Global Headquarters: 5 Speen Street Framingham, MA 01701 USA P.508.872.8200 F.508.935.4015 www.idc.com W H I T E P A P E R O p t i m i z i n g M a i n f r a m e S y s t e m s : L e v e r a g i n g I T A s s e t s a n d I n c r e a s i n g S t a f f P r o d u c t i v i t y Sponsored by: Compuware Tim Grieser June 2011 I N T R O D U C T I O N The mainframe is making a strong comeback as an application deployment platform, based on state-of-the-art hardware technology and support for an increasing variety of hardware architectures and application environments. Traditional mainframe environments are essential foundations for high-value applications and data within organizations that regularly perform large volumes of transactions. These existing applications can reliably support the growth in transaction volumes and functional extensions needed to meet new requirements and are key drivers of the mainframe's ongoing value to the business. Traditional mainframe applications are frequently being enhanced with graphical user interfaces (GUIs) or browser-based interfaces and with connections to the Web to reach end users and customers. At the same time, newly developed and redeployed applications utilizing Java- and Linux-based environments are bringing new classes of "modern" workloads to the mainframe. The mainframe is an important component in hybrid applications that can have one or more application tiers on nonmainframe platforms that link to mainframe programs and data. Some barriers remain for organizations looking to overcome platform and environment concerns. Modernized tools designed to increase productivity and enable greater alignment with business objectives are addressing these issues. I T G O A L S S H I F T W I T H E C O N O M I C R E C O V E R Y The ongoing economic recovery with improvement in business outlook is enabling organizations to increase emphasis on gaining competitive advantage through IT-based services. While IT organizations must continue to control costs and increase operational efficiency, priorities are growing in the direction of improving the business impact and service quality of critical applications. As illustrated in Figure 1, recent surveys of IT workers show shifts in IT business goals in favor of increased customer satisfaction, increased revenue and market share, improved quality and accuracy, and speeding time to market. Reducing costs, while still highly important, is receiving lower priority now than during the height of the worldwide economic recession.
F I G U R E 1 IT B u s i n e s s G o a l s Q. Prioritize the following business goals as they relate to your organization by allocating 100 points among them. The more points you allocate, the more important the business goal. 100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 30.0 20.0 10.0 - January 2007 October 2008 July/August 2009 September 2010 Speed time to market Increase market share Improve quality/accuracy Increase revenue Increase customer satisfaction Reduce costs Source: IDC's Server Virtualization Multiclient Study, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 M A I N F R A M E R E S U R G E N C E The mainframe has long been established as a primary engine of commerce and is widely known as a highly secure, highly scalable, and exceptionally reliable platform for high-value custom applications accessing large enterprise databases. In recent years, deployed mainframe hardware capacity has greatly increased, following vendor investments in platform modernization, expansion, and increased efficiency. Mainframe hardware undergoes periodic technology refresh and update cycles approximately every 18 24 months. Mainframe hardware has been augmented by "specialized processors" for databases (ziip), Java applications (zaap), and Linux (IFL). Use of these processors can have very favorable impacts on application performance, usage costs, and software license costs. In September 2010, IBM began shipments of the zenterprise, the next-generation hardware platform that increases mainframe performance and extends the mainframe into a multi-architectural system with the zbx BladeCenter extension. The zbx hardware can accommodate Unix (POWER7) blades and Linux-capable (X-series) blades. With these additions, the zenterprise mainframe becomes a centralized hardware platform for deploying and consolidating hybrid applications. Overall, there has been a continual increase in deployed mainframe MIPS processing capacity. New MIPS shipments have been growing on average at annual double-digit rates over the past half-dozen years and are experiencing a new growth spurt with the introduction of zenterprise. 2 #228355 2011 IDC
K E Y S T R E N G T H : B U S I N E S S - C R I T I C A L A P P L I C A T I O N S The traditional role of the mainframe as the platform for high-end databases and transaction-heavy applications continues. One of the key values of the mainframe is the large number of high-value custom applications already deployed on the platform, including "legacy" applications developed in COBOL, PL/1, Assembler, and C. Mainframe subsystems such as CICS, IMS, and DB2 continue to provide robust transaction processing and database capabilities. Applications hosted on the mainframe benefit from important core platform strengths, including high availability, scalability, security, and operational efficiencies. While many "legacy" applications run in traditional mainframe z/os environments, today's IT-based business services frequently depend on highly interactive Webbased applications, often consisting of multiple tiers that include application servers, Web servers, and databases. Today's mainframe supports key workloads ranging from mission-critical transaction processing and database applications on z/os to Linux- and Java-based applications including Web servers, email, and ERP. T H E M A I N F R A M E S K I L L S D I L E M M A Despite the many advances in mainframe technologies, one of the major concerns for mainframe environments is the impending retirement of a generation of practitioners skilled in legacy mainframe programming languages, applications, interfaces, and z/os operations. In recent IDC surveys, IT staff skills ranked number 3 among mainframe IT organization concerns and number 2 among application service management concerns. Deep mainframe knowledge is typically held by long-standing practitioners, many of whom will retire in the next five years. Many IT professionals in today's workforce possess skills in distributed systems platforms and modern graphical interfaces and languages and are not versed in traditional mainframe development environments or the business logic of the existing applications. Businesses wanting to attract the best and brightest will need to adapt to their skill set. IT organizations needing increased mainframe support have several options: Educating/training nonmainframers in mainframe skills Using or developing "modernized" interfaces to mainframe development and support tooling specifically, Web browser and other industry-standard GUIs; in particular, replacing ISPF/TSO "green screen" access with GUI-based interfaces Ultimately, development will need access to applications, regardless of the platform or programming language. A standardized development environment enables individual developers to maintain productivity regardless of their experience level with specific applications or the platform on which the application resides. At the same time, a modernized development environment must not incur extensive hardware upgrade, training, implementation, or ongoing support costs, which will reduce overall ROI. Additionally, the environment must be intuitive and easy to use to ensure widespread adoption. 2011 IDC #228355 3
C O M P U W A R E A N D T H E M A I N F R A M E Compuware is a well-known long-standing mainframe software and services vendor that has delivered enterprise-class mainframe software solutions for over 30 years. Compuware has a long history of providing support in both products and services for large and very large IT organizations. Mainframe solutions are core to Compuware's business model, constituting over 66% of the company's software product revenue in FY10. According to company statements, Compuware's mainframe products are designed to help IT organizations "consistently and efficiently develop, deliver and manage applications in the mainframe environment." I n v e s t m e n t a n d M o d e r n i z a t i o n One of the key requirements for mainframe software vendors is ongoing commitment to their customers and an ecosystem that supports the platform. Compuware has demonstrated its commitment to the mainframe in a number of key areas: Investment in mainframe product improvement and support not just release-to release compatibility. Investments include new features, modernization, and simplification. Compuware's delivery of product improvements and support helps customers retain and extend the value of their existing investments in mainframebased applications. Developing modernized "thin client" interfaces to more easily operate mainframe software products, without interfering with the ISPF interface. This helps IT organizations address the "mainframe skills attrition" challenge where generations of skilled mainframe professionals are slowly retiring and being replaced by new generations lacking mainframe application and environment knowledge. C o m p u w a r e W o r k b e n c h : L e v e r a g i n g I T S k i l l s Compuware's mainframe software delivers a number of role-specific functions aimed at IT development, test, operations, and system management professionals. Compuware has responded to the challenge of skills needed to operate the traditional mainframe toolset, especially for developers and programmers, with the Compuware Workbench. The Compuware Workbench is an open development environment for mainframe applications. Currently in an initial release, the Workbench provides a graphical user interface for managing mainframe application development tasks traditionally performed using character-based ISPF/TSO interfaces as well as new interfaces for Compuware's Abend-AID, Xpediter, and File-AID products. Figure 2 compares the Workbench GUI display and a traditional ISPF "green screen." 4 #228355 2011 IDC
F I G U R E 2 C o m p u w a r e W o r k b e n c h D i s p l a y Source: Compuware, 2011 The Workbench provides a standardized development environment and single point of control to initiate Compuware's mainframe products. Additionally, it has the capability to launch distributed products as well as non-compuware products. Figure 3 illustrates the architectural relationship of the Workbench to Compuware's mainframe and distributed products. 2011 IDC #228355 5
F I G U R E 3 C o m p u w a r e W o r k b e n c h A r c h i t e c t u r e HCI Workstation TCP-IP Abend- AID Host Explorer Xpediter Strobe istrobe File-AID Mainframe(s) Fault Manager Hiperstation Server(s) Source: Compuware, 2011 The Workbench software runs on a user's workstation and connects to mainframe and distributed products via TCP-IP links, either directly or through Compuware's host computer interface software. The workstation software is based on the open source Eclipse framework typically used for Java development. The initial release of the Workbench supports the typical daily activities of a mainframe application developer, including fault diagnosis, application debugging, and select data browse and edit capabilities. Additional capabilities include source code edit, mainframe job submission, review, print and purge, the ability to initiate mainframe compilers, and key data set management functions. Compuware has stated plans to continually add functionality to improve developer productivity. The Compuware Workbench was built to have a small workstation footprint. Using the Eclipse RCP (Rich Client Platform), which is the lightest version of the Eclipse framework, the Workbench will run satisfactorily on a typical workstation that a mainframe developer is using today, eliminating the need to factor in additional hardware costs. Care has also been taken to simplify installation, configuration, and maintenance, which facilitates deployment and keeps administration and help desk costs under control. 6 #228355 2011 IDC
D E L I V E R I N G B U S I N E S S V A L U E The Compuware Workbench is designed to provide business value in a number of areas. A key objective is to leverage staff skills by easing mainframe introduction and use for the next generation of mainframe application programmers. Mainframe introduction typically means learning a new (and, ironically, old) set of development tooling. Learning to develop and support applications on the mainframe typically requires learning: A new operating system: z/os New languages such as COBOL or PL/I New environments such as CICS, IMS, and DB/2 New business applications The Workbench enables new mainframers to learn skills while using a collection of standardized, platform-agnostic tools that put a familiar face on the mainframe. K e y B u s i n e s s B e n e f i t s Key business benefits include: Increased staff productivity. GUIs are inherently faster than the menu-driven panel environment that has long been the mainframe's tooling framework. Welldesigned, intuitive functionality allows both mainframe novices and seasoned experts to perform more tasks in shorter time periods. Evolutionary improvements rather than disruptive change. The Compuware Workbench provides a modernized user interface to tasks that are being done in IT organizations today. There are no required changes in the methodologies or standards that are in place today. Low transition costs. Compuware is currently providing the Workbench at no additional charge to customers with a current maintenance agreement. With the Workbench's small footprint and intuitive design, additional hardware and training costs are minimized as well. Preservation of investments in mainframe application software assets. Continuing to realize the value of business-critical applications on the mainframe depends on the ability of IT organizations to operate, maintain, and extend them. C H A L L E N G E S / O P P O R T U N I T I E S The mainframe has undergone considerable resurgence over the past several years, in terms of both usage, as shown by MIPS growth, and improved reputation in the industry based partly on efforts at platform extension to new workloads and application modernization. The mainframe is dependent on a community of dedicated users financial services organizations, healthcare providers, telcos, and supply chain management, to list just a few supported by a relatively small number of key hardware, software, and services vendors. 2011 IDC #228355 7
For Compuware, the key challenge is to sustain its position as one of the major independent mainframe software vendors in a market that is highly consolidated and very competitive. To do this, Compuware must pursue its path of investment and improvement of its mainframe product offerings, providing and documenting business value realized by customers, and continuing to add value through strong customer support activities. Extension of the mainframe family by organic development or acquisition would provide an opportunity to leverage the Compuware mainframe assets and skill sets. C O N C L U S I O N The future of the mainframe will mainly be driven by the ability of large IT organizations to achieve superior business value from their existing mainframe applications and databases. The continuation and even expansion of the mainframe support ecosystem is an essential requirement for mainframe health in the future. To this end, independent software vendors such as Compuware will continue to play a vital role in helping provide software and services to better manage and optimize mainframe systems, applications, and infrastructure. C o p y r i g h t N o t i c e External Publication of IDC Information and Data Any IDC information that is to be used in advertising, press releases, or promotional materials requires prior written approval from the appropriate IDC Vice President or Country Manager. A draft of the proposed document should accompany any such request. IDC reserves the right to deny approval of external usage for any reason. Copyright 2011 IDC. Reproduction without written permission is completely forbidden. 8 #228355 2011 IDC