Learn about the end of service for IBM Power9 Scale Out models and why it’s time to upgrade your platform. In this article, Tom Richards explores the benefits of on-premise, off-premise, and hybrid cloud solutions with IBM Power Systems Virtual Server. Enhance your cyber resilience with advanced IBM storage array features.
End of Service for IBM Power9: Upgrade Now
With the recent announcement of the End of Service for Power9 Scale Out models in 31st January 2026, now is the time to consider upgrading your platform to maintain mainstream support. Whether you choose on-premise, off-premise, or hybrid Cloud solutions, now is the ideal time to begin this transition.
We understand that outdated infrastructure can limit your organisation’s ability to keep pace with the rapidly changing digital landscape.
This is an opportunity for clients to evaluate their modernisation journey. For some, this transition represents a chance to optimise efficiency by rightsizing environments, ensuring you only pay for what you use, with the flexibility to scale as your business expands. For others, it offers the opportunity to harness the performance benefits of the latest hardware, enabling faster AI workloads and greater energy efficiency to meet sustainability and ESG goals.
To maximise flexibility in your replacement environment, IBM can tailor solutions for cloud-first and hybrid-cloud strategies using IBM Power Systems Virtual Server (Power VS). With Power VS, you can purchase AIX, IBM i, and Linux virtual machines-as-a-service. IBM manages everything up to the OS deployment, while you have the flexibility to self-manage from there. This solution offers cloud consumption-based pricing, providing enterprise-class computing with the agility to deploy rapidly.
Clients can also enhance their cyber resilience as part of this upgrade. Pairing a new Power server with advanced IBM storage array features enables native encryption of all data at rest and immutable snapshot capabilities, which facilitate quick recovery in the event of a cyber-attack.
Worried about migration or ongoing support?
Northdoor have over three decades of experience in complex infrastructure solutions and is a trusted partner for leading organisations.
Our dedicated IBM Power Systems and Storage Practice brings extensive experience in deploying, maintaining, and managing these systems. Clients who choose Northdoor’s Managed Services benefit from expert monitoring and incident management within strict SLAs, ensuring clear management and enabling clients to focus on core business priorities while leaving as much of the technology management as desired to Northdoor’s specialists.
Northdoor’s Managed Services allow clients to focus on their core business while leaving the technology management to experts. Whether you need full IT operations outsourcing or service-desk support for a specific platform, Northdoor’s skilled IT professionals ensure that mission-critical systems remain available and perform optimally.
To assist you in evaluating your options, we are pleased to offer a complimentary analysis of your existing IBM Power Systems to explore both on-premise and off-premise solutions. This analysis will provide valuable insights into achieving the optimal solution while minimising ongoing costs.
If you are interested in exploring cloud offerings, we can arrange a Proof of Concept, allowing your team to assess the benefits of migrating to the cloud.
We look forward to discussing this with you soon and providing a detailed cost proposal from Northdoor, along with a clear, demonstrable cost case.
Affected Servers
The following Power9 scale-out servers are affected by this announcement:
| Machine Type / Model | Description |
| 9009-22A | S922 |
| 9009-41A | S914 |
| 9009-42A | S924 |
| 9223-22H | H922 |
| 9223-42H | H924 |
| 9008-22L | L922 |
Contact Rob Sutherland or Tom Richards for more information.