CICS Month
A Clarion Call for the Mainframe Community
GSE Nordic Conference 2026, HelsinkiEnergy, insight, innovation After the success of the 2025 event in Gothenburg, the 2026 GSE Nordic conference continued a similar vein and delivered a packed and varied programme - spanning modern mainframe technology, AI...
The Curious History of CICS Pronunciation
From Brazil's "six" to Italy's "chicks" and Britain's "kicks," one of the mainframe's most famous technologies has inspired decades of linguistic creativity.They Call It "Six" in Brazil The Portuguese word for "six" is seis in Brazil and Portugal. According to...
Sharing VSAM Between CICS and Batch: How the Routing Model Works
A look at how some z/OS shops have closed their batch windows by pushing batch I/O through the owning CICS region.Most CICS shops I have worked in carry the same operational habit: keep a nightly window open so that batch can update VSAM files without colliding with...
An Undocumented CICS Fix That Boosts Throughput and Cuts CPU
IBM has an undocumented fix to the CICS WEB interface that can optimize throughput and response time while also saving CPU. This article explains how to make it work for you. In the course of my current project, I had the pleasure of working with Ole Olsen at JN Data...
CICS. Db2. IPL. The Latest Cheryl Watson’s Tuning Letter
The Latest Tuning Letter issue is out now! Subscribers to Cheryl Watson’s Tuning Letter will find the newest issue, 2026 No.1, on our Tuning Letter website. If you are not a current subscriber yet, sign up today! This subscription-only resource is available to both...
CICS and AI in Practice What Is Shipping and What Matters Now
Artificial intelligence (AI)is no longer something CICS teams discuss in the abstract. In a recent Planet Mainframe CICS Virtual User Group, the AI conversation focused on three points: What is already available? What is already running in production? How is AI being...
Turning Nightly Downtime into a Competitive Advantage with VSAM File-Sharing
If you run on IBM Z, you may still stop CICS overnight so batch jobs can update VSAM files. That pause might be necessary today, but it is no longer a requirement. We will show you how to remove the trade-off between fresh data and uninterrupted access with VSAM...
Unlocking Observability: CICS Traces, Metrics, and Logs in Action
CICS observability just got a major boost. At the September Virtual User Group, experts from IBM and Broadcom explored how CICS 6.3 is bringing OpenTelemetry, traces, metrics, and logs into the spotlight—making the mainframe as observable as any modern platform. Read...
Latest
Why It’s Finally Time to Retire Your TN3270 Emulator
For decades, TN3270 terminal emulators have been a staple for accessing mission-critical mainframe applications. However, as cyber threats evolve and legacy systems strain under new compliance demands, it is becoming increasingly clear that traditional...
Why Human Error is the Mainframe’s Biggest Risk
Mainframes have always had a bit of a superhero reputation: rock-solid, ultra-secure, and always up. They’ve powered banks, airlines, and governments for decades without so much as blinking. But I want to share an uncomfortable truth: even the most secure systems in...
Collaborating for Modernizing Mainframe Data Protection: A Privacy-First Approach
Collaborating for Modernizing Mainframe Data Protection As enterprises accelerate their digital transformation initiatives, mainframe environments face unprecedented challenges in balancing mainframe data protection with modernisation. Traditional approaches to...
Modernizing Mainframe Security: RACF and MFA Misconceptions
Passwords Aren’t Enough to Modernize Mainframe Security Security is the backbone of any organization’s control environment. In today’s hyper-connected economy, protecting against IT threats is not just a technical requirement—it’s a business imperative. A single...
TRIVIA – Penetration Testing
Mainframes have long been known for their unmatched reliability and security—but even the most trusted systems can hide surprises beneath the surface. As technology evolves, so do the tactics of those trying to exploit it. Penetration testing (pen testing), or...
Mainframe Security: The Quiet Frontline of Enterprise Defense
For decades, the mainframe has been viewed as one of the most secure computing platforms on Earth. With tightly controlled access, centralized data management, and unmatched reliability, it earned its reputation as the “fortress” of enterprise IT. But, as evidenced in...
From Mainframe to Cybersecurity: Experience Is the New Superpower, Ladies
From Mainframe to Cybersecurity: Experience Is the New Superpower If you’ve written COBOL, debugged Assembler, or know how to resolve an S0C7 abend, chances are you belong to an older—and increasingly rare—demographic in tech. If you’re a woman, that group is even...
The Heat is on. What 2025 Cyber Attacks in the UK Teach Us About Mainframe Security
Vertali’s Leanne Wilson reflects on a year of cyber attacks and what needs to happen now. 2025 was quite a year for cyber attacks. The UK in particular experienced a significant surge, with 43% of businesses reporting at least one incident and an astounding 91% of...
Sign up to receive the latest mainframe information
Upcoming Events
Events
-
-
Virtual IMS User Group: Modernizing IMS Backup and Recovery – The Strategic Shift to Cloud Storage
Zoom - Virtual Meeting📅 July 14, 2026 🕦 11:30 AM ET As enterprise data volumes continue to grow and cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated, organizations are rethinking how IMS backup and recovery environments are designed, secured, and maintained. In this session, Sujata Mane of BMC Software explores the architectural and operational shift from traditional tape-based backup strategies toward […]
-
Virtual Db2 User Group | Mastering Access Path Management in Db2 for z/OS – Simplify, Optimize, Succeed
Zoom - Virtual MeetingThis session explores strategies for simplifying and optimizing access path management in Db2 for z/OS environments. Attendees will gain insight into techniques for improving query performance, reducing operational complexity, and […]
-
Accelerating Mainframe Efficiency: Training and Onboarding Webinar
FeaturedReady to transform your mainframe training strategy? Join the second installment of the PopUp Mainframe Persona Webinar series for a dynamic exploration of cutting-edge mainframe training, featuring renowned industry experts […]
-
-
SHARE Pittsburgh 2026
FeaturedSHARE Pittsburgh brings together mainframe IT professionals for five days of education, networking, and knowledge sharing. The conference program features expert-led sessions, hands-on learning, and forward-looking insights designed to help […]
❓Everything CICS Trivia
While most people you know probably haven’t even heard of CICS, anyone that banks, travels, or does business in the modern world has benefited from this cornerstone of enterprise transaction processing. Evolving alongside changes in hardware, operating systems,...
A New AWS Deployment, Project Glasswing, and more
IBM installs €11.5m Mainframe at South East Technological University to Mark 70th Anniversary in Ireland Precisely Powers Customer Communications with AWS Deployment IBM Brings Its Most Advanced AI-Powered Security Portfolio to Clients, and is Strengthened by Ongoing...
❓Windows Meets the Mainframe
When Microsoft Windows emerged in the 1980s, it represented a very different vision of computing from the centralized, highly structured world of the mainframe. Windows powered the rise of personal computers and client-server systems, while mainframes continued...
Think 2026, Vertica Acquisition, and more
Think 2026: IBM Positions Mainframe Environments as Governed AI Infrastructure Rocket Software Completes Acquisition of Vertica®, Expanding High-Performance Analytics and AI for Mission-Critical Systems Kyndryl unveils agentic AI capability that proactively prevents...
❓The Unix Legacy Trivia
Like so many transformative innovations, the creation of UNIX was the unintentional outcome of a failed experiment—specifically with a time-sharing operating system called Multics for the GE-645 mainframe. While it was originally developed as a side project with...
News – AI, Modernization, and Mainframe Momentum: This Week’s Industry News
BMC Expands AI-Powered Mainframe Solutions IBM Introduces IBM Bob Premium Package for Z Kyndryl to modernize systems for North Carolina DMV AI Helped a Company Transition Off the Mainframe - and the Project Won an Award Kyndryl named a Leader in 2026 ISG Provider...