium priority’ sticker on it (though they politely declined to dust off IBM i 7.1, which is now enjoying a well-earned retirement). IBM hasn’t rolled out the red carpet for ClamAV yet, but they’re dangling a ‘maybe someday’ promise for a future release. Stay tuned—or at least keep your bike pump handy!

With AIX through the PASE SHELL, surely this can’t be hard? I can see how it would scan the IFS but not the native IBM-i executables. Maybe this little challenge is something for me to add to my personal techie to-do list?

IBM i OS Release incoming?

Alright, let’s peek into the crystal ball of IBM i releases—though, fair warning, IBM keeps its cards closer to the chest than a magician at a poker table! As of April 2, 2025, the latest official release is IBM i 7.5, which dropped in May 2022. IBM doesn’t publish exact dates for future releases far in advance, but they’ve got a pretty steady rhythm of dropping a new version every three years or so, give or take a few months.

Looking at the pattern—7.3 in 2016, 7.4 in 2019, 7.5 in 2022—history suggests the next release, likely IBM i 7.6 (or maybe 8.1 if they’re feeling spicy), could land sometime in 2025. Industry chatter, like from IT Jungle, pegs “iNext” for 2025, possibly mid-year, aligning with the Power11 processor rollout. IBM’s roadmap hints at this too, but they’re coy about specifics, saying only it’s “planned for a future release” when asked about features like ClamAV support.

So, best guess? Sometime in 2025, maybe around spring or summer. Keep an eye on IBM’s announcements—or at least have a coffee ready for when they finally spill the beans!

So, there you have it—trending news in the IBM Power Systems and IBM i world, served with a smirk. It’s a mix of hope, hype, and a little “hold my coffee, I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Stay tuned, because this tech soap opera is just heating up!