When IBM launched Merlin in 2022, it touted the browser-based environment as a new way to deliver functionality to the IBM i installed base and potentially to distribute third-party solutions. But right now, the only third-party vendor IBM is working with when it comes to Merlin is ARCAD Software, which has exclusive rights to supply the DevOps components within Merlin, according to executives with both companies.
IBM introduced Merlin with great fanfare in May 2022 as a potentially transformative technology. Not only was Merlin the first browser-based integrated development environment (IDE) from IBM, providing an alternative to the powerful but resource-draining Rational Developer for IBM i (RDi) product, but Merlin also contained a full suite of integrated lifecycle management and DevOps tooling to help IBM i shops change the way they manage code. The fact that IBM bundled the VSCode-based IDE, Git, Jenkins, and DevOps connective tissue for IBM i within a Red Hat Open Shift container managed via Kubernetes just added to Merlin’s mystique as a next-gen offering.