Recently Published
What the New IBM z17 Rack-Mount Systems Bring to the Table
The z17 goes small, and I think that’s rather clever. On July 7, 2026, IBM announced new configurations of the z17, and for the first time ever, you can now get a rack-mount option right across the Z and LinuxONE portfolio. Not a new processor, not a new architecture,...
❓ROI, Business Case, and Tuning for Value: Round Two
This month at Planet Mainframe Trivia, we've been exploring how organizations maximize the value of their mainframe investments. Creating value doesn't end once a project is approved. Organizations continually look for ways to improve performance, optimize resources,...
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...
![This Critical System [Just Runs] – But Do You Trust It?](https://planetmainframe.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/This-Critical-System-Just-Runs-1080x454.jpg)
This Critical System [Just Runs] – But Do You Trust It?
Every enterprise has a system that delivers reports and information, working seamlessly in the background, unseen, taken for granted, and assigned no true owner. It isn’t the application that processes transactions. It isn’t the database that stores records. It’s the...
❓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,...
From Flow Analysis to Data Recovery: Highlights from the CICS Virtual User Group
The latest Planet Mainframe CICS Virtual User Group, sponsored by Broadcom Mainframe Software and DataKinetics, delivered exactly what the title promised — a double feature that moved from intelligent region analysis all the way through to full vSAM data recovery....
The Future of Enterprise Security is Now
The future of enterprise security will not be defined by a single breakthrough. It will be shaped by how well organizations strengthen the fundamentals while adapting to two major shifts happening at once: the explosion of non-human identities (NHIs) and the growing...
What Mainframe Teams Can Learn from Each Other: A New Webinar Series
In a new three-part webinar series, PopUp Mainframe explores how SysProgs, training leaders, developers, and QA professionals tackle the challenges of modern z/OS environments.Mainframe teams rarely experience the platform in the same way. A systems programmer focused...
Performance & Tuning Month
Performance management and capacity planning on IBM Z in a hybrid cloud world
Organizations are drawn to the promise of AIOps to leverage AI-driven Intelligence and automation to make quick and accurate decisions to maintain resiliency. AIOps uses artificial intelligence to simplify IT operations management and accelerate and automate problem...
The 5 Key Factors for Database Performance
IT organizations are always chasing better performance. This involves monitoring, tuning, and improving all aspects of the IT infrastructure, encompassing servers, networks, applications, desktops, and databases. But let’s focus on the database, shall we? Five factors...
Lightning Fast I/O via zHyperLink and Db2 for z/OS Exploitation – Part 2
Last week we ended with Db2 Performance of zHyperLink Read. Now let’s look at the CPU cost of zHyperLink read. As explained last week, I/O operation is now synchronous to CPU with zHyperLink and SQL processing spins while waiting for the I/O to complete. At the same...
Lightning Fast I/O via zHyperLink and Db2 for z/OS Exploitation
As the size of database and the volume of transactions increase, many of Db2 transactions tend to spend significant amount of wait time in database read and log write I/Os. zHyperLink is introduced to help reduce b2 transaction latency. zHyperLink is a new short...
Getting a Client in Trouble Out of Trouble
Recently, we helped one of our clients – a large investment bank of America – to “find” 30 million dollars per year – money that they weren’t able to obtain for technical reasons – when we helped them get it, it was like found money to them. Before our association,...
Part II: Six ways to improve datacenter performance while saving on costs
Last week we looked at some of the most common reactions to the need for improved mainframe performance in the datacenter. Not all are great solutions, but this week we look at six truly great mainframe performance optimization solutions. Smart Technology Solutions...
Typical Techniques for Improving Datacenter Mainframe Performance
One common sense, and three less-than great Business has been booming, for the most part, for large enterprises in the US and across the globe for the last seven to eight years. The continuous growth in the Dow-Jones, the SSE Composite Index, DAX, Nikkei, FTSE, and...
Does your Mainframe need an oil change?
Performance management is a key consideration on any platform. A system may have several resources (CPU, I/O, storage, network etc.) that collectively work together to process a workload. To assess overall health of the system, mainframe system reports can be...
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Upcoming Events
Events
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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 […]
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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 […]
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Virtual IMS User Group | Data Gravity and IBM Z: Bringing Processing to the Data
Zoom - Virtual MeetingAs data volumes grow, they naturally attract applications, services, and processing toward them—a concept commonly referred to as data gravity. In hybrid cloud environments, understanding data gravity has become increasingly […]
What the New IBM z17 Rack-Mount Systems Bring to the Table
The z17 goes small, and I think that’s rather clever. On July 7, 2026, IBM announced new configurations of the z17, and for the first time ever, you can now get a rack-mount option right across the Z and LinuxONE portfolio. Not a new processor, not a new architecture,...
❓ROI, Business Case, and Tuning for Value: Round Two
This month at Planet Mainframe Trivia, we've been exploring how organizations maximize the value of their mainframe investments. Creating value doesn't end once a project is approved. Organizations continually look for ways to improve performance, optimize resources,...
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...