Sunday 17 May 2009

CA upgrades its mainframe software

CA, one of the largest mainframe software vendors around (but I didn’t need to tell you that), has upgraded 143 of its 166 mainframe management solutions – products to you and I. This is all part of CA’s Mainframe 2.0 initiative.

CA has announced CA Mainframe Software Manager (MSM), which is a tool that simplifies the implementation of CA software on z/OS. MSM also detects product maintenance as the need arises. This addresses the problem of experienced mainframers growing old and retiring because the tasks can be performed by less experienced mainframe professionals. MSM features a Web-based user interface implemented using the Google Web Toolkit (GWT).

In addition, 46 CA products, including OPS/MVS Event Management, Automation, NetMaster, and InterTest, now have a synchronized release stack to reduce multiple learning curves by using best practices to standardize installation, planning, and implementation cycles – says CA.

CA has also introduced a service called Electronic Software Delivery (ESD) to speed up the installation of their software without needing to build a physical tape.

Anything that makes life easier for mainframers has got to be welcomed. It will be interesting to see how BMC and other major vendors respond.

CA’s Bob Gordon sent me the following – which might be of interest:
“An interesting sidelight to the Mainframe 2.0 story is the fact that CA has been staffing our Mainframe Business Unit with developers with next-generation skill sets such as Java and C++. These developers have grown up with the same browser-centric view of the world as their counterparts on the corporate side. So they’re both technically and culturally qualified to deliver the management solutions their peers need to steward the mainframe through the next few decades of its evolution.

“We have a three-minute video that can quickly get you up to speed on this issue at: http://www.ca.com/us/products/collateral.aspx?cid=205017.”

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