VIRTUTEM

10/28/2026

A global SAP transformation. Three regions. A BPCS environment that still had to run every day.

When a global manufacturer reassigned key BPCS experts to a critical deployment phase of its multi-year SAP transformation, the system still supporting daily operations faced a growing backlog. Then an unplanned EDI departure raised the stakes further.

We took over support, identified undocumented issues beyond the original scope, and kept BPCS operations across all three regions running without interruption.

10/26/2026

There are two very different approaches to IBM i ERP managed services.

One learns about your environment reactively. Assumes documentation exists. Figures out undocumented RPG customizations as issues arise. Escalates EDI problems back to you.

Another builds a documented baseline of your environment before assuming production responsibility.

That means capturing job scheduler configuration, user authority profiles, active RPG programs, and undocumented customization logic.

That baseline becomes the first deliverable. And that documentation belongs to the client.
The difference becomes apparent when something breaks, and nobody can explain what changed or when.

VIRTUTEM's ERP Architects begin every engagement with a structured environment discovery. The documentation stays with you. It does not disappear if the engagement ever ends.

When your current provider makes a change to your ERP environment, how do you find out?

10/22/2026

A global manufacturer moved its entire BPCS team into a critical deployment phase of a multi-year SAP transformation. On purpose. Necessary for the transformation. Risky for the system still running the business.

Then an EDI expert left, unplanned, right as EDI became critical to that deployment phase and go-live.

150+ open tickets. 80-day backlog. That's where we came in.

We spent three months learning the environment before touching anything. By month five, we were the primary support team, with the backlog down to 30 tickets, all under 30 days old. We also caught undocumented job stream issues that nobody asked us to look for and fixed those too.

When EDI ownership landed on us, we carried EDI support through that go-live phase. The result: zero disrupted shipments. Then we handed it back once the client's own team was ready.

Still an active engagement today.

If your best people are focused on the next platform, who's protecting the one still running the business?

10/20/2026

Onboarding takes a bit longer than anyone would like.

The user interface asks more of people than it needs to.

Integrations feel like more work than they need to be.

None of that means the platform is the problem; these are usability patterns, and the good news is they're often easier to fix than expected.

Our free IBM i System Health Quiz helps you pinpoint exactly where these patterns appear in your environment, so you know what's worth evaluating.

Is Your IBM i System at Risk? This 10-question diagnostic evaluates the real health of your IBM i system across the dimensions that matter most to operations, IT, and leadership alike, from how dependent your team still is on green-screen interfaces, to how quickly you'd recover if your most experie...

10/14/2026

If you're running Infor LX or BPCS on IBM i, your managed services setup may have a gap that isn't obvious.

Most organizations have an infrastructure provider, someone handling the OS, PTFs, backups and uptime. That's essential work. But it's a different discipline from managing the business application running on top of it.

The configuration, custom code, job streams, EDI, and business logic that determine whether your operations actually run correctly are all part of the application layer. And that requires a different kind of specialist.

Both matter. They're just not the same engagement.

The confusion between the two is one of the most common mistakes we see in managed services evaluations. An engineer who manages PTFs and monitors system performance is not the same as one who can diagnose a BPCS job stream failure or modify RPG code without breaking downstream processes.

VIRTUTEM's ERP Architects work alongside infrastructure providers all the time. The scope is defined from the start, so each party knows exactly what they own. There's a named escalation path when an issue touches both layers.

If you're not sure which layer your current provider actually covers, that's worth finding out before something surfaces the answer for you.

Does your current managed services contract define which layer is covered and which is not?

10/12/2026

How strong is the support model behind your ERP?

Your team may have the expertise it needs today, but key-person dependencies, documentation gaps, and limited internal bandwidth can create additional pressure as modernization, upgrades, or broader transformation demands grow.

Knowing where the gaps are can help you decide what expertise, support or modernization your environment needs next.

10/09/2026

The IBM i talent pool is getting harder to replenish.

Over 72% of IBM i developers are already past 50. More than a third are 60 or older.

For organizations running BPCS or Infor LX, that creates a specific kind of risk. The people approaching retirement may also be the people who understand years of customizations, job streams, EDI connections and undocumented decisions inside the ERP.

Posting a job opening is one response. It isn't the only one.

Organizations can build internal succession plans, document and transfer critical knowledge, hire and train new talent, use contractors or managed services, selectively outsource support, and modernize parts of the environment that depend heavily on specialized expertise.

None of these approaches happens overnight. The important part is starting while the people who know the environment are still there.

If your BPCS or Infor LX environment depends on one person's memory, how long would it take you to notice if that knowledge walked out the door?

09/30/2026

Business logic built over decades. Customizations no one documented. Application behavior that exists in one person's head.

When that knowledge walks out, what remains is risk.

Our IBM i System Health Quiz surfaces the signals worth paying attention to before they become problems.

Find out if your system is at risk: https://bit.ly/4vBP6Tp

09/24/2026

72% of IBM i developers are over 50. More than a third are already 60 or older.

The replacement pipeline remains limited.

This isn't a future problem. It's already inside the planning window for most organizations.

When did you last audit who actually understands your ERP, and what happens when they leave?

09/22/2026

What happens when years of ERP experience walk out the door?

For organizations running BPCS or Infor LX, maintaining the expertise needed to support the system is a growing continuity risk.

That means preparing the people who will support it next, but it also means transferring institutional knowledge, documenting critical processes, and planning for succession before that expertise leaves.

Documentation matters, too. VIRTUTEM regularly encounters established ERP environments with gaps such as undocumented customizations and job streams without runbooks.