IBM and Zend by Perforce Announcement for IBM i Users

As a close IBM partner for more than 14 years, Perforce Software continues to help the IBM i community build on its existing investments with open source technologies. This includes providing Zend Server for IBM i, which delivers a secured, supported, and certified PHP stack for IBM i, along with cutting-edge tools for application monitoring, profiling, caching, and code tracing. In addition, OpenLogic by Perforce provides a comprehensive portfolio of supported open source solutions for the IBM i community that include technologies such as ActiveMQ and Kafka. 

Perforce and IBM are continuing to partner to bring needed solutions to the IBM i platform. By engaging Zend directly, IBM i users can still take advantage of:

• Zend Server for IBM i, the leading PHP application server that comes with mission-critical and long-term support.
• ZendDbi, which brings MariaDB to the IBM i platform.
• Comprehensive PHP services for the IBM i platform.
• Extensive PHP resources that are free for IBM i users.

“The original roll-out of PHP on the IBM i platform was significant in gaining mind-share in the IBM i community in the areas of modernization and open source adoption,” says Erwin Earley, Senior Solutions Consultant with Zend by Perforce — and active IBM i community member for more than 20 years. “Zend by Perforce is a leader in the PHP community and in PHP solutions for the IBM i platform. We are looking forward to continuing to partner closely with IBM to help the IBM i community in meeting current and long-term goals.”

In addition to the strategic solutions from Zend, IBM i users can also contact OpenLogic  for open source offerings, including:

• Mission-critical support for hundreds of open source technologies such as Kafka and ActiveMQ.
• Innovation guidance for designing, deploying, managing, and scaling open source solutions that work seamlessly with IBM i.
• Migration services including help moving from Oracle JDK to OpenJDK.

Changes in the Licensing of Zend Server for IBM i

In a continuing effort to streamline our services and provide better value to our customers, Perforce Software and IBM are announcing changes to the licensing of Zend Server for IBM i:

• Effective June 30, 2020, IBM will no longer be including Zend Server Basic entitlement with the IBM i operating system. At that time, clients using the one year of no-additional-charge Zend support will be entitled to complete that one year, ending on June 30, 2021.
• Effective June 30, 2021, Perforce is withdrawing the Zend Server Basic license for IBM I, so that the license will be end of life. All Basic licenses will expire on June 30, 2021. However, you can still get Zend Server for the IBM i platform by purchasing licenses directly from Zend.

The IBM i community continues to be a strategic focus of Zend by Perforce. If you are using Zend Server Basic or have questions about this announcement and your options for PHP solutions on the IBM i platform, please contact us.

Frequently Asked Questions about Changes to Zend Server Licensing for IBM i

Question: What do I need to do to continue using Zend Server beyond June 30, 2021?

Answer: Obtain either a Professional or Enterprise license of Zend Server. Those licenses provide additional functionality for managing PHP environments. Contact us for additional information.

Question: Will I need to make any code changes when using a Professional or Enterprise license of Zend Server?

Answer: No. The PHP stack delivered with Zend Server is the same across the different licenses that are available for the product.  

Question: I’ve been using Zend Server Basic to access Db2 data and ILE programs and artifacts. Are those capabilities still available? 

Answer:  Absolutely! The Zend by Perforce team remains committed to the IBM i platform and is helping IBM i customers use PHP in new application development and modernization efforts. You can get those same capabilities in Zend Server Professional and Zend Server Enterprise. 

Question:  Does this announcement reflect a termination of the partnership between IBM and Perforce?

Answer: No. IBM and Perforce remain committed to working together to help organizations adopt and scale enterprise-class solutions for IBM i that are built with PHP and other open source technologies.

Question:  Is Zend Server the only supported PHP solution for IBM i?

Answer:  While community PHP is available for IBM i, it does not include any of the application server functions or bundled extensions — including the Db2 driver and ILE toolkit — that Zend Server provides. Instead, those components must be installed, and sometimes built, separately. As another distinction, community PHP comes with community support only. Support is available from IBM TSS. However, the duration is shorter than the extended 5+-year support that comes with Zend Server.  

Additional Questions? 

If you have additional questions about this announcement, please contact us today.

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