At BMC, we promote an “open borders” approach to the mainframe, treating it like another platform in the enterprise IT landscape, rather than a siloed, separate entity with its own practices and tools. By integrating the BMC AMI portfolio with top solutions on and off the platform, opening the mainframe to custom solutions with APIs, and providing user interfaces that are easy to use for mainframe veterans and newcomers alike, we support mainframe-inclusive enterprise toolchains that provide maximum value to our customers and, most importantly, their end users.
In this spirit of an open mainframe, we held the BMC Mainframe Tech Connect event at BMC’s office in Pune, India, on October 13, 2023. The event brought together developers, database administrators (DBAs), solution architects, and industry leaders for a day filled with innovation and knowledge sharing. Showcasing the innovative solutions within the BMC AMI portfolio, particularly BMC AMI DevX, BMC AMI Data, and BMC AMI Ops, the event provided a valuable platform for both seasoned and new mainframe professionals. Attendees had the opportunity to discover the advanced tooling capabilities of BMC AMI products, aimed at enhancing operational efficiency in mainframe environments.
The agenda for the event was jam-packed with engaging sessions and presentations, beginning with a keynote address from BMC Vice President of Research and Development David Jeffries entitled, “Future-Ready Innovation with Your Mainframe.” Attendees then had the opportunity to visit several booths, each offering unique interactive sessions related to BMC AMI products, providing insight into various aspects of the mainframe world, such as developer experience (DevX), data management, and DevOps.
Read on to learn more about the subjects covered and watch presentations from each booth.
BMC AMI DevX
Three booths were dedicated to BMC AMI DevX solutions, each covering different tools and capabilities that enhance the mainframe developer experience. The first booth was dedicated to enhancements to the code-writing experience, including macros for editing COBOL; code coverage (BMC AMI DevX Workbench for Eclipse); the new BMC AMI Code Insights solution that enables developers to refactor large programs into smaller, callable services; DevOps integration with Microsoft Azure, Jenkins, and Github; data privacy rules; find and replace and rule explorer in BMC AMI DevX Data Studio; and virtual and non-virtual test creation (BMC AMI DevX Total Test).
The second BMC AMI DevX booth focused on adding and saving filters in BMC AMI DevX Explorer, debugging IBM® IMS™ message processing programs (MPP) in BMC AMI DevX Code Debug, features of BMC AMI DevX File-AID, and promoting code with approval in BMC AMI DevX Code Pipeline.
The third BMC AMI DevX booth focused on the use of webhooks in BMC AMI Common Enterprise Services (CES) and using CES with BMC AMI DevX iStrobe to compare profiles and find potential performance improvements and , as well as an overview and demonstration of BMC AMI zAdviser.
BMC AMI Data
Four booths were dedicated to BMC AMI Data, with the first focusing on embracing DevOps for IMS; managing complex IMS environments efficiently with BMC AMI Database Advisor for IMS and BMC AMI Change Manager for IMS; and simplifying IMS systems management with BMC AMI System Administration for IMS Console and BMC AMI Energizer for IMS Connect Web User Interface.
Also concentrating on IMS, the second BMC AMI Data booth demonstrated how to make a smooth transition to IMS-managed application control blocks (ACBs) using BMC AMI Data for IMS solutions, as well as how to make online fast path data entry database (DEDB) structural changes and build production-grade development and test environments.
A third IMS-centered booth featured an overview of BMC AMI Datastream for IMS, how to spot trends and patterns associated with IMS message queues and prevent outages caused by queue overflow, and how to dynamically manage aspects of an IMS Connect environment without recycling IMS Connect.
The final BMC AMI Data booth featured a look at the next-generation IBM® Db2® administrator and containerized BMC AMI DevOps for Db2®, as well as SQL optimization with BMC AMI SQL Performance for Db2®.
BMC AMI Ops
Three booths featured demonstrations and information on BMC AMI Ops, with the first booth showing how BMC AMI Ops Insight can help predict and avoid system-impacting issues.
The second booth showed how to tune IMS for better performance and demonstrated an end-to-end comprehensive monitoring solution for IBM® z/OS® Connect environments.
Finally, the third BMC AMI Ops booth featured how to monitor application and SQL release incompatibilities using BMC AMI Ops Performance Reporter and data object manager (DOM) data collector, as well as BMC AMI Storage IAM.
A successful day
Summing up the day, BMC Senior Director of Product Development Sandeep Sawant said, “It was a pleasant surprise to see so many professionals from various companies in Pune attending this event, which was on a working day. They spent some quality time with our R&D colleagues to understand the new capabilities embedded in our solutions. Many of them were thrilled to see some really cool tools in action which can greatly impact their productivity as well as the accuracy of work.”
David Jeffries agreed, saying, “It’s fair to say we were all blown away by the attendance and engagement of so many customers, mainframe advocates, and representatives of Global Systems Integrators. Not only did we have a terrific afternoon of information and idea sharing, but the engagement at the various product demo booths enriched both customer and development teams. I think we firmly underlined the constant innovation BMC is bringing to the mainframe platform.”
In conclusion, the 2023 BMC Mainframe Tech Connect event was a grand success, bringing together mainframe professionals and enthusiasts to explore BMC’s innovative solutions and gain valuable insights, engage with industry experts, and get hands-on experience with BMC AMI products. The event was a testament to the ever-evolving mainframe landscape and the role that BMC plays in driving innovation and resiliency in this critical sector. To learn more about the BMC AMI portfolio, visit bmc.com/ami.
