Mature software systems start as clean, carefully crafted architectural solutions founded on the best modern design techniques and good intentions. Over time, however, the purity of the architectural lines gives way to the practical reality of ad hoc extensions that, for the sake of business expediency, are hastily added to the core system structure. There’s nothing wrong with this; after all, in the real world, IT systems are built to perform requisite business functions and not necessarily to delight the aesthetical sensibilities of their software architects…

This article discusses Workload Manager’s (WLM’s) approach to goal management in a Sysplex environment so you can better understand and justify the need to sometimes define system-specific service classes…

With the ability to intelligently, quickly, and efficiently manage workloads, reprioritize work, and dynamically reallocate system resources between applications, the z/OS Workload Manager (WLM) and IBM System z can handle unexpected workload spikes and improve system efficiency while meeting your application and business priorities…

z/VM’s ancestry dates back to the ’60s, although most sites today understand it purely as a facilitator of Linux virtualization—and for good reason…

Sounds good but what isn’t important? Or, a better question might be, what is important? The simple answer is, only the information necessary to achieve an efficacious recovery. As cavalier as that answer may seem, it really is that simple. And, backing up only important data can have enormous benefits in terms of reducing costs and resource consumption, improving recoverability, and achieving a greener data center. …

With 50 percent or more of all critical data processing being performed in batch, the demand for batch processing is clearly growing. And there’s no doubt that batch processing is a key aspect of real-time online systems. From generating the invoices that collect revenue, to reconciling customer accounts for online access, delays in the batch cycle directly and negatively impact revenue…

To quickly and cost-effectively respond to changing marketplace demands, secure your enterprise and stay ahead of the competition, you need the highest levels of agility and flexibility from your IT systems. As a result of this focus, data and application availability have taken center stage…

To quell the growing concerns over data theft, many companies have switched from physical tape backup to disk-based solutions and data vaulting whereby data is transmitted to a Disaster Recovery (DR) site over a public or private network. While this alleviates the obvious worries over physical backup tapes, it presents some considerations for DR testing…

Does this IT challenge sound familiar? Your data center consists of a complex maze of applications and systems spread across multiple platforms—isolated islands of data spanning Unix, Linux, Windows, and the mainframe. When your people need to query and act on mission-critical data, finding the information they need in the form they need often becomes a tedious, costly, and morale-sapping process…

Mainframe professionals recognize the importance of implementing Business Service Management (BSM) processes across their enterprises. But all too often, a BSM strategy can focus too narrowly on online assets…