Craig Cannon
IBM Systems Business Manager | TD SYNNEX
Why IBM Hardware Resellers Should Be Talking About IBM Bob
For decades, IBM i has been the backbone of mission-critical business applications across manufacturing, distribution, retail, finance, and logistics. Many organisations continue to rely on IBM Power infrastructure because of its reliability, security, and ability to run core business processes without interruption.
However, one challenge remains consistent across the IBM i community: application modernisation.
As experienced RPG and COBOL developers retire and technical debt accumulates, customers are looking for ways to modernise applications faster while preserving the business logic that makes their businesses successful.
This is where IBM Bob Premium Package for IBM i presents a significant opportunity for IBM hardware resellers.
Beyond Hardware: Helping Customers Maximise the Value of IBM Power
Traditionally, IBM resellers have focused on infrastructure refreshes, capacity upgrades, and platform migrations. While these remain critical revenue streams, customers increasingly expect partners to provide strategic guidance around modernisation and AI-enabled transformation.
IBM Bob enables resellers to have a much broader business conversation:
- How can customers reduce modernisation project timelines?
- How can they address skills shortages within IBM i teams?
- How can they preserve decades of business knowledge embedded in legacy applications?
- How can they increase the value and longevity of their IBM Power investment?
Rather than replacing existing IBM i environments, IBM Bob helps customers modernise and enhance them.
Solving a Growing Skills Gap
One of the biggest challenges facing IBM i customers is the shrinking pool of experienced RPG, COBOL, CL, and database specialists.
IBM Bob was specifically designed to understand IBM i applications and development workflows. Its AI-powered capabilities can explain complex programs, generate documentation, support testing, refactor applications, and even assist with converting traditional fixed-format RPG into modern free-format RPG.
For resellers, this creates a compelling value proposition:
- Help customers do more with the skills they already have while accelerating onboarding for the next generation of IBM i developers.
- Customers struggling to recruit or retain specialist IBM i expertise may see IBM Bob as a practical way to extend team productivity without compromising quality.
Accelerating Modernisation Projects
Many IBM i modernisation initiatives stall because teams don’t fully understand the existing application landscape. Applications often contain decades of undocumented business logic and thousands of lines of code.
IBM Bob addresses this challenge by providing AI-assisted code understanding, documentation generation, and modernisation planning based on the actual IBM i environment. Because the solution connects directly to IBM i systems, its recommendations are grounded in real application context rather than generic code analysis.
For IBM resellers, this opens opportunities to:
- Support application modernisation engagements
- Accelerate migration assessments
- Reduce project risk
- Deliver higher-value consulting services
- Create new recurring services revenue streams
Rather than leading only with infrastructure, partners can lead with business outcomes.
Demonstrating Measurable Productivity Gains
Real-world customer experiences highlight the productivity potential of IBM Bob.
Jasmine Kaczmarek, Vice President of Technology at M.R. Williams, reported that a task which previously required six hours of senior developer effort was completed in approximately twenty minutes using IBM Bob, representing an 18x improvement in speed.
Stories like this resonate strongly with IBM i customers facing resource constraints and growing project backlogs.
For resellers, these examples can help build a compelling ROI discussion around modernisation investment.
Preserving Business-Critical Knowledge
Many IBM i environments contain applications that have evolved over decades. Documentation is often incomplete, and institutional knowledge may reside with only a handful of experienced employees.
IBM Bob can analyse and document large codebases, identifying inputs, outputs, file structures, and business logic. According to Marina Schwenk of Innovative Software Solutions, the platform helped document programs exceeding 90,000 lines of code and generated information suitable for onboarding new developers.
For customers preparing for workforce transitions, this capability can be just as valuable as any infrastructure investment.
Creating New Revenue Opportunities for Resellers
IBM Bob gives partners several ways to extend customer engagement:
Modernisation Assessments
Use IBM Bob as part of application discovery and modernisation planning exercises.
IBM Power Refresh Projects
Position IBM Bob alongside Power hardware upgrades to show customers how they can maximise the value of both infrastructure and applications.
Managed Modernisation Services
Offer ongoing application analysis, documentation, testing, and modernisation support.
Skills Gap Workshops
Help customers evaluate where AI-assisted development can improve team productivity and reduce dependence on scarce IBM i expertise.
AI Strategy Conversations
Leverage IBM Bob as an entry point for broader discussions around AI adoption within mission-critical environments.
The Bottom Line
IBM i customers are not looking to replace the applications that run their businesses. They are looking for ways to modernise them faster, safer, and with greater confidence.
IBM Bob Premium Package for IBM i combines AI-powered development assistance, deep IBM i expertise, native platform connectivity, and purpose-built modernisation workflows to help customers achieve those goals.
For IBM hardware resellers, this is more than an additional software offering. It is an opportunity to move beyond infrastructure conversations and become a strategic modernisation partner, helping customers unlock greater value from their IBM Power environments while creating new services and revenue opportunities.
