The discussion of the z/OS platform and specifically the value of DB2 10 is very interesting. As I work with clients on both the distributed and the z/OS platforms, the z/OS value is extending its use within the enterprise. Based on these cost of z/OS and the value of DB2 10 discussion, I offer up these three observations.
First the z/OS platform continues to expand its functionality, compatibility and interfaces. Some companies think of the z/OS platform as that old mainframe that isn’t doing too much anymore. Nothing could be further from the truth for most companies. Turn off the z/OS applications and most likely the business world would not function. The z/OS platform reliability, availability, and scalability achieve business objectives while other system solutions provide creative technology and marketing to mimic these proven capabilities.
The new z/OS system is not only hosting z/OS applications that run and have been enhanced for the last 20 years, the z/OS platform is the server for UNIX, Linux and even Windows applications discussed in this eWeek article (http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Infrastructure/IBM-Brings-Windows-to-the-Mainframe-298629/). People or companies that think of z/OS only as a mainframe are stuck in the past and need to educate themselves on the z/OS capabilities. Many companies are seeing huge cost savings by not only converting to DB2 but consolidating UNIX and Windows workloads to z/OS platform. It is 2012 and what platform has the fastest CPUs and runs at the lowest power consumption? The z/OS mainframe. So get educated and go green.
Next when I started DB2 work way back when I was 10 years old I was coming from developing, administering and managing IDMS systems. I was fresh into IT and thought the risk was worth the reward going from IDMS to DB2. Careers, like a company’s applications are huge investments, and DB2 databases prove the ability to implement an application and have that data available for many additional types of business functions or application types. Try to share distributed systems and your efforts will be thwarted by connectivity, reliability, availability and scalability issues.
IBM learned its lesson when all the IMS systems converted to IDMS because of its new technology and ease of use. IBM is not going to let that happen again with DB2 as it has proven over the last 20 years with constant aggressive innovation. Through the enhancements over the years the DB2 family, z/OS and LUW have embraced all types of unstructured data, XML, audio and video etc. There truly isn’t anything you can’t put into a DB2 database. DB2’s interfaces to SQL, XML, and all the types of programming languages provide connectivity to expand your application to everywhere.
You won’t have to worry about it going out of date because its architecture provides for constant improvement. With the new IBM DB2 Analytics Accelerator (IDAA) the z/OS platform embraces several new technology trends. The new IDAA technology (more information at (http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/db2/zos/analytics-accelerator/) provides extremely fast analytic capabilities that every company will soon be using to provide company metrics. Also within IDAA, DB2 is continuing to embrace new Columnar database designs, data gating and extreme compression technologies. DB2, with its embrace and extend tradition of leveraging new technologies, is a great place to put your database investments.
DB2 for z/OS and DB2 10 provide a tremendous value proposition. IBM continues to improve its pricing model for the platform by enabling more free zIIP CPU power for all types of distributed and Java applications. IBM continues this trend as more web, UNIX and distributed applications are leveraging existing databases and developing new ones.
Finally, DB2 10 provides great value as it improves its ability to share existing applications with DB2 10 handling five to ten times more concurrent users–up to 20,000 users. DB2 10’s enhancements such as faster optimized processing, leverage of new devices such as solid-state disk, in-memory workfile enhancements, index insert parallelism improvements and better SQL/XML access paths, provides many reductions in CPU costs for existing and new workloads. DB2 10 with its easier administration schema change processes for database maintenance, more concurrent and cheaper utilities, and availability features that are the envy of other DBMSs show IBM is addressing your company’s and the industry’s challenges.
Other platforms and DBMSs may be the favorite for a season, but DB2 10 and the z/OS platform are components that your company can bet its business on for years of innovations, continued cost reduction and performance improvements.
Also I am beginning to plan my Regional DB2 User Group support for 2012 year. Please send an email to me at moc.ekluebevadnull@evad if you would like me to come and speak or offer a DB2 class at your local user group.
I look forward to speaking at the IDUG DB2 Tech Conference 2012 North America conference. The conference will be held in Denver, Colorado on May 14-18, 2012. Sign up today at www.idug.org.
Public DB2 Performance Tuning & SQL Training Education classes in February in Chicago.
Dave Beulke & Sheryl Larsen Chicago February 22-24
February 22: DB2 SQL and Optimization Enhancements by Sheryl Larsen
February 23: DB2 10 for z/OS Performance Training by Dave Beulke
February 24: Two great seminars to choose from
Tuning SQL for Performance by Sheryl Larsen
or
DB2 Performance for Java Developers by Dave Beulke
http://davebeulke.com/db2-performance-tuning-and-sql-training-feb-2012/
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