Easy Migration to ChangeMan ZMF

Transcription

1 WHITEPAPER Easy Migration to ChangeMan ZMF Leaving the Past Behind By Tom Mavor March 2012

2 Customer Quote: The deployments of our code used to be manual and prone to error. With Serena ChangeMan ZMF, our deployment errors have decreased dramatically. IT Architect, Fortune 500 Industrial Company White Paper: Easy Migration to ChangeMan ZMF Page 2

3 Old Tools for Version Control and Software Change Management CA-Panvalet and CA-Librarian are first-generation source repository tools that have been used by mainframe development and operations teams for decades. These tools are used by companies in dramatically different ways, in many cases forming the backbone of in-house developed software change control systems. In the current age of growing IT regulation in financial, health, and other industries, these systems no longer fully support the needs of the business. Many companies are meeting their regulatory requirements using manual procedures and written documentation that too often slows development output and turns out less than satisfactory results. The penalties for being out of compliance are increasing as tolerance has reached its limits. This is a risk that senior executives are no longer willing to assume as they come under more and more scrutiny. Organizations must choose between dumping more money into in-house change control systems or investing in a modern and complete software change and configuration management (SCCM) system one that meets the regulatory requirements of today and will continue to meet the organization s future needs. Contrary to what many believe, the cost of the new solution is not the major factor holding organizations back from migrating. Instead, it is fear of the migration that scares managers and makes executives cringe. Serena Software and Orchestrated IT Serena Software defines Orchestrated IT as IT management systems that tie existing tools into a process-driven human workflow. Orchestrated IT streamlines processes to deliver applications faster, improve IT service performance, and lower overall IT costs. Serena Software provides solutions for application development and IT operations as part of Orchestrated IT, including Serena Development Manager and Serena Release Manager. Serena ChangeMan ZMF is part of both solutions. Through Serena Software Professional Services, performing successful migrations from Panvalet and Librarian is a regular occurrence. Serena manages and executes the project with the customer to ensure knowledge transfer and successful integration into the customer s development process. Serena elearning Solutions provide economical training for users and allow for expedited migration times. Communication is a key factor in all successful transition projects. Panvalet and Librarian Migrations Key differences in the way companies have implemented Panvalet and Librarian affect the migration process slightly. Some of the ways we see people using these products include: Used only as a code repository, taking advantage of the compressed structure. Many companies don t use any of the versioning capabilities. Characters 9 and 10 used to distinguish versions, with the status field indicating which is the current production version and which versions are in progress. With this usage, it is often difficult to determine the previous production version. Separate repositories maintained for development and production. Sometimes, different repositories will be set up for different applications or for different teams. Some organizations store copybooks in a partitioned dataset (PDS) outside of the repository, while other organizations store the copybooks and source all in one repository. In rare cases, organizations have used the ninth and tenth character as part of copybook names. These cases require special attention. Since PDS and partitioned dataset extended (PDSE) structures only support eight-character names, the source needs to be converted or use an programming EXIT that will translate the 10 characters to an eight-character name, while the team converts the source over time. A small number of organizations store compile and link options inside of the repository and White Paper: Easy Migration to ChangeMan ZMF Page 3

4 use them as part of their compile processes. Others have standard compile and link jobs that use custom tables to provide the right parameters. Serena s Solution Serena s standard approach for all new implementations of ChangeMan ZMF is to choose a pilot application with a development team ready to successfully make the changes in tools and process. The primary goals are knowledge transfer and understanding customer needs. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to our approach. Serena spends time understanding the current situation and what the client wants to achieve. Serena then gives the best advice and service to provide its customers with the best possible long-term solutions. The first application to migrate needs to be representative of the majority of applications that will be migrated, not the most complex and certainly not the simplest. It is during this phase that any modifications or custom configurations are determined. Rules for the change management process and library configuration are finalized, and the project plan for the complete implementation is sketched out based on the customer s resources and objectives. During the migration of the second application to ChangeMan ZMF, the client team will be more involved in the project and will be assisting the Serena team with most of the activities. The third application migration will be the customer s responsibility, with Serena providing assistance. The objective here is quick success and knowledge transfer, with the client team exercising the knowledge it has gained. After the third application is migrated to ChangeMan ZMF, the majority of situations have been identified and the customer is in a good position to continue with limited support from Serena. Conversion to ChangeMan ZMF The first thing to understand about converting from Panvalet or Librarian is that you don t have to. You can continue to use these libraries as your baseline in ChangeMan ZMF. There is no conversion on day one, and you can work through the change control process until comfortable. At some point, most customers will want to eliminate the cost of Panvalet and Librarian. Serena has developed conversion routines for Panvalet and Librarian, as well as other common code repository products. In many cases, these need to be adapted to meet the needs of the customer s specific environment, and Serena Software has designed in this flexibility. The complexity of the project is determined by how information is being stored. The simplest project involves a single repository with no history, and the most complex project involves storing source and copybooks in the same repository and using 10-character names in INCLUDE statements. All copybooks are processed through a standard Serena utility during the compile process. This provides Serena with a unique opportunity to handle the 10-character named copybooks. A table is created in a job EXIT in order to change the name of the copybook being extracted. This provides customers with time to convert their source code and significantly reduces risk. Migrating to ChangeMan ZMF nullifies the usual conversion concern regarding Compile and Link parameters. If those are stored in an orderly way inside either a PDS or another database, conversion is usually just a simple extraction and update to the ChangeMan ZMF metadata repository. In extreme cases where the information is not easily available, it can be extracted from the executable by using utilities provided in Serena StarTool and then loaded into the metadata repository. White Paper: Easy Migration to ChangeMan ZMF Page 4

5 From Old Tool to Orchestrated IT Solution Now is the time to upgrade your mainframe application development and release technology and move from old tools to a new Orchestrated IT solution. Migrate to ChangeMan ZMF with ease and enjoy many benefits over version control tools, including: Improved storage efficiency Automatic versioning of components Source-to-load synchronization to easily determine the source, copybook, etc. that created an executable Concurrent/parallel development at all stages of the software development lifecycle Support for many client interfaces, including Eclipse and RDz ChangeMan ZMF provides a flexible, rules-based process for moving change through the software change lifecycle. It is designed to implement your process and best practices, and it provides you with the control and visibility you need throughout the development lifecycle. As part of Orchestrated IT and the Serena Development Manager and Serena Release Manager solutions, ChangeMan ZMF helps IT development and operations achieve true DevOps collaboration, deliver applications faster, improve IT service performance, and lower overall IT costs. White Paper: Easy Migration to ChangeMan ZMF Page 5

6 About the Author Tom Mavor has 30 years of experience working with Fortune 500 organizations in both IT Operations and Application Development, including release management. In 1997, Tom transformed a major telecommunication company s release management process from a manual, labor-intensive and herodependent process to an automated repeatable process. The result was a set of tools and processes that the company could rely on to deliver changes accurately and timely during the rapid expansion phase of the retail cell phone. Tom is currently a Managing Principal with Serena s Professional Services and is responsible for the transformation of change and release management processes for many Fortune 100 organizations in North America, Europe and Asia, including many of the top banks and insurance companies Serena Software. All rights reserved.