Open Modernization – A Truly Modern Spin on Legacy
August 24, 2023
After spending more than three decades working in the IBM midrange space, I embarked on a last “new” career at Rocket Software working with mainframe technology. IBM Mainframe (z/OS) and IBM Midrange (IBM i) have been around for many decades and have a lot in common. So, when I stepped into my role with Rocket Software, I expected to hear more of the ‘legacy’ buzzword and have similar discussions around the lack of skills, loss of expertise due to SMEs retiring, and how to attract the next generation of IT professionals—just as I did in previous roles.
A Look into the Future of Mainframe
Fortunately, members of the Open Mainframe Project are continuing to advance Zowe, an open-source development framework for z/OS, and contributors like IBM and Rocket Software are porting popular open-source software (OSS) packages to the mainframe, combining the best of its history with the best of current techniques.
It is true that there is plenty of chatter about legacy mainframe technology, helped along by pundits’ love of the “death of the mainframe,” and a general lack of knowledge. However, listening to an International Db2 Users Group (IDUG) session about the latest z16 technology, I was transported to a futuristic vision of computing.
That vision included the latest mainframes that run on Telum 7nm processors and are designed with a new dedicated on-chip accelerator for AI inference, enabling real-time artificial intelligence (AI) embedded directly in transactional workloads (Gosh, really? That’s cool!). Telum also features transparent encryption of main memory, hyper-protected virtual servers, and trusted execution environments for sensitive data in hybrid cloud architectures.
In another IDUG session, I discovered that the predecessor, IBM z15 chip, was designed to enable industry-leading ‘seven nines’ (99.99999%) availability for IBM Z and LinuxONE systems (only three seconds of unplanned downtime per year!). All these sessions left me wondering, “Are we going to run out of nines soon?” Try, for example, pulling out a dual in-line memory module (DIMM) from live running X86 servers, they will not transparently recover data without any impact on response times and continue processing.
Modernizing Mainframe Administration
The term "legacy” can suggest old, redundant, unwanted, and certainly not modern. When an old car is lovingly maintained and modernized with an upgraded engine, the latest in-car digital experiences, power steering, and anti-lock brakes, it is still an old car—but we deem it to be a ‘classic.’ Electrifying these classic cars has become a popular trend, and now a similar approach to modernizing mainframe administration and operations is gaining real momentum at Rocket Software. Rocket Software’s modernization suite of products developed for IBM platforms offers a real alternative to traditional methods used by Db2 Admins and SysProgs.
These experiences are based on the open-source software framework Zowe and provide a highly functional IBM Db2® DevOps Experience for z/OS® as well as IBM Db2® Administration Foundation for z/OS. With DevOps Experience, you can implement modern application development practices by automating and standardizing processes while ensuring your organizational standards and business rules are followed. Admin Foundation is a broad set of capabilities for managing Db2 for z/OS.
Setting New Talent Up for Success
Then, there are considerations to be made around the talent that comes into an organization. Many businesses are now attracting new graduates and IT professionals into mainframe development. Those professionals bring new ideas, new capabilities, and are not afraid to use open-source tools to drive rapid development. At Rocket Software, we’ve been putting frameworks in place to support these initiatives.
A good example is with Rocket Support for Zowe, which provides support for the Zowe open-source framework as well as access to exclusive desktop applications, including USS Process Manager, File Manager, and Terminal Emulator Web Edition. Another example is Rocket Open AppDev for Z, which includes ports of popular open-source packages to z/OS (including Git, Python, cURL, and Bash) and ensures your organization remains secure and compliant with 24/7 support and assurance of rapid CVE fixes. Rocket Software is a founding member of the Open Mainframe Project, which was established by the Linux Foundation to drive use of Linux and open source in mainframe computing environments.
Most mainframe organizations are engaged in modernization initiatives, which is an exciting journey that brings with it transformation, automation, new capabilities, and real change. Obviously, this comes with huge challenges, and it is the next generation of talent, together with modern tools and experiences, that will both enable and drive success. Rocket Software’s “Modernization. Without Disruption.” message succinctly captures this drive for modernization balanced perfectly with the need to always protect our customers’ businesses.
Learn more about Rocket Open Source Solutions for z/OS.
