I could certainly see how some operations staff would get significant value out of Rational Developer for zEnterprise (RDz). If that's the case, great, do it -- good idea.
That said, and echoing the other reply, there are some other nice new operations-related tools also, many of which are available at no additional charge, and many of which developers also often like to have. Explore them all, including RDz, and see what you like. The z/OS Management Facility is a notable example (as already mentioned), available here: http://www.ibm.com/systems/z/os/zos/zosmf/ and now available in the reduced memory, shorter pathlength, faster starting, easier to install WebSphere Liberty Profile flavor. I also recommend getting ahold of the IBM Explorer for z/OS, available here: http://www.ibm.com/software/htp/cics/ibmexplforzos/ The IBM Explorer for z/OS is the foundation for lots of excellent plug-ins which you can additionally install after you get the base Explorer installed. You simply install those additional plug-ins from within the Explorer. There are plug-ins available for CICS Transaction Server, IMS, IBM AD/PD tools (e.g. File Manager), and so on. Yes, this also works on a Mac in case you're curious -- been there, done that. (The initial Mac installation starts with installing Eclipse for Mac, obtained from eclipse.org -- you only need the Eclipse Platform Runtime Binary which is currently a ~61 MB download at Version 4.3.1 as I write this -- then you proceed to the Explorer for z/OS installation, then install any additional plug-ins you like.) If you have DB2 for z/OS I recommend getting ahold of the entire DB2 Accessories Suite for z/OS, available at no additional charge with your DB2 for z/OS license. Order IBM program number 5697-Q02 (current number as I write this) through Shopz or however you order your IBM zEnterprise software. The DB2 Accessories Suite includes many goodies, and one of them is IBM Data Studio which lets you perform all sorts of DB2 operations. DBAs and many application developers really ought to have it. Again, no additional charge. Or if you just want to grab the IBM Data Studio part while you're waiting for your DB2 Accessories Suite order to get filled, here's the Web site: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/downloads/im/data/ Those are some examples, though there are others. Enjoy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Timothy Sipples VCT Architect Executive (Based in Singapore) E-Mail: [email protected] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
