IBM i 7.4 Support Ends 30 September 2026 – Are You Ready?
18 August 2026 - 2 Minute Read
If you’re still running IBM i 7.4, there is an important deadline approaching.
IBM standard support for IBM i 7.4 ends on 30 September 2026.
After this date, customers remaining on 7.4 may need IBM Extended Support, bringing additional cost. Moving to a supported release also ensures continued access to IBM fixes and updates, including important security-related fixes and PTFs.
For most customers, there are three scenarios:
1. Your IBM Software Maintenance is current
If your IBM SWMA is active, you may simply need experienced IBM i technical resource to plan and perform the upgrade to IBM i 7.5 or 7.6, depending on your hardware.
Baby Blue can provide the IBM i expertise to assess, plan and complete the upgrade.
2. Your IBM Software Maintenance has lapsed
This doesn’t necessarily prevent you from upgrading.
We can help establish your current IBM entitlement and provide pricing to reinstate IBM Software Maintenance, including any applicable IBM After Licence or reinstatement charges.
Once reinstated, we can then help with the operating system upgrade.
3. Your IBM Power hardware is too old
Older Power systems may restrict which IBM i releases you can run.
In this situation, it can make sense to review the hardware and operating system together.
IBM’s new Power11 range includes a compact deskside system which provides an attractive upgrade path for smaller IBM i environments still running older Power technology.
Not sure which applies to you?
You don’t need to know the answer before contacting us.
Send Baby Blue your:
- IBM Power model and serial number
- Current IBM i version
- SWMA status, if known
We’ll help establish whether you can upgrade your existing system, need to reinstate IBM Software Maintenance, or should consider moving to IBM Power11.
We can then provide a quick and straightforward quotation for IBM SWMA, Power11 hardware, IBM i upgrade services, or simply the technical expertise you need.
If you’re running IBM i 7.4, the key is to start planning before 30 September rather than waiting until standard support has ended.
About the Author
Will Nicholls
Will Nicholls is an industry recognised expert in the field of Hardware & Software Maintenance services especially around all IBM platforms. Will has worked in this field as a salesman for over 25 years and in his time has won some of the largest third party maintenance contracts many of which, due to his passion for account management, stayed with him for multiple years. Will is known for his innovation, bringing new, highly profitable services to the organisations he worked for. Will is now responsible all things maintenance related and making sure that we always do the right thing for the Customer.
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