System i user survey 2013

The Infor EMEA System i User Survey 2013Tim Mears, System i Business Development, EMEA June 2013 [email protected]

Agenda

Infor’s EMEA System i Survey 2013 was carried out during March and April 2013 with over a thousand manager or higher decision-makers invited to participate.

Only those running their mission-critical applications on System i were included in the results.

System i overwhelmingly still means value for money

When asked whether total cost of ownership of their system compares well with alternatives, only 5.5% disagreed.

62.7 %

Agreed

%31.8Neutral

%5.5Disagreed

Up-to-date IBM i is the key to reliability

Unsurprisingly, when asked whether their business system is “very reliable”, not one of the respondents running their mission-critical business systems on System i disagreed. 92.5% agreed and the remaining 7.5% were “neutral”.

5025 75 100

5025 75 100

System i 7.1

System i 5.4

100% VeryReliable

97% VeryReliable

The first ever System i virus?

To our surprise, a sole respondent disagreed slightly with the statement that they had never experienced a virus on their System i platform. There is currently no known virus which targets or infects System i, however it is theoretically possible for a PC user to save an infected file to a System i file server.

1001000001111011110010000011110111010001111011010010011001000001111011101001000001111011110010000011110111010001111011010010011001000001111011101001000001111011110010000011110111010001111011

Over-confidence in backups?

The clear picture is one of System i users having very high confidence in their ability to recover 100% of their data in the event of data loss.

However anecdotal evidence suggests backups are rarely tested, over-used tapes are starting to fail and off-site tapes are often on-site when disaster strikes.

Backup

2Not Confident

%12Neutral

%86Confident

%

Declining skill base

When asked whether attracting and retaining critical IT skills was becoming a problem, over half of respondents agreed.

26Neutral

%

22Disagreed

%

52Agreed

%

Mystified about the cloud?

Results suggest that System i users are unsure as to how the cloud computing model could be applicable to them.

14Saw

benefit

33Didn’t

see benefit

% 53Neutral

% %

You’re Power™-Hungry

A small minority of respondents disagreed that they were uncomfortable with the risk and cost of operating old software. Most agreed they would indeed be more comfortable on newer hardware.

The figures were almost identical for IBM i operating system software. 58

Agreed

% 23Neutral

%

19Disagreed

%

Green Screen

The vast majority of those experiencing issues with appearance or user interface were running early versions of the operating system.

%42Don’t mind the green screen %31

Neutral

%27Somewhat unhappy

with green screen

System i is good for business

When asked whether users are able to access the data they need to run the business, 71% agreed, with the vast majority of the remainder giving a neutral answer.

It proves that a mature business system, kept up to date, will often continue to serve the business needs very well.

71%

Agreed they have access to the data they need to run their business

90% of users appear to plan further investment in the platform:

When asked about four possible areas for investment: Reporting and Analytics, Additional Functionality, Going Mobile, and 24x7 High Availability, 90% of respondents indicated at least one area was either a need or a priority for investment.

Reporting and Analytics

Additional Functionality

Going Mobile

24/7 High Availability

Conclusion:

Still ‘future proof’, with a TCO that compares wellOnly 6.5% of IBM i platform end-users disagree with the statement, ‘we believe our System i platform is future-proof.’ Moreover, when asked whether their business system is ‘very reliable’, not one of the respondents running their mission-critical business systems on System i disagreed. 92% concurred and the remaining 7.7% were ‘neutral’.

The survey results also support the widely-held belief that System i applications can be deployed faster and maintained with fewer staff. When asked whether total cost of ownership of their system compares well with alternatives, only 5.5% disagreed.

Read the full survey report

To access the full survey report please visit: www.inforsystemi.com/survey

Thank youInfor would like to thank the participants in the EMEA System i Attitudes Survey for helping to raise €500 for “Habitat for Humanity” through their participation.