IronBridge: IBM i and Homegrown ERP API Fabric
10/10
Demand Score
Critical legacy systems block digital initiatives; rewriting is risky and slow while talent for RPG/COBOL is scarce.
9/10
Blue Ocean
Competition Level
$6k-45k
Price/Month
Predicted customer spend
18 days
Time to MVP
Difficulty: Expert
The Problem
IronBridge turns IBM i (AS/400) and bespoke ERPs into modern, reliable APIs in weeks. It combines DB2 for i journal‑based CDC (transaction‑aware) with a TN5250 screen parser and RPG program call broke
🔗 Validated by Real User Complaints
This problem has been verified through 5 real user complaints:
Discussion about IronBridge: IBM i and Homegrown ERP API Fabric
www.reddit.com
Discussion about IronBridge: IBM i and Homegrown ERP API Fabric
www.reddit.com
Discussion about IronBridge: IBM i and Homegrown ERP API Fabric
archive.midrange.com
Discussion about IronBridge: IBM i and Homegrown ERP API Fabric
archive.midrange.com
Discussion about IronBridge: IBM i and Homegrown ERP API Fabric
stackoverflow.com
Competitor Landscape
- OpenLegacy
- Rocket API
- Eradani Connect
- IBM App Connect
- MuleSoft Anypoint
- LANSA
- ASNA
Must-Have Features for MVP
DB2 for i journal CDC with transaction coalescing
TN5250 screen modeler and stable selector engine
RPG program call broker with parameter marshaling
Idempotent write‑back and compensation hooks
OpenAPI/GraphQL generation with versioning
Event bus connectors (Kafka/MQ/AMQP) and replay
HA/DR support and observability for LPARs
⚠️ Potential Challenges
- Green‑screen variability and hidden business rules
- Performance impact on journaling and commit latency
- Security/authority constraints on IBM i
- Coordinating with limited legacy SME availability
Risk Level: Moderate
🎯 Keys to Success
- First production endpoint in <30 days
- Near‑zero downtime via sidecar deployment
- No increase in batch window/commit times
- 10x faster API delivery vs custom builds
- Documented new revenue/channel enabled from legacy
Ready to Build This?
This expert-difficulty project could be your next micro-SaaS success.