Latest Articles
July 2025 CICS Highlights: AI, APIs, and the Rise of Modern Mainframe
Planet Mainframe brought together thought leaders and experts to celebrate CICS's 55th birthday. From AI-infused monitoring to API turbocharging, CICS proudly proved it was anything but obsolete. Here’s what stood out and why CICS users should be excited about what’s...
Demystifying CICS COBOL Transaction Debugging with Colin Pearce
In a recent virtual user group session I had the pleasure of hosting, we explored the intricate world of CICS COBOL transaction debugging with the help of Colin Pearce—an exceptionally experienced mainframe systems programmer whose career spans over three decades,...
Mainframes in Pop Culture
We’re in the long, hot days of summer here in the Northern Hemisphere, and while many of us may not be on summer holidays, our Planet Mainframe Trivia Quiz is going to venture into new territory - mainframes in pop culture! Mainframes may be known for their...
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...
How Izzi Software is Flipping Technology Takeovers
In the world of enterprise software, acquisitions often follow a familiar pattern: buy, cut, flip. It’s a process driven by short-term gains that often loses the heart of a company – its people, culture, and long-term value. Izzi Software is flipping the script and...
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 Skills in the Heartland: 4 Universities, 4 Days, Hundreds of Students
Mainframe Talent Is Growing: Access It Next Month Hopefully, you caught my 2024 Planet Mainframe piece on the growing mainframe curriculum at Northern Illinois University (NIU), Illinois State University (ISU), and Eastern Illinois University (EIU). Great news: it’s...
IBM Power11, SHARE Cleveland Technical Agenda, and more
IBM Introduces Power11: Purpose-Built Infrastructure for the AI Era A cornerstone of IBM’s AI strategy is building the infrastructure to support it. This month, IBM introduced IBM Power11, the latest generation of IBM Power® servers, built for the era of AI,...
How AI and Mainframes Work Together: Breaking the Legacy Myth
Artificial Intelligence Day on July 16 invites a fresh look at an evolving reality: AI and mainframes are no longer at odds. Instead, they’re allies in modern enterprise innovation. AI and Mainframes: Misconception or Modern Reality? Artificial Intelligence (AI) and...
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?...
