In many organizations still powered by IBM i, the performance of AS400 systems is directly tied to business continuity. Whether you’re in manufacturing, distribution, logistics, or finance, a single unmonitored spike in system load or an undetected job loop can snowball into a business-critical outage.
That’s why real-time AS400 monitoring isn’t “nice to have”, rather it’s the backbone of system reliability.
Yet, in 2025, far too many enterprises still rely on manual, ticket-driven approaches to monitor their AS400 environments. This reactive mindset not only delays incident response but also blocks long-term optimization.
The solution? Intelligent automation for AS400 monitoring — an essential upgrade that not only reduces downtime but also puts you back in control of performance, capacity, and uptime SLAs.
Let’s explore how automation-first AS400 monitoring works, the risks of not implementing it, and why forward-looking organizations are investing in smarter support models.
What Does Monitoring Mean in an AS400 World?
IBM i monitoring refers to the continuous observation of system performance, resource utilization, job activity, and hardware health across the AS400 ecosystem. It’s the radar system that alerts IT when the engine stalls—or better yet—when it’s about to stall.
Monitoring tools keep a close eye on:
· CPU usage across partitions
· DASD storage thresholds
· Message queues
· Job queues and long-running batch jobs
· Network throughput
· Backup status
· Unexpected IPLs or system restarts
While IBM provides tools like Navigator for i and IBM i Services, they require heavy manual effort to configure alerts, analyze trends, and correlate incidents.
Modern AS400 monitoring services take that burden off your shoulders with automated thresholds, proactive alerting, and even self-healing scripts for recurring issues.
The Cost of Reactive Monitoring: What Happens When You Don’t Automate?
Organizations often underestimate how quickly things can spiral when AS400 systems aren’t monitored properly.
1. Costly Downtime
A missed alert about a runaway job or storage hitting 95% can lead to an unplanned outage. In industries where IBM i runs order processing, warehousing, or payment systems, even a few hours of downtime can cost thousands of dollars—and damage client trust.
2. Overburdened Teams
Manual monitoring means your operations team is always in firefighting mode. They spend most of their time reacting to tickets instead of preventing issues. This leads to burnout, higher error rates, and missed optimization opportunities.
3. Lack of Visibility
Without automated tracking and trend analysis, it’s difficult to forecast capacity needs or detect subtle performance degradation. This can lead to missed SLAs and complaints from business teams about “slowness,” which are hard to validate.
Also read: How AS400 Automation Developers Solve Hidden Bottlenecks in Manufacturing
How Automation Transforms AS400 Monitoring
Monitoring is no longer about simply “keeping an eye” on the system. Automation introduces intelligence, speed, and consistency that a manual approach simply cannot match.
1. Proactive Alerting
Automated monitoring platforms continuously scan for predefined thresholds and abnormal patterns. The moment an issue is detected—like a message queue backing up or an abnormal CPU spike—alerts are triggered with actionable context.
2. Self-Healing Responses
Some automation solutions go a step further, executing recovery scripts autonomously. For example, if a temporary job fails repeatedly due to missing spool files, the system can detect the pattern and clean the queue or restart the job.
3. Performance Trend Analysis
Automation allows you to collect and correlate metrics over time—DASD usage, job runtimes, memory leaks. These insights enable smarter capacity planning and preventive maintenance without relying on guesswork.
4. Unified Dashboard for IBM i Operations
Modern tools consolidate multiple partitions, job queues, and system logs into a single pane of glass. This gives your IT team real-time visibility into everything that’s happening—without having to jump between green screens or dig into command lines.
What to Look for in an AS400 Monitoring Partner
When selecting a support partner for AS400 monitoring and automation, ensure they offer more than just tooling. Look for:
· Proven IBM i expertise across industries
· Preconfigured monitoring templates for job queues, disk, and memory
· Customizable automation scripts for your unique processes
· Real-time dashboards and SLA-based reporting
· Integration with ticketing platforms like ServiceNow or Jira
A true partner won’t just monitor your systems—they’ll make them smarter.
Conclusion
AS400 monitoring doesn’t have to be tedious, reactive, or dependent on tribal knowledge. With automation, you can eliminate blind spots, reduce downtime, and restore confidence in your IBM i environment.
As businesses continue to modernize, intelligent monitoring will be a non-negotiable part of staying competitive—and staying online.
