Kyndryl Cloud Uplift - IBM i & AIX Services
IBM i & AIX Migration and Managed Services
Move Your IBM Power Workloads to Microsoft Azure
If your organisation is moving infrastructure to Microsoft Azure, what do you do with the critical applications still running on IBM Power, IBM i or AIX?
Kyndryl Cloud Uplift - formerly Skytap on Azure - provides a practical route to cloud for IBM Power workloads.
It enables organisations to move existing IBM i and AIX environments into the Microsoft Azure cloud ecosystem while continuing to run them on IBM Power infrastructure, without having to rewrite or re-platform established applications simply to adopt a cloud strategy.
At Baby Blue IT & Consulting, we provide the specialist IBM Power skills to help you assess, plan and migrate your IBM i and AIX workloads into Kyndryl Cloud Uplift - and manage them once they are there.
We work directly with end users and alongside MSPs, outsourcers and systems integrators that need specialist IBM Power expertise within a wider cloud transformation project.
What Is Kyndryl Cloud Uplift?
Kyndryl Cloud Uplift is the new name for the platform previously known as Skytap on Azure.
It provides organisations with a way to bring specialist IBM Power workloads into their wider Microsoft Azure strategy while retaining the IBM Power architecture required by IBM i and AIX.
This can be particularly attractive if you are:
- Exiting a data centre.
- Approaching an IBM Power hardware refresh.
- Moving wider infrastructure to Microsoft Azure.
- Looking to reduce dependence on physical IBM Power infrastructure.
- Experiencing IBM i or AIX skills shortages.
Rather than maintaining a separate physical IBM environment simply because critical applications require IBM i or AIX, Kyndryl Cloud Uplift provides a bridge between established IBM Power applications and a modern Azure cloud strategy.
IBM Power Specialists for Kyndryl Cloud Uplift
Moving IBM Power infrastructure into the cloud doesn't remove the need for IBM expertise.
Your IBM i or AIX operating systems, applications, databases, security, backups, interfaces and integrations still need to be understood, migrated and managed.
Baby Blue has over 30 years of experience working with IBM midrange systems, spanning today's IBM Power platforms and their predecessors:
IBM i | OS/400 | AS/400 | iSeries | System i | AIX | RS/6000 | pSeries | IBM Power
We combine this IBM heritage with practical experience of Kyndryl Cloud Uplift / Skytap environments, supporting customers through migration and into ongoing managed services.
From Assessment to Migration
Before moving an IBM workload, you need to understand the existing environment and everything connected to it.
Baby Blue can help assess your LPAR configuration, operating system levels, CPU, memory, storage, applications, networking, backup, high availability, disaster recovery and external interfaces.
From there, we can help design and deliver the migration into Kyndryl Cloud Uplift.
Our specialists can work alongside your internal IT team, Kyndryl, Microsoft or your existing service providers, supporting:
Assessment → Design → Migration → Testing → Go Live
The objective isn't simply to move an LPAR.
It is to ensure that the IBM environment, applications and connections continue to operate correctly once the workload has moved.
Managed IBM i & AIX After the Migration
Once your workload is running in Kyndryl Cloud Uplift, Baby Blue can continue to manage the IBM environment.
Our managed services can include:
- IBM i and AIX administration.
- System monitoring and housekeeping.
- User and security administration.
- IBM i PTF and AIX Technology Level management.
- Performance and capacity monitoring.
- Backup and recovery.
- High availability support.
- Operating system upgrades.
- Problem diagnosis and resolution.
- Liaison with Kyndryl Cloud Uplift support where required.
Where an issue occurs, we can help determine whether it relates to IBM i or AIX, the application, connectivity, the LPAR or the underlying cloud platform, and coordinate the appropriate technical response.
Already running IBM Power on Skytap, Skytap on Azure or Kyndryl Cloud Uplift?
You don't need to be migrating to use our services. We can manage your existing environment too.
IBM Expertise for MSPs, Outsourcers & Systems Integrators
IBM Power is a specialist area.
Even large MSPs, outsourcers and systems integrators with extensive Azure and cloud transformation capabilities may not always have the IBM i or AIX expertise available internally for a particular project.
Baby Blue can provide that specialist capability.
We can take responsibility for the IBM Power workstream within a wider cloud migration, data centre exit or transformation project, working alongside your existing team while you retain ownership of the wider customer relationship.
This could involve a single IBM i LPAR within a much larger Azure migration, multiple AIX workloads, migration assistance or the ongoing IBM managed service after the project is complete.
Your Customer. Your Project. Our IBM Expertise.
You don't need to maintain specialist IBM Power skills internally for every project. Baby Blue can provide them when you need them.
Why Baby Blue?
Our team has worked with IBM systems for more than 30 years, from AS/400 and RS/6000 through iSeries and pSeries to today's IBM Power, IBM i and AIX platforms.
We understand the legacy environments organisations are moving from, the current IBM technologies they rely upon and the Kyndryl Cloud Uplift environment they are moving to.
Whether you are an end user moving your own IBM estate or a service provider requiring specialist IBM skills within a larger project, Baby Blue can help you assess, migrate and manage IBM Power workloads in Kyndryl Cloud Uplift.
Talk to Us About Kyndryl Cloud Uplift
Considering Kyndryl Cloud Uplift, planning a data centre exit or already running IBM Power workloads on Skytap?
Talk to Baby Blue about your IBM i or AIX environment.
We can help you get there - and manage it when it's there.
