Performance & Tuning Month
The General Ledger, the Mainframe, and the Programmer Who’s Taking Up Golf
Why Finance and Mainframe Teams Need to Stop Talking About Cost Savings and Start Talking About Business ValueThere is an old accounting joke: An accountant is someone who solves a problem you didn't know you had in a way you don't understand. For decades, many...
ROI, Business Case and Tuning for Value Trivia: Round One
For July’s Planet Mainframe Trivia Quizzes, we're exploring the fundamentals of measuring value and making informed technology decisions. Whether the investment involves modernizing a mainframe environment, optimizing workloads, or deploying new enterprise...
z/OS UNIX Tuning: What New USS Practitioners Should Know
This article offers a practical USS tuning primer for new mainframers, developers moving into z/OS UNIX, and technical leaders who need to understand the basics before changing system settings.z/OS UNIX tuning can feel familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. USS...
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...
Why Ongoing Education Matters for the Mainframe Skills Gap
I graduated virtually with my Master’s degree in 2020, about two months after COVID-19 shut down much of the world. Behind the scenes, I had been working for Enterprise Performance Strategies, Inc. (EPS) since 2017, so I had a supportive professional environment while...
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...
SQL & SQL PL Enhancements in Db2 12 and 13 — Technical Insights from the Virtual Mainframe User Group with Chris Crone
In this session of the Mainframe Virtual User Groups, Broadcom Distinguished Engineer Chris Crone provided a practical walkthrough of SQL and SQL PL enhancements across Db2 12 and Db2 13. Drawing on 35 years of experience working in Db2 internals, including SQL...
Performance & Tuning Month
z/OS UNIX Tuning: What New USS Practitioners Should Know
This article offers a practical USS tuning primer for new mainframers, developers moving into z/OS UNIX, and technical leaders who need to understand the basics before changing system settings.z/OS UNIX tuning can feel familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. USS...
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...
Why Ongoing Education Matters for the Mainframe Skills Gap
I graduated virtually with my Master’s degree in 2020, about two months after COVID-19 shut down much of the world. Behind the scenes, I had been working for Enterprise Performance Strategies, Inc. (EPS) since 2017, so I had a supportive professional environment while...
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...
SQL & SQL PL Enhancements in Db2 12 and 13 — Technical Insights from the Virtual Mainframe User Group with Chris Crone
In this session of the Mainframe Virtual User Groups, Broadcom Distinguished Engineer Chris Crone provided a practical walkthrough of SQL and SQL PL enhancements across Db2 12 and Db2 13. Drawing on 35 years of experience working in Db2 internals, including SQL...
Actual Intelligence in z/OS Performance and Capacity Planning
It is exciting to be part of the world of computer performance at the dawn of AI. Many companies are heavily investing in Artificial Intelligence (AI) with only a few crude implementations having materialized thus far. As a performance guy, I can say it is important...
IBM z17 Time Synchronization Resiliency Enhancements
Most likely, you have heard the generic acronym RAS, which typically stands for Resiliency, Availability, and Serviceability. However, in the world of time synchronization at IBM, we changed RAS to mean Resiliency, Accuracy, and Security. From RAS to IBMz17 Timing,...
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Upcoming Events
Events
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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 […]
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CA 7 User Group – Technical & Expert Panel Session
August 5, 2026 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM ET Stop stressing over the next critical system delay and start mastering the CA 7 features designed to keep your enterprise on […]
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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 […]
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Virtual IMS User Group | All about SMP-E (System Modification Program-Extended)— It’s SiMPlified!!!
Zoom - Virtual MeetingAll about SMP/E (System Modification Program/Extended) — It's SiMPlified!!! SMP/E (System Modification Program/Extended) is the foundation of software maintenance and update management within the z/OS ecosystem. This session provides a […]
ROI, Business Case and Tuning for Value Trivia: Round One
For July’s Planet Mainframe Trivia Quizzes, we're exploring the fundamentals of measuring value and making informed technology decisions. Whether the investment involves modernizing a mainframe environment, optimizing workloads, or deploying new enterprise...
Overestimating AI in Mainframe Migrations, Strategic Collaboration Agreement, and more
Gartner Warns Against Overestimating AI in Mainframe Migrations IBM, Red Hat, and Deloitte Announce Lightwell Collaboration to Help Strengthen Open Source Software Supply Chain Trust BMC to Separate Helix AI ServiceOps Business Kyndryl and AWS sign expanded strategic...
❓Mainframe History Trivia: Mauchly and Eckert
This week at Planet Mainframe Trivia we’re dipping back into the deep history of computing with a quiz on the work of John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert—two of the most influential pioneers in the history of computing. Their work helped move electronic computers from...
Accelerate Agent-Drive Transformation, a New AWS Transform Integration, and more
Kyndryl Launches AI Orchestration for Business to Accelerate Agent-Driven Transformation Rocket Software Joins HPE Unleash AI Partner Program to Accelerate AI Adoption IBM Launches Global AI Builders Challenge With IBM Bob for University Students, Expanding...
❓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...