Performance & Tuning Month
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...
Webinar: Accelerating Mainframe Efficiency for SysProgs and DBAs
Mainframe modernization is often discussed in broad strategic terms, but for the teams responsible for keeping core systems running, the challenge is much more practical: How do you make change faster, safer, and more repeatable without disrupting critical...
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,...
Don’t Buy More MIPS – Do This Instead
The Cost of the Wrong Choice The adage says, “You’ve got to spend money to make money.” But in the world of mainframes, that’s not always true. You can often spend the same amount and still save money. For example, a 1% increase in your mainframe IT budget can yield...
A Breakthrough in Mainframe Storage Efficiency
Broadcom has delivered a first in mainframe storage with the Virtual Storage Adapter (VSA) enhancement to CA 1™ Flexible Storage™. This new feature lets you have your cake and eat it too – achieve high-performance virtual tape storage without the traditionally higher...
Cheryl Watson’s Tuning Letter Delivers z/OS Tuning, Hardware Picks, and Performance Tips
We are delighted to announce that Cheryl Watson's Tuning Letter 2025 No.2 is now available. If you haven't already subscribed, now is your chance to discover the most comprehensive body of practical and impartial z/OS, and MVS tuning and measurement advice ever...
Performance & Tuning Month
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,...
Don’t Buy More MIPS – Do This Instead
The Cost of the Wrong Choice The adage says, “You’ve got to spend money to make money.” But in the world of mainframes, that’s not always true. You can often spend the same amount and still save money. For example, a 1% increase in your mainframe IT budget can yield...
A Breakthrough in Mainframe Storage Efficiency
Broadcom has delivered a first in mainframe storage with the Virtual Storage Adapter (VSA) enhancement to CA 1™ Flexible Storage™. This new feature lets you have your cake and eat it too – achieve high-performance virtual tape storage without the traditionally higher...
Cheryl Watson’s Tuning Letter Delivers z/OS Tuning, Hardware Picks, and Performance Tips
We are delighted to announce that Cheryl Watson's Tuning Letter 2025 No.2 is now available. If you haven't already subscribed, now is your chance to discover the most comprehensive body of practical and impartial z/OS, and MVS tuning and measurement advice ever...
The Evolution of IBM OMEGAMON for CICS: AI Insights, DB2 Correlation, and zIIP Optimization
Sign up today! CICS Virtual User Group – Tomorrow, July 29, 2025 Join us on Tuesday, July 29, for the next installment of the CICS User Group series. Colin Pearce, z/OS and CICS Systems Programmer at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, will present. Register for the...
Understanding and overcoming common CICS challenges
IT environments are increasingly complex to manage, and overburdened administrators are tasked with refining them, keeping them secure, and preventing downtime.Mainframes are critical to that infrastructure, as they process and store billions of transactions worth of...
Mainframe Security Isn’t What It Used to Be – How CICS and LE Are Fighting Back
This article updates a 2022 piece in Cheryl Watson’s Tuning Letter, “LE Non-Executable HEAPS and CICS User Experiences” by Mario Bezzi. Current Tuning Letter subscribers can read the original article online. Think your mainframe is immune to modern cyber threats?...
Inside Db2 for z/OS: How Optimized B+ Trees Power High-Speed Indexing
High-quality indexes are critical for fast data access and returns. IBM Db2 for z/OS relies on an advanced data structure called the Optimized Balanced Plus Tree to power high-speed indexing. This structure, an evolution of the classic B+ Tree, helps Db2 deliver...
Sign up to receive the latest mainframe information
Upcoming Events
Events
-
-
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 […]
-
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 […]
-
-
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 […]
-
Accelerating Mainframe Efficiency: Development and Testing Webinar
Zoom - Virtual MeetingUnlock the power of instantly available mainframe resources to revolutionize mainframe delivery. The third session in the PopUp Persona Webinar series reveals how application developers, software engineers, and QA teams […]
Compact z17 and LinuxONE Systems, Real-Time Mainframe Software Visibility, and more
IBM Launches Compact z17 and LinuxONE Systems to Address Space and Cost Constraints Kyndryl Report: AI adoption accelerates as workforce readiness becomes the ROI difference maker Precisely Delivers Real-Time Mainframe Software Visibility to the ServiceNow AI Platform...
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,...