State of the Mainframe 2018

Every year BMC Software conducts a survey of mainframe usage that provides a unique insight into the trends, topics, and over outlook for mainframe computing. And every year I look forward to digesting all of the great information it contains. The results were presented in a webinar on September 19th (the date of this post).

This year’s survey contains responses from over 1,100 executives and technical professionals ranging in age from 18 to 65+ years old, and with experience levels of 30+ years to less than a year on the job. People were surveyed across a multitude of industries, company sizes, and geographies. And the consensus is that mainframe is key to the future of digital business.

At a high level, the survey indicates that we are working to scale and modernize the mainframe to support new business. And part of that is embracing DevOps practices in the mainframe environment to optimize application delivery.

With a heritage of more than 50 years of driving mission-critical workloads, the mainframe continues to be a powerful and versatile platform for existing and new workloads. Yes, organizations are embracing the mainframe for the new world of mobile computing, analytics, and digital transformation. And that include modernizing mainframe applications because critical apps continue to grow in size and importance. Modernization efforts range from increased usage of Java to API development and encrypting sensitive data. And 42% say that application modernization is priority.

The mainframe’s strengths are many, as this survey clearly shows. Year after year, mainframe strengths have included high availability, strong security, centralized data serving, and transaction throughput – and those strengths were again highlighted this year. But a new strength this year is that new technology is available on the platform. It is clear that IBM’s hard work to ensure that the mainframe can be used with new technology has succeeded and respondents acknowledge its adoption of new stuff while keeping the heart of the business running.

There are a lot of these types of insights in this report, and you should definitely download the report and read it yourself. But here are a few additional highlights that I want to make sure you do not miss out on reading about:

• Executives (93% of them) believe in the long-term viability of the mainframe.
• The mainframe remains as the most important data server at many shops. 51% of survey respondents cite that more than half of their data resides on the mainframe.
• And most of the primary growth areas are trending up in terms of mainframe growth. Mainframe environments are handling significant increases in the number of databases and transaction volumes as well as an increasing trend in data volume.

And 70% of large companies are forecasting that the mainframe will experience capacity growth over the course of the next 2 years.

Of course, challenges remain. According to the survey the top three challenges are the same as they have been recently: cost control, staffing and skills shortages, and executive perception of the mainframe as a long-term solution. So we, as mainframe proponents need to keep banging the drum to get the word out about our favorite, and still viable, platform for enterprise computing – the mainframe.

So download the survey and read all about the state of the mainframe 2018… because the future of the platform is bright, and it will only get brighter with your knowledge and support.

BMC and the Mainframe: An Ongoing Partnership

No, the mainframe is not dead… far from it. And BMC Software continues to be there with innovative tools to help you manage, optimize, and deploy your mainframe applications and systems.

BMC, Db2 for z/OS, and Next Generation Technology

One place that BMC continues to innovate is in the realm of Db2 for z/OS utilities. Not just by extending what they have done in the past, but by starting fresh and rethinking the current requirements in terms of the modern IT landscape encompassing big data and digital transformation requirements.

Think about it. If you were going to build high-speed, online utilities for Db2 today, would you build them based on technology from the 1980s? For those of us who have been around since the beginning it is sometimes hard to believe that Db2 for z/OS was first released for GA back in 1983! That means that Db2 is 35 years old this year. And so are the old utility programs for loading, backing up, reorganizing and recovering Db2 data. Sure, they’ve been updated and improved over the years, but they are built on the same core technology as they were “back in the day.”

BMC High Speed Utilities with Next Generation Technology are modern data management solutions for Db2 with a centralized, intelligent architecture designed specifically to handle the complex problems facing IT today. They were engineered from the ground up with an understanding of today’s data management challenges, such as large amounts of data, structured and unstructured data, and 24/7 requirements. Through intelligent policy-driven automation, BMC’s NGT utilities for Db2 can help you to manage growing amounts of data with ease while providing full application availability.

The NGT utilities require no sorting. Think about that. A Reorg that does not have to sort the data can dramatically reduce CPU and disk usage. And that makes it possible for larger database objects to be processed with a fraction of the resources that would otherwise be required.

Furthermore, BMC is keeping up with the latest and greatest features and functionality from IBM for z/OS and Db2. Using BMC’s utilities for Db2 you can implement IBM’s Pervasive Encryption capabilities with confidence because BMC’s database utilities for DB2 (and IMS) support pervasive encryption.

With NGT utilities for Db2 you can automate your environment like never before. Wouldn’t you like to free up valuable DBA time from rote tasks like generating JCL and coding complex, arcane utility scripts? That way your DBAs can focus on more timely, critical tasks like supporting development, optimization, and assuring data integrity.

Customers report that NGT utilities have helped them to:

•         run Reorgs that otherwise would have failed altogether or taken too much time,
•         reduce CPU and elapsed time,
•         eliminate downtime,
•         lower DASD consumption by eliminating external SORT, and
•         simplify their Db2 utility processing.

By deploying BMC Db2 NGT utilities you can stay current and utilize Db2 to the extremes often required by current business processes and projects.

There’s more…

Although there is always that lingering meme that the mainframe is dying, it really isn’t even close to reality. Last quarter (July 2018), IBM’s earning were fueled by mainframe sales more than anything else. So the mainframe is alive and well and so is BMC!

BMC understands that a changing world demands innovation… the company is actively developing tools that serve the thriving mainframe ecosystem, not just for Db2 for z/OS. Tools that build on BMC’s long mainframe heritage, but are designed to address today’s IT needs. For example, BMC’s MLC cost reduction solutions focus on one of the mainframe world’s biggest current requirements: making the mainframe more cost-effective.

BMC also offers a complete suite of management and optimization tools for IMS, which still runs some of the most important and performance-sensitive business workloads out there! Their Mainview performance management solutions and Control-M scheduling and automation solutions are stalwarts in the industry. Not even to mention that BMC has partnered with CorreLog to strengthen mainframe security capabilities.

Summary

BMC is active in the mainframe world, with new and innovative solutions to help you get the most out of your zSystems. It makes sense for organizations looking to optimize their mainframe usage to take a look at what BMC can offer.