By Timothy Prickett Morgan
Publication Date: 2026-09-21 04:05:00
September 21, 2026
Timothy Prickett Morgan
When we look back a few years from now, in like maybe 2032 or so, we will look at 2026 as the year of the price increase. Big Blue, along with other system makers and the component makers whose gear goes into those systems, have all had price increases – often very large ones, and sometimes with what looks to me like opportunistic pricing. That’s when vendors raise prices by more than you would think was warranted.
Sometime in early September – I think it might have been on September 1, 2, or 3 – IBM announced a price harmonization across its software, server and storage, and cloud offerings under a “global price harmonize” effort that will go into effect on January 1, 2027.
That is plenty of lead time for you to plan, and enough for you to maybe get the budget together to do deals before the price increases that are…