Hi,
The subject title is a direct copy from the IBM Event I attended on 28th
November in London.
For anybody who didn't know the event was organised by the IBM Software Group
to aid promotion of the platform, and included the following topics:
- The New Mainframe - At the Heart of Your Business
- Unlock the Value of the Mainframe Assets using SOA
- Productive Tools for Application Development - (This was WebSphere Developer
on z/Series - WD4Z)
- Information on Demand - (This presented DB2 V9 and some Business Intelligence
Applications)
- The New Face of Mainframe Operatons - (A Review of the Tivoli Product Set)
- The Mainframe Design Point - Fundamentally Better
- Keeping Your Business Running When Disaster Strikes
- The New Face of Mainframe Security - (RACF administration interface)
- Consolidate and save with mainframe Linux
- When the mainframe really is the lowest cost platform
Obviously with so many topics in one day the presentations and demonstrations
were pretty high level, but I came away with three key points in respect of
making the mainframe a more "user friendly" environment.
WebSphere Developer for z/Series
The demonstration of WebSphere Developer on z/Series was interesting given many
of the comments in the forum about usability features such as program language
syntax checking, which are common on the desktop. With its multi-pane view,
syntax checking, JCL constructor, and FTP capability I believe this is the
logical way forward. Many of us died-in-the-wool ISPF folk may not switch over,
but for people new to the mainframe environment WD4Z is the logical way to
integrate more quickly to the mainframe world. True there may be arguments
about de-skilling, but anything which improves productivity and helps meet
customers demand on IT personnel has to be worth considering.
RACF Administration
It would appear that Vanguard are now an IBM Business Partner if I remembered
the term correctly. The aim of this relationship is to improve the lot of those
responsible for security within the z/OS arena. The focus is on an streamlining
tasks and providing a common access point when administering multiple system
images as in a Sysplex.
The market
Te final key point was that it was evident that IBM are trying to address the
hitherto decline in market share, and gave some interesting scenarios of where
and how cost arguments seemingly in favour of other solutions can be turned.
This centred on the fact that when a case is argued as a single application, it
is difficult to address the costs. However any application usually has
development and disaster recovery requirements and when the case is adjusted to
include such facilities it becomes a more interesting ball game.
It was not a day for techies, but worth while for keeping abreast of what is
happening.
Kind regards - Terry
Terry Sambrooks
Director
KMS-IT Limited
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