CICS Portfolio e-Newsletter
September 2006
Welcome to the September issue of the CICS e-Newsletter. We hope you find this compilation of what's happening in the busy world of CICS and System z useful, informative and enjoyable.
View from CICS development by Dibbe Edwards
The August SHARE conference in Baltimore MD was great. Once again, the CICS Project was well represented and the sessions given by our customers and IBM technical teams were well attended. The conference included an amazing 600 sessions covering a wide range of topical issues. Many of our sessions were devoted to helping CICS and System z customers work better and smarter. The conference also provided a great opportunity for customers to network, hear the latest ideas, see demonstrations, and find out what's on offer and what's just round the corner.
During SHARE, there were lots of sessions dedicated to service oriented architectures (SOA). There were 'lunch and learns', theatre presentations, demonstration pedestals, even a shiny new z9 on display! The CICS Project got lots of feedback from our CICS customers on topics of interest, with SOA at the top of the list. Look for continued focus on SOA-related topics at future conferences. Thanks go to everyone who worked so hard towards this year's SHARE conference and to all the IBM customers who attended.
Here in Hursley, the CICS Portfolio Development teams remain very busy and focused on delivering next releases of our products. We have also participated in several IBM Technical Support Office (ITSO) projects resulting in some great new Redbooks covering important topics such as CICS Web services development, containers and channels, threadsafety, CICS Transaction Gateway, TXSeries and others. Take the opportunity of visiting the IBM Redbooks site at http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/ then search on 'CICS' to see the entire list, and download the Redbooks that you are interested in . We invest our key development resources in the Redbooks to ensure you have best practices and knowledge from the experts. Please take advantage of them - they can be a great boost to your project.
If you have any questions about CICS, please feel free to contact me directly at dibbed@uk.ibm.com. I look forward to hearing from you!
Dibbe Edwards, Director, CICS Development
CICS and System z scene by Rick Thomas
A question to consider this month: 'Does platform really matter?' The simple answer is 'Yes'.
The principle reason given by IBM customers for buying a mainframe is security and a safe place for the most important intellectual asset the organization owns: all those lines of lines of COBOL code that have been developed, fine-tuned and maintained down the years.
Putting this in context, some estimates see over 900,000 COBOL developers employed on a trillion dollars worth of CICS applications worldwide. From the transaction viewpoint, current estimates are that more than 70% of secure transactions worldwide are handled by mainframes. That's a big security demand.
Although the blurb might talk about System z offering higher security, plus being more available, more scalable, how does System z actually deliver on these promises?
Well by way of an example, the z9 provides high security through a unique combination of encryption keys and an SSL acceleration feature. High availability because you can perform non-disruptive replacements, repairs and upgrades. Better scalability because you can (also non-disruptively) activate or deactivate processing capacity whenever you want. Three good business reasons for choosing System z.
A major bank recently chose System z when it wanted to connect its business applications with Web services technology. The bank's goals were to improve productivity, to increase front-line sales and service capacity and to exploit legacy systems. Central to the requirement was the need to make resources and applications on different platforms widely accessible to different users through a common user interface.
IBM recommended System z running IBM WebSphere Application Server, implemented as a middle tier. This architecture enables the bank to introduce new interfaces and business processes without disrupting back-end production systems, while System z mainframes deliver the high performance, high availability and disaster recovery capabilities.
System z worked for that customer, why not let your applications travel business class with System z?
Feel free to contact me directly at thomas1@us.ibm.comanytime.
Speak to you again next month.
Richard Thomas, Program Director, CICS Marketing
Developer's corner: Fix applications fast with IBM's updated toolbox of z/OS Problem Determination tools
The latest versions of Application Performance Analyzer, Debug Tool Utilities and Advanced Functions, Fault Analyzer, File Manager and File Export can help developers identify and resolve problems with SOA and conventional applications and bring multiple tools to bear on problems. Each component delivers a wealth of new functionality designed to save your company money.
- Application Performance Analyzer for z/OS V7.1 - Want to tune your CICS applications and system for optimum performance? Well this tool helps you do exactly that without impacting system performance or function. A great tool for use during the design, development, and maintenance cycles.
- Debug Tool Utilities and Advanced Functions for z/OS V7.1 - Already using the Debug Tool for z/OS V7.1? Why not add these great new functions! Debug applications running in CICS, IMS, DB2 Stored Procedures and UNIX System Services. Enjoy support for the latest DB2 V8 and CICS V3.1 requirements. Identify OS/VS and VS COBOL II source code and migrate it to Enterprise COBOL.
- Fault Analyzer for z/OS V7.1 - Now you can quickly analyze and resolve those tricky application and system failures. Capture information about problems and get help fixing them. Fault Analyzer goes way beyond traditional fault analyzer applications because it also supports WebSphere Application Server (System z and Java), helps you analyze workload application abends and includes support for the 64-bit DB2 V8 product.
- File Manager for z/OS V7.1 - At last a complete solution for working with data! Create, browse, copy, edit, print, and format or reformat data files in the most popular z/OS file formats (z/OS data sets, DB2 data, and IMS data). Manipulate data using COBOL and PL/1 record layouts in batch and online modes. The FM/CICS component also provides similar functions on CICS files, temporary storage, and transient data queue resources.
- File Export for z/OS V1.2 - Want to selectively copy data for populating test environments and migrating applications more easily? Here's the answer. Selectively export and import related DB2, IMS, VSAM, and sequential data sets. Generate test data on demand and modify sensitive data while still maintaining the relationships. Scramble sensitive information while extracting data to ensure high security.
More...
Quick tour: 'CICS integration using Web services'
Download this animated quick tour which shows how CICS Transaction Server for z/OS 3.1 lets you exploit existing CICS applications by reusing them as Web service providers or requesters, without having to rewrite them:
- Find out how generating WSDL (Web Services Description Language) files that match the COBOL copybooks enables CICS applications to act as Web services providers.
- Discover how copying WSDL files to the local HFS enables CICS applications to act as Web services requesters.
More?
From 'green screen' to Web services with HATS
Exploit those 'green screen' applications on the Web by giving them a fresh new look and feel and by enabling users to interact with them through their favourite Web browser! The HATS (that's Host Access Transformation Services) toolkit enables you to quickly modernize and add real value:
- Quickly extend 3270 and 5250 applications to the Web.
- Easily create Web services from your host application as part of the move toward SOA.
- Transform host screen components in real time.
- Provide better navigation through multiple host screens.
- Integrate with other WebSphere products.
More?
HATS Webinar on Web services and SOA: Today's Web-based business world demands that businesses exploit their core mainframe applications to the maximum. This means reusing these valuable assets in Web environments. It's not only possible to do this now, it's also proven to be a highly cost-effective approach to making full use of these business assets. By building industry-standard Web services from existing mainframe transactions and data, you create secure, scalable applications that can be reused and integrated with new J2EE™ or .Net Web applications. To find out more, listen to the Webinar: 'Web Services for Your Core Mainframe Applications: Getting Started with SOA'. Click the link and register now:
More?
Free HATS toolkit evaluation download: Download a free evaluation copy of the HATS toolkit and try it out! The evaluation copy supports deployment to 2 runtime connections. Click the link right now and follow the download instructions:
More...
Win an elegant CICS T-shirt!
Stand out from the crowd at the Christmas party in a CICS T-shirt (after all Christmas Is Coming Soon). To win your CICS T-shirt, tell us how you are using the new features of CICS Transaction Server 3.1. Outline the challenges you faced and the business benefits that have resulted. Click the link and send your entry. The first 50 entries will win a CICS T-shirt.
More?
What's on: CICS worldwide events
October:
- 5, System z roadshow: 'A Fresh Look at the MF Roadshow', Madrid, Spain
- 6, System z roadshow: 'A Fresh Look at the MF Roadshow', Barcelona, Spain
- 8, IBM System z9 and System z Expo, Orlando, US
- 9, System z roadshow: 'A Fresh Look at the MF Roadshow', Lisbon, Portugal
- 16, IBM Information on Demand, Anaheim, US
- 23, Interaction Australia, Melbourne, Australia
- 30, WebSphere Technical Exchange, San Francisco, US
- 31, GSE, Kenilworth, UK
November:
- 13, Transaction & Messaging Conference, Salzburg, Austria
- 29, System z roadshow: 'A Fresh Look at the MF Roadshow', Israel
More?
Seminars: 'Modern Application Architectures for CICS COBOL Developers'
COBOL is the future?now. Attend one of these free technical education seminars coming to a venue near you. Learn how to use your existing COBOL skills to develop SOA applications. Why not put these dates in your diary:
- October 5, Palisades, New York, US
- October 6, New York City, US
- October 12, Hartford, Connecticut, US
These seminars are also being brought to various European and Asian venues.
More WebSphere technical podcasts
The 'WebSphere technical podcasts have been an ongoing success this year, with a large number of downloads. Our theme throughout this year is 'Making SOA real with WebSphere'. There are usually two new episodes each month including a regular 'Did you say mainframe?' track featuring a 10 minute discussion with one of the experts. You can download the podcasts or you can subscribe and receive them direct to your player as RSS feeds.
To find out more about RSS read the article.
- August, Special Episode: 'CICS and event-driven applications in an SOA' Satish Tanna, Senior IT Specialist, CICS Tools explains what CICS BEP (Business Event Processor and EDA (event-driven applications) are and the roles they play within an SOA. Satish also looks at the types of business events BEP can participate in, recent enhancements and how customers are using BEP.
- September, Episode 7, 'Did you say mainframe?' track, 'Problem determination tools for z/OS' Michelle Cordes, Application Integration and Middleware talks about how the new CICS problem determination tools help developers in their jobs, how they interact with subsystems such as CICS, DB2 and IMS, and how they help customers move to an SOA environment.
More...
developerWorks webcasts
Gain access to a wide range of information about business modernization, SOA, Web services and other topical issues, for example:
- 'Addressing real world planning for SOA Governance'
- 'Building the front end of a service oriented architecture'
More?
System z teleconferences and webcasts
The System z teleconferences and webcasts are a great way of finding out how IBM System z software tools can help you work smarter, faster and more cost-effectively:
- September 21 (teleconference): 'Can your existing mainframe developer toolset support applications that go beyond the traditional environment?' with Michelle Cordes, IBM WebSphere Worldwide Market Manager, Enterprise Platform Software.
- September 26, (teleconference): ?IBM Software for System z? discusses the business and technical benefits of using the IBM CICS Transaction Gateway to extend your existing CICS applications to a J2EE-based SOA.
- November 9 (webcast): 'Business process management' with Sherrie Abshire, IBM WebSphere Product Marketing, Enterprise Platform Software.
More?
Read these great IBM Redbooks
- 'Implementing CICS Web Services' - Find out how to configure CICS Web services support for HTTP-based and WebSphere MQ-based solutions. Learn how Web services can be used to integrate J2EE applications running in WebSphere Application Server with COBOL programs running in CICS.
- 'Application Development for CICS Web Services' - Developing Web service applications in CICS? Read the broad view on developing and modernizing CICS applications for XML, Web services, SOAP, and SOA, and the architectures for developing these types of application.
More?
New blockbuster available soon: 'Secrets of SOA: an enterprise view on service oriented architecture deployment revealed'
Available November 28 2006, Larstan Publishing, ISBN 0977689573
preorder on Amazon now!
'The best experts on earth probe the most important IT development of the decade'.
The authors of this upcoming book include authorities from leading-edge, industry analysts and Fortune 100 companies implementing SOA as well as respected IBM senior technical leaders - a true 'dream team'.
Experts everywhere have called SOA the most important IT development of the decade, a truly 'disruptive' technology on the same plain as mainframes or the PC. Yet, few companies across the globe take full advantage of this potentially transformative technology. In 'Secrets of SOA', due for release from Larstan Publishing in November, internationally recognized experts reveal the problem lies in deployment.
The focus of this book is not about the business value of SOA, or how to develop SOA services, but rather on the value to IT in making enterprise-level SOA infrastructure investments.
Properly deployed and managed, service oriented architecture affords speed, flexibility and efficiency to compete in today's ultra-competitive marketplace. In this book, readers will learn how enterprise-level planning, backed up by a centralized deployment strategy, can best channel this transformative technology.
As outlined in the first chapter 'Service-oriented IT: The Goal is Within our Grasp', IBM's own Paul Dimarzio points out:
"The platform-agnostic nature of SOA development technologies has led many pundits who watch this space to follow the path of least resistance and take up a matching platform-agnostic view of SOA deployment. Having observed several large enterprises that are reaping the benefits of SOA, as well as others that are struggling, I have concluded that deployment does indeed matter-it matters a lot. So much so that it requires as much as, if not more, attention than development. In fact, it has become apparent to me that larger and more complex enterprises need to take even greater care to ensure that SOA services are deployed on platforms best able to handle the job properly. The true business value of SOA is only realized when the technology is managed and deployed with an enterprise perspective, and not in isolation. Far too often, he says, companies take a departmental "silo" approach to deployment, virtually negating the benefits of the revolutionary technology."
CICS training
More...
e-business application development training - Gain the skills you need to build e-business applications. Take on board the core technologies, processes and tools skills that you need to improve your productivity.
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CICS skills workshops - Work alongside CICS Redbook authors to develop useful new CICS skills. These courses are delivered in partnership with IBM IT Education Services.
More?
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