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Workforce & Training
Vikas Sinha: Strategy, Stewardship, and Service – Influential Mainframer
A New Mainframe BelieverVikas Sinha nearly turned down the opportunity that would define the second half of his career. Before pivoting to mainframe, Sinha led predictive analytics at IBM. He relished helping shape a future where data science would transform...
From Poolside Code to Mainframe Maven – Influential Mainframer Felix Scott
Felix Scott, a trainee in the New to Z (NTZ) program at Vertali in the UK, doesn’t fit the usual mental picture of a mainframer. At 27, he’s a younger voice in a field dominated by veterans. But Felix isn’t afraid to admit what he doesn’t know. "Being publicly wrong...
Earn and share your mainframe badges today!
IBM open badges are making a difference by building your personal brand and advancing your career. With IBM open badges, you can easily and quickly share verified proof of your achievements both within IBM and externally. Where applicable, your IBM credentials are...
The new IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS Migration Assistant is live to guide you through COBOL migration
The IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS Migration Assistant (CMA) has been very popular among COBOL migration users. It is a step-by-step wizard and an interactive checklist that guide users through the information along their migration journey from COBOL 4 or earlier to...
Basics of VSAM
This article will take you inside VSAM and explain the environment of Virtual Storage Access Method. VSAM has been around since the 1970s and provides a way of storing large amounts of data for 3 types of access. Random Sequential Skip Sequential VSAM has a number of...
Accelerating Your Db2 Database
Your Db2 database The IBM mainframe and its Db2 database is the transaction processing workhorse for the world’s biggest banks, insurers and financial services companies. It was designed to execute their high-intensity transaction processing workloads very...
Latest
Securing CICS with RACF
Implementing CICS Security with RACF can be a complex and demanding process. In order to do it to a level that creates a good balance can take time and requires good knowledge and understanding of both CICS and RACF. So I will explain the various steps in securing...
Why you need to protect your business with IBM Z Cyber Vault
It seems like every week there is a new story of a major company or organization being affected by a cyber-attack. It might be a ransomware attack, stolen user data, or other disruption to services, and may be initiated either by an external attack or internal...
Best Practices for Closing the Mainframe Security Gap
You could argue – as some folks have – that mainframes are inherently more secure than commodity servers because there are fewer variables at play on mainframe systems, making them easier to secure in some ways. The fact that mainframes account for a relatively small...
Fix the roof when the sun is shining: Data Loss Prevention
It’s high time we acknowledged that mainframe data loss is far more than a security problem. It’s fundamentally a business problem. As the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure. This applies to data loss and cyber attacks as much as anything else in life. If...
Db2 for z/OS: SEPARATE_SECURITY and SECADM
In the Db2 for z/OS module called DSNZPARM (ZPARM, for short), which provides the configuration settings for a Db2 subsystem, there is a parameter named SEPARATE_SECURITY. This ZPARM was introduced with Db2 10, and its purpose is to enable a Db2 for z/OS-using...
Quantum Safe Cryptography Overview
Quantum Safe Cryptography The Problem – Current Cryptography is Vulnerable to Quantum Computing Cryptography experts believe that by 2030 quantum computers will be advanced enough to cut the strength of symmetric key algorithms (such as AES, 3DES and RC4) by half, and...
Hide your privates
My mac had turned into a bit of a mess. I had ssh private keys (that use Passphrases of course!) in a variety of places and I wasn’t very happy about it. I have several different servers that I connect to. There are a few GitHub systems, a Linux system, and of course...
Recover Quickly With Surgical Precision
Resiliency is an integral part of the IBM Z platform. The IBM Z Cyber Vault solution is a concept for addressing data corruption whether through malicious intent, human error or failure of hardware or software. It provides an air gapped backup of the operating...
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Virtual Db2 User Group | January 20, 2026
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Virtual IMS User Group | February 10, 2026
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Virtual CICS User Group | March 17, 2026
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Virtual Db2 User Group | March 24, 2026
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IBM’s decision to discontinue support for the zPDT standalone offering threatens the mid-tier ISV market
IBM’s zPDT Decision Risks Mid-Tier ISVs and Mainframe Innovation I’ve been a passionate mainframe (System z) advocate for over 45 years and a staunch supporter of IBM and most of their decisions. However, when I received an email from IBM on 30 September 2025...
Data Integrity Award Winners, Workload Automation in Industry Report, and more
IBM Announces New Platform for Financial Institutions and Regulated Enterprises Entering the Digital Asset Economy Precisely Announces 2025 Data Integrity Award Winners Driving AI Innovation, Business Impact, and Societal Good BMC Selected as Overall Leader for...
Mainframe Artificial Intelligence Quiz
At Planet Mainframe, we’re spending the month of November focusing on AI and the mainframe. Once viewed as separate worlds, AI and IBM Z now work hand in hand to deliver real-time insights, predictive analytics, and intelligent automation across enterprise-scale...
NEWS – Granite 4.0, Free Cybersecurity Labs, and more
IBM Announces Granite 4.0 Free (Cybersecurity) Labs! Upcoming IBM Z Day Chase Card Decommissioning All Mainframe Code, with AI Assistance IBM z/OS Core Collection v1.15.0 GA ReleasedIBM Announces Granite 4.0 IBM has introduced Granite 4.0, initiating a new era for its...
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...
NEWS – Expanded AI-Powered Data Quality, Strategic Partnerships, & more
IBM and Groq Partner to Deliver Faster Agentic AI Capabilities Precisely Expands Access to AI-Powered Data Quality with Natural Language Interfaces in the Data Integrity Suite IBM Announces Advancements to Help Enterprises Operationalize AI Mainframe Technology...