Friday, 11 May 2012

Mainframe mayhem

In this era of concentration on virtualization and distributed technologies the mainframe still has to be looked after. For the mainframe, while retaining its traditional central role in IT organizations, has evolved to also become the primary hub in large distributed networks making managing its performance as critical as ever.

It seems however that staff expertise on the mainframe is becoming an issue. Many experts are coming up to retirement age and the worry often is about who will carry the torch? (Writing this in the UK in 2012, I just had to get the Olympics in there somewhere) Less experienced staff need hand holding so more experienced staff are having to spend more time with them. Companies are faced with a dilemma. In the current climate, they have barely enough staff to cover everything as it is.

In a perfect world the vagaries of the mainframe would be easy to understand and an automated expert would offer systems analysis of all key zOS performance metrics, highlight areas for concern and even offer advice on the actions required to ensure better on going performance. - a kind of mainframe robot. 
How often have Companies wished for that? The automation of mainframe systems performance analysis? Of course, the range of variables on a mainframe are such, the robot might need mainframe processing capability to deliver this.  There is a lot of experience and advice out there  because we have been handling mainframes for so long.  Knowing where it is and having it available whenever you need it might be a different question.  The breadth of the mainframe can also mean there are specialists in individual areas such as DB2 and CICS, but having an independent view across all areas is not so easy to find.

At Metron we know what a pivotal role the mainframe plays in many large Companies and we’re launching our new ES/1 NEO, expert systems performance analysis for zOS.


Sure, we’re biased but as far as we’re concerned ES/1 NEO is ‘The One’ when it comes to mainframe performance analytics and its resounding success in Japan holds testament to this.

Whilst it may not make the world perfect,  it certainly takes a step in the right direction to mainframe nirvana.  It pulls together analysis and expertise across all major mainframe areas such as DB2, CICS, WAS, IMS and zVM.  IT automatically highlights potential problem areas. 
More to the point, it has a vast library of potential recommended solutions to any problem identified, meaning it can provide independent advice at any time for hard pressed teams, to resolve disputes or if skilled staff resources are in short supply.

We’re running a series of items introducing ES/1 NEO to the world over the coming months: webinars, conference papers, demos, press releases and more.  We’d be happy to get some feedback on how you are planning to handle skills shortages in the mainframe space over the next few years and if you feel there is a place for ‘expert’ advice like that provided by ES/1 NEO

Andrew Smith
Chief Sales & Marketing Officer

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