IBM i Experts in Austria
to modernize core systems with vetted, available freelancers matched by AIHire experts who maintain RPG and COBOL applications, integrate Db2 for i with modern APIs, and support IBM Power Systems environments. FRATCH matches you quickly and precisely with vetted, available freelancers for dependable IBM i work.
Meet FRATCH Experts in Austria, who have recently used IBM i
Thomas P.
Last position:
Change Manager / AI-driven Finance Transformation at Agrana
Organizational Change Management for the strategic setup of a hybrid GBS rollout as part of a global, AI-driven Finance Transformation. End-to-end management of the OCM architecture in a highly complex on-, near-, and offshore partner setup [IN, PL, RO]. Successful completion of Phase 1 (Initial Strategy) and strategic pausing by the Executive Board after the early disclosure of critical vendor-side OPEX risks
Systemic Baseline Assessment & Stakeholder Diagnostics: Evaluation of the global organization and analysis of the process landscape across 21 countries [AT, DE, CH, FR, UK, SI, RO, UA, RU, US, CD, CN, AR, MX, ZA, IN, JP] to precisely determine change requirements
Architecting the OCM Strategy & Master Roadmap: Independent development of a comprehensive, AI-centered Change Roadmap for end-to-end management of all change initiatives across every project phase
Data Quality & AI Agent Risk Mitigation: Auditing of Process Data Repositories (Celonis analysis); prevention of the ingestion of 58% synthetic training data to safeguard AI model reliability amid geopolitical supply chain tensions
GBS Vendor BAFO Triage & Contractual Commitment: Critical review of Tier-1 vendor pitches and contractual commitment to a reduced Non-STP rate (from 7% to 4%) to avoid extreme manual rework with a planned FTE reduction (-63%)
Executive Enablement & Board Alignment: Design of the GBS Transformation Executive Board Deck to strategically enable C-level executives and transparently present completely overlooked AI tokenization costs
Targeted Change Communications & Engagement: Design and development of audience-specific communication measures to align the highly diverse, globally distributed stakeholder network
Adoption Velocity & Resistance Measurement: Engineering of quantitative measurement tools (Pulse Check Survey) using Behavioral Dyads to identify resistance based on data and ensure sustainable success measurement
Results:
- Avoidance of disruptive misallocations: Stopping the ingestion of 58% synthetic AI-agent training data after discovering only 42% compatibility with existing processes, preventing critical GBS cascade errors
- Significant OPEX & effort reduction: Reduction of the Non-STP rate in Tier-1 vendor BAFOs from 7% to 4% alongside an impending 63% Finance-FTE reduction; avoidance of thousands of time-consuming manual correction processes
- 100% Delivery of the OCM architecture & ROI protection: Delivery of all OCM artifacts (Change Roadmap, Comms Plan, Executive Board Deck, Pulse Check Survey) and protection of ROI by identifying incalculable LLM runtime token costs
António José R.
Last position:
Quality Management Manager at cloudWerkstatt GmbH
- Set up a quality management system according to ISO 9001:2015
Jochen H.
Last position:
Interim CFO CEE Region at PE Portfolio company in the FMCG Industry
Peter S.
Last position:
Lead Software Architect at Pritz IT GmbH
- Lead software architect in a greenfield MES project (Manufacturing Execution System / factory control system), responsible for architecture decisions, technology selection, and technical direction throughout the entire development lifecycle
- Designed and built the core framework from scratch, including several reusable Spring Boot starters (e.g., OPC-UA integration, messaging, security) that enable flexible composition of the individual system modules
- Introduced Keycloak as the central authentication and authorization system with SSO across all MES components
- Created and owns the full CI/CD pipeline covering Java, NPM and Docker – automating build, test, containerisation and deployment across all project components
- Set up the architecture documentation space in Confluence as the single source of truth for all architecture decisions, component designs, and integration patterns
- Defined and enforced naming conventions and coding standards to ensure consistency in the growing codebase
- Conducted regular code reviews for quality assurance, knowledge sharing, and adherence to architecture guidelines
- Created and maintained technology roadmaps to guide future development priorities and infrastructure investments
Joseph W.
Last position:
Freelancer Cloud / Solution Architect (AWS) at A1 Bank
- I am responsible for providing solution architecture and technical assistance for a migration initiative aimed at transitioning to a new core banking system.
- The project involves replacing in-house development with a commercially available off-the-shelf core banking system operated as SaaS on AWS.
- Duties encompass solution design, technical coordination, supporting development teams, and providing IT support and troubleshooting.
- Managing over 10 global vendors and partners is crucial to project success.
- Technologies: VMWare ESXi, AWS, EKS Kubernetes, Mastercard Payment Transaction Service, Avaloq, A1 Telekom Austria infrastructure, CheckPoint FW, F5, Site-to-Site VPNs, PingID, Futurae SDK, Airlock, UC4/Automic, Firebase, iOS/Android lifecycle management, AWS IAM, AWS AppStream, AWS S3, AWS Transfer Family, QlikView, OpenAPI.
Walter R.
Last position:
Management Consultant & IT Consultant at Self-employed
- Advising companies and leaders with a focus on organizational development, process clarity, decision-making, and guiding change processes.
- Analyzing existing structures, identifying optimization opportunities, and developing sustainable solutions at the intersection of people, processes, and IT, with tailored support as needed.
Christian M.
Last position:
Principal Consultant at Theo Förch GmbH & Co KG
- Industry: Wholesale
- Role: Implementation, Design, Strategy Consulting, Support, Troubleshooting, Performance Tuning, Architecture
- Scope: Company-wide
- Activities:
- Migration/upgrade execution and support for IBM Cognos Analytics and IBM Cognos Controller, Planning Analytics 2.1 (Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW), Planning Analytics Excel (PAFE), Cube Views, Multidimensional Expressions (MDX))
- Operational and Strategic Consulting and Support for the internal IT team in Installation, Configuration, Performance Tuning and Architecture, Security and Compliance
- System Environment: IBM Cognos Analytics 11.1x, IBM Planning Analytics Workspace 2.1, IBM Planning Analytics Excel 2.1, IBM Cognos Controller 11.1, Windows Server 2025, Windows Server 2022
Michael H.
Last position:
Interim Lead Developer DWH at Insurance
- Technical leadership of the development for a near real-time data warehouse of an insurance company
- Ensure stable operation
- Analyze and fix errors for ongoing operations
- Optimize and tune SQL queries and ETL jobs
- Revise scheduling in Automic (UC4)
- Coordinate with business units and external clients for further developments
- Data modeling and programming for sales management
- Tune PostgreSQL queries and functions for balance data queries
- Create hotfixes and releases
- Plan and coordinate deployments
- Execute test runs and analyze the results
- Handover activities to internal teams
Christian M.
Last position:
Senior Feature Engineer - Banking at start.me app e.U.
- Requirements engineering & business analysis
- Architecture responsibility for core banking extensions
- Interface modeling for third-party systems (TiGital, ESA, ÖNB)
- AML, KYC & payment reporting
Franz W.
Last position:
SAP Expert
- Preparation of S/4 HANA for utilities
Discover over 15,000 top freelancers
Statistics of experts using IBM i
Aggregated from the professional profiles of matched freelancers.
Experience
31 years
Position duration
3.4 years
Positions per freelancer
16
Top business areas
Information Technology, Operations, Project Management
Top industries
Banking and Finance, Information Technology, Manufacturing
Certification focus areas
Information Technology, Project Management, Business Intelligence
Bachelor's degree or higher
60%
Master's degree or higher
50%
Doctorate
10%
Certifications per freelancer
5
Most common languages
German, English, Spanish
Speak two or more languages
90%
Based on our profile pool as of 29 Oct 2026.
Daily rate distribution
The chart shows how the daily rates of experts in this technology in Austria are distributed, based on recent contracts on our platform. Each bar covers a rate range — its height shows the share of experts charging within that range.
Average rates of experts in Austria using IBM i
Rates are based on recent contracts and do not include FRATCH margin.
The average daily rate is the mean of all daily rates from recent contracts of comparable freelancers on our platform.
The median daily rate is the middle value of all daily rates — half of comparable freelancers charge less, half charge more. Unlike the average, it is barely affected by outliers.
Calculated based on our freelancers’ daily rates as of 29 Oct 2026. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
IBM i experts industry focus
See which industries our matched freelancers work in most often — every figure is calculated live from the freelancers on FRATCH.
- Banking and Finance (70%)
- Information Technology (70%)
- Manufacturing (70%)
- Retail (70%)
- Telecommunication (50%)
- Pharmaceutical (40%)
- Professional Services (40%)
- Automotive (30%)
Please note that freelancers can work across multiple industries, so percentages overlap.
About the technology
IBM i foundations
IBM i is an integrated operating system for IBM Power Systems. It combines the operating system, security model, database services and runtime environment in one architecture. Many companies know it through its former names AS/400, iSeries or IBM System i. It remains central to transaction-heavy business applications.
Business systems
IBM i supports reliable systems for manufacturing, distribution, retail, banking, insurance and logistics. Typical workloads include order processing, inventory, purchasing, production planning, accounting and customer records. Its Db2 for i database handles structured operational data close to the applications that use it.
- Maintain RPG, COBOL and CL applications
- Extend ERP and warehouse workflows
- Connect IBM i data to web and mobile services
- Protect batch processing and critical transactions
Tools and integration
Strong specialists work across RPG IV and free-form RPG, CL, SQL and Db2 for i. They may use IBM i Services, APIs, message queues, Git-based workflows and CI pipelines to connect established applications with modern delivery practices. Knowledge of IBM Power Systems, HTTP services, JSON, REST and authentication is useful when core data must serve other systems.
When expertise matters
Companies often bring in freelance expertise during modernization, migrations, audits or periods of scarce internal capacity. Outside specialists can document undocumented logic, refactor legacy code, improve query performance and reduce operational risk without disrupting daily processing.
- Replace green-screen workflows with browser interfaces
- Expose trusted data through secure APIs
- Prepare upgrades across IBM i and Power Systems
- Review backups, access controls and recovery procedures
Austria projects
In Austria, IBM i environments are common in established industrial, commercial and financial operations where continuity matters. Remote collaboration works well for code reviews, documentation, monitoring and planned changes. On-site access may still help with hardware, network dependencies or workshops, while German and English communication can both be relevant.
Choosing a specialist
Look for professionals who can explain existing RPG or COBOL logic in business terms and show how they protect data integrity during change. Ask about Db2 for i, batch scheduling, testing, deployment and incident handling, not only coding. The strongest fit combines careful analysis with practical modernization experience and clear documentation.
Frequently asked questions
Key details about IBM i, drawn from the questions we get asked most.
IBM i is used to run dependable business systems for finance, manufacturing, distribution, retail and logistics. It commonly supports ERP functions, order management, inventory, production, accounting and high-volume transaction processing.
IBM i provides an integrated operating environment with Db2 for i, strong object-based security and administration designed around IBM Power Systems. Windows or Linux can offer a broader selection of packaged applications and cloud services, while IBM i is often valued for continuity and tightly coupled business workloads.
IBM i is the current name for the operating system associated with the AS/400 and iSeries line. AS/400 and iSeries are former IBM system names that remain common search terms, especially when companies describe established RPG applications.
A strong IBM i specialist often also understands RPG, COBOL, CL, SQL, Db2 for i and IBM Power Systems operations. API design, REST, JSON, Git, automated testing and security are valuable when established applications need modern integrations.
The right level depends on the system and the risk of the change. A small report or SQL adjustment may need focused expertise, while an ERP extension, modernization or migration calls for someone who can trace legacy logic, test business processes and plan a controlled release.
IBM i work can often be done remotely through secure access, especially for analysis, coding, documentation and reviews. On-site collaboration in Austria can be useful for hardware dependencies, process workshops or access restrictions, and teams should agree on German or English as the working language.
Ask how the specialist approaches undocumented RPG or COBOL logic, database changes, testing and rollback planning. A capable IBM i professional explains technical risks clearly, protects transactional integrity and leaves useful documentation rather than relying on tribal knowledge.
Yes. IBM i applications can be modernized incrementally through free-form RPG, SQL improvements, browser interfaces, REST APIs and integrations with external services. This approach can preserve stable core processes while improving usability and access to trusted business data.
The average hourly rate of freelancers in Austria who have used IBM i in their recent projects is 128 €, which corresponds to a daily rate of about 1,021 € based on an 8-hour working day.
Of the freelancers in Austria who have used IBM i in their recent projects, 60% hold at least a Bachelor's degree, 50% hold at least a Master's degree, and 10% hold a doctorate.
On average, freelancers in Austria who have used IBM i in their recent projects have 31 years of professional experience, with a single engagement typically lasting around 3.4 years.
The most common languages among freelancers in Austria who have used IBM i in their recent projects are German (100%), English (90%), and Spanish (30%).
The most common industries among freelancers in Austria who have used IBM i in their recent projects are Banking and Finance (70%), Information Technology (70%), and Manufacturing (70%).
The most common business areas among freelancers in Austria who have used IBM i in their recent projects are Information Technology (90%), Operations (90%), and Project Management (80%).
Main locations of FRATCH Experts, who have recently used IBM i
Our freelancers and interim experts are at home across the DACH region — available on-site in the major business hubs or fully remote. Choose a location to discover matched specialists, local market insights and up-to-date availability.
Vienna Graz 
Vienna Countries:
- Germany
- Austria
- Switzerland
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FRATCH CEO
