Each day, mainframe applications support billions of online banking and mobile device-initiated e-commerce transactions across the globe. These applications are often deceivingly simple on the front-end—hit a few keys on your phone and a few days later a package arrives in the mail. We tend to take the stability and reliability of mainframe applications for granted, but the fact is these applications are highly complex. They require massive amounts of development, testing and quality assurance work within short periods of time to bring high-quality software products to market quickly…

Java application performance is critical for all companies as they shift more development to object-oriented languages. Much more than just a programming language, Java is a powerful platform with a complete set of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) for all types of distributed, complex applications. Widely popular and considered by some as the COBOL of the 21st century, Java runs almost anywhere, on top of existing platforms and is ideal for:…

The LOAD, REORG and REBUILD utilities all move data around. As such, there are some general recommendations that apply to most of these utilities. Let’s examine a few of them…

The mainframe has long been a stable, reliable consistent platform for high-value, critical transactions such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), online order-taking and financial transaction processing. Mainframes today continue to touch most transactions worldwide. According to Independent Assessment, an industry authority on mainframe computing, 72 percent of the world’s financial transactions are processed on mainframes…

Before Bill Hewlett and David Packard founded their famous company that seeded what later became Silicon Valley, and inspired much of the work culture associated with high tech, most organizations were run with a closed-door management policy. Information didn’t flow freely, so executives never had an accurate view of the problems facing the company on the front lines, and people in the lower ranks had only limited knowledge of what management was thinking…

“It is all a matter of perspective!”  This old adage rings particularly true when trying to solve a complex IT problem that spans mainframe, distributed, and mobile platforms. …

In the previous article, “ISPF Power Tools: Working With the Data Set List Line Commands” (available at http://entsys.me/cwgk5), we examined many of the options available on data set lists by using line commands, which are typed to the left of an individual line on the display screen. This article will examine primary commands, which are commands issued from the command, option, or action line that appears at the top or bottom of ISPF displays. The commands listed here are for use on the data set list display produced by ISPF option 3.4 or the Data Set Lists (DSLIST) command. Consider trying these commands on your own ISPF data set list. Unlike the line commands used in the previous article, none of these commands alter data sets or data set members. The SRCHFOR and SAVE commands do create new data sets…

IBM’s Information Management System (IMS) has been an important part of the computing environment for more than 40 years, yet it’s still able to make use of the latest computing ideas and technology. The first “IMS READY” message appeared on an IBM 2740 terminal on Aug. 14, 1968, and the first mission of the IMS system was to inventory a massive Bill of Materials for the Saturn V rocket and Apollo space vehicle…

Project managers must balance the triple constraints of cost, schedule, and scope; cost is the total amount that can be spent, schedule is the deadline for the final deliverable and the deadlines for any intermediate deliverables, and scope is the work package to be completed in conformance with specifications…

The portable Global Positioning System (GPS) is a great resource. It can help you navigate streets, get turn-by-turn directions, and guide you around road construction. It will even tell you which lane you need to be in…