Perhaps as an EDI professional you found yourself somewhere between curious and concerned by the recent IBM announcement that operating systems such as the iSeries and UNIX (most flavors) will no longer be supported when IBM rolls out its newest version of IBM Sterling B2B Integrator sometime next year.
Here are 5 things you can do to reduce the impact of that announcement.
- Breathe – This doesn’t change the game as much or as fast as you or IBM’s competitors might think. This change will not affect existing supported versions of B2B Integrator until 12 months after a specific version sunset date is announced. B2B Integrator remains one of the most widely used EDI translation packages in North America
- Assess – Now that you know you have some time, assessing your current state is a wise next step. How well do you know your current environment and what is the current state of the application? Is it time for a health check so that when the time to upgrade and migrate to a supported operating system comes you are better prepared?
- Talk – A calm and open discussion with your EDI manager about the direction your company will take when your operating system’s sunset date arrives will keep everyone from living in the land of eleventh hour panic. Also, it can be a good idea to deeply explore what can be gained from this type of a change - if accomplished on a timetable of your choosing. Does it make sense to upgrade early, or leverage new features and system enhancements that a framework can deliver for instance?
- Learn – Just as a doctor will warn against improperly researching your illness because of conflicting information out on the net, a discussion with an expert in the field who can share their actual experience migrating to new platforms can be a wise suggestion.
- Prepare – The biggest advantage you can give yourself is to leverage your own initiative by not procrastinating. This only leads to making hasty decisions or settling for best available resources versus most experienced resources when it’s time for action. If you are concerned that the move away from UNIX or the iSeries puts you at risk professionally, you will best demonstrate your value by beginning to find a solution to the issue sooner rather than later.
Click here to read the IBM announcement.
Change makes for anxious times, but Remedi works with clients to help assess, plan, learn, and migrate their B2B Integrator environments every day. Call us to see how we can help as you begin your discovery process related to a better EDI environment now, and into the future well past sunset.
