April 27, 2026 Gregg Rohaly
As hybrid IT becomes the default operating model, the IBM i platform is increasingly positioned not as a legacy “system in the corner,” but as a high-value, mission-critical core surrounded by modern integration layers and cloud-connected services.
In The IBM i And The Hybrid Cloud World: Things To Keep In Mind, a fast-paced conversation explores what IBM i leaders – and the partners who advise them – should prioritize when aligning IBM i with today’s hybrid cloud expectations.
For this video interview, Gregg Rohaly as CloudSAFE’s business development manager, joined Ron Venzin, a CloudSAFE founder and chief development officer, discuss IBM i topics with respect to on prem to cloud transformation. They touch on areas such as costs, skills, what they see in the marketplace, and useful advice compiled from the many conversations they have had with customers and business partners over the past couple of years.
The conversation introduces CloudSAFE and its evolution into a scaled, multi-platform hosting and managed services provider, emphasizing growth, broader infrastructure footprint, and a partner-friendly model – while reinforcing deep roots in IBM i backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity services. From there, the conversation tackles a critical reality: IBM i environments are rarely isolated anymore. Instead, they commonly connect to AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and adjacent workloads such as analytics, customer-facing web/mobile applications, DevOps pipelines, and resilience architectures – often with IBM i handling core transactions while cloud services support innovation at the edge.
For midmarket organizations, the discussion highlights the “tipping points” that accelerate cloud adoption: the IBM i skills gap, rising operational burden, the need for CapEx avoidance and predictable TCO, and the desire to modernize faster without rewriting dependable core applications. It also frames how managed cloud can stabilize infrastructure economics through provider scale and long-term sourcing advantages, while delivering on-demand expertise for migration planning, performance optimization, governance/FinOps, and 24/7 operations – without forcing customers to staff every specialized role internally. The piece closes with practical guidance that you should listen to and note before jumping in.
We hope that you enjoy the conversation.
Gregg Rohaly is business development manager at CloudSAFE.
This content was sponsored by CloudSAFE.
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