SUMMARY:
IT leaders running Informix can achieve a 30-50% reduction in cloud Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) while enhancing performance by migrating from legacy x86 instances to the new HCL Informix 15 on the ARM64 architecture, supported by AWS Graviton and Azure processors.
- Migrating to ARM-based cloud instances delivers immediate cost savings because the hardware is more energy-efficient and priced lower than comparable x86 infrastructure.
- Informix 15 on ARM64 offers a significant performance upgrade because each vCPU maps to a complete physical core, providing superior throughput for multi-threaded OLTP workloads compared to x86 hyperthreading.
- XTIVIA mitigates migration risks by providing a complete “Assess, Migrate, Optimize” framework and ongoing 24/7 monitoring through its Virtual-DBA® managed service to ensure the new environment remains optimized.
Organizations should leverage this strategic opportunity to secure long-term savings and modernize by partnering with experts to manage the platform migration and validate data integrity.
Table of contents
Introduction
If you’re an IT leader running Informix, you’re probably used to a familiar conversation. You love the database—it’s fast, famously reliable, and works. But you also have to justify a cloud bill that’s based on standard, pricey x86 instances. It’s a tough spot.
Well, that entire economic model has just been upended.
The Fall 2025 launch of HCL Informix 15 with native ARM64 support is a direct answer to your TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) challenges. This isn’t just an update; it’s a strategic move that lets you run your core enterprise workloads on the most price-performant hardware in the cloud today: AWS Graviton and Microsoft Azure’s Ampere Altra-based VMs.
For the IT leader watching the cloud budget, the takeaway is simple and immediate: organizations migrating workloads from x86 to ARM64 are reporting typical cost savings of 30%, with some seeing price-performance improvements hitting 40% or even 50%.
And This Isn’t a “Trade-Off.” It’s an Upgrade.
This cost-saving isn’t a marketing gimmick; it’s rooted in superior architecture. Cloud providers like AWS offer better pricing on Graviton instances because the hardware itself is more efficient, using up to 60% less energy than comparable x86 instances. That means you’re helping your company meet its ESG goals as a side effect of saving money.
More importantly, this is often an outright performance upgrade for Informix. Here’s why: on most x86 cloud instances, a “vCPU” is a hyperthread. On an ARM-based Graviton instance, each vCPU corresponds to a full physical core. For the highly concurrent, multi-threaded OLTP workloads for which Informix was built, this 1:1 mapping can deliver superior, more consistent throughput.
You’re not just cutting costs; you’re getting comparable or better performance while cutting costs.
The Bridge to Lower TCO: How XTIVIA Can Help
The benefits are clear, but the path isn’t a simple button-press. This is a platform migration, moving from x86 to ARM64. It requires careful planning, application compatibility checks, and a partner with deep expertise in both cloud architecture and the Informix engine.
This is where XTIVIA’s services provide a clear, de-risked path to these savings.
- Professional Services for Migration: Our team of senior database consultants provides a complete “Assess, Migrate, Optimize” framework. We analyze your existing x86-based Informix environment, architect the new ARM64 solution on AWS or Azure, and manage the entire migration to ensure a seamless transition with validated data integrity.
- Virtual-DBA® to Guarantee the ROI: Migrating is step one. Continuously optimizing the new environment is step two. Our Virtual-DBA® managed service monitors, tunes, and manages your new ARM64-based Informix database 24/7/365. We ensure your new instances are perfectly “right-sized” and optimized, locking in those 30-50% TCO savings for good.
The bottom line is simple: don’t leave money on the table. Your Informix database just became one of the most cost-effective enterprise platforms in the cloud.
Next up: We’ll explore why this move is about more than just TCO. It’s about unlocking the future of Informix at the intelligent edge.
Looking for trusted IBM Informix database support? Learn how our Virtual-DBA team delivers full lifecycle management.