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Overview
What is IBM Z?
IBM Z is the company's mainframe enterprise server solution product line.
Recent Reviews
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Solution Planning Senior Manager
Accenture DACH (Information Technology & Services, 10,001+ employees)
Senior Technical Specialist
More than 20 different businesses over 30 years (Information Technology & Services, 1001-5000 employees)
Product Details
- About
- Competitors
- Tech Details
- Downloadables
- FAQs
What is IBM Z?
The new IBM z15 delivers performance,
flexibility, availability, protection, and agility to drive
digital transformation. It has changed the footprint of IBM Z
with a 19” frame, that scales from one to four frames depending on the
configuration, enabling significant floor space reduction.
IBM z15 has the commercial data privacy and security enforcement solution, Data Privacy Passports, that provides off-platform access revocation. Choose who accesses data, and when and at what level to revoke their access. One hundred percent of data, at-rest and in-flight, is protected with no performance trade off or application changes. With Fibre Channel Endpoint Security working with the latest DS8900F, achieve total end-to-end protection and authentication.
IBM z15 provides flexibility, portability and choice for hybrid cloud deployment. Cloud-native development simplifies life for developers as they build new applications and modernize existing ones. IBM Z supports private and public cloud via Linux, Kubernetes and industry-standard tools. With the Red Hat OpenShift support, IBM z15 adds to the user's options for cloud integration.
Instant recovery reduces the impact of planned and unplanned downtime. All systems need downtime for maintenance, and security patching.
IBM z15 has the commercial data privacy and security enforcement solution, Data Privacy Passports, that provides off-platform access revocation. Choose who accesses data, and when and at what level to revoke their access. One hundred percent of data, at-rest and in-flight, is protected with no performance trade off or application changes. With Fibre Channel Endpoint Security working with the latest DS8900F, achieve total end-to-end protection and authentication.
IBM z15 provides flexibility, portability and choice for hybrid cloud deployment. Cloud-native development simplifies life for developers as they build new applications and modernize existing ones. IBM Z supports private and public cloud via Linux, Kubernetes and industry-standard tools. With the Red Hat OpenShift support, IBM z15 adds to the user's options for cloud integration.
Instant recovery reduces the impact of planned and unplanned downtime. All systems need downtime for maintenance, and security patching.
IBM Z Features
- Supported: Data Privacy Passports
- Supported: IBM Z Data Privacy for Diagnostics
- Supported: IBM Recovery Boost
- Supported: Integrated Accelerator for zEDC
- Supported: Quantum-Safe digital signing algorithms
IBM Z Competitors
IBM Z Technical Details
| Deployment Types | On-premise |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Linux, z/OS, z/VSE, z/TPF, z/VM |
| Mobile Application | No |
IBM Z Downloadables
Frequently Asked Questions
IBM Z is the company's mainframe enterprise server solution product line.
Dell PowerEdge M and ClearPath Forward Libra are common alternatives for IBM Z.
Reviewers rate Support Rating highest, with a score of 9.1.
The most common users of IBM Z are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
Comparisons
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Reviews and Ratings
(134)Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-3 of 3)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
September 18, 2023
z/OS - nothing better
We have two computers at our production site and one at our DR site. All computers run z/OS. One system runs a payroll application, and the other runs a provident Fund Application. Both systems provide services to external customers. The computers are connected to an IBM DS9810F storage system and an IBM TS7770 virtual tape system.
- Massive I/O
- Support many users concurrently
- Very little downtime required.
- It's hard finding new people with the required knowledge.
- It seems expensive.
- Very little down time
- Massive i/o
- We've always used z/OS for these applications. Every attempt to even plan using a different system failed very early in the initial stages for various reasons.
We recenetly attepted to evaluate moving an application to the MicroFocus environment.
The initial assessment failed because of cost.
The initial assessment failed because of cost.
50
Operations, Systems, programmers, Payroll analysts.
5
Systems programmers,
CICS specialists,
DBA's
CICS specialists,
DBA's
- Run monthly payroll calculations
- Create pay slips with personal messages
- Importunely, the powers that be want to move us of z/OS
No
- Other
When we started with IBM Z, there weren't any other options.
Along the way, other options have become available, but none were good enough.
Along the way, other options have become available, but none were good enough.
Back then, there were no other options.
- Implemented in-house
Yes
Most the applications we run are 40 years old and have gone the many development stages.
- None that I know
- Online Training
- In-Person Training
Work with an IBM business partner who is an expert.
Some - we have done small customizations to the interface
IT very easy, if you know how, to add options to ISPF, which is the main interface you use in z/OS.
Some - we have added small pieces of custom code
We have a huge ISPF application that helps non-professionals do things.
no
THere is other option
No
A while back I was in the process of putting a new computer into production.
I realized the an important function (STP - the function that lets z/OS get the accurate time from the network) wasn't working.
After trying to solve the problem on my own, I opened a Severity 1 issue.
I was online with support teams from around the world until they found a way to bypass the problem so I put the computer into production.
I realized the an important function (STP - the function that lets z/OS get the accurate time from the network) wasn't working.
After trying to solve the problem on my own, I opened a Severity 1 issue.
I was online with support teams from around the world until they found a way to bypass the problem so I put the computer into production.
- The builtin editor is great
- Monitoring system activity is easy with SDSF
- There a products to do anything you would need. Usually more than one option for each task.
- Configuring a new system.
Yes
There a many options. There is HMC Mobile that lets you control the HMC from your phone.
There are also other options.
There are also other options.
- Many other systems running Windows or *nix
z/OS connects to the network using TCP/IP.
It can be a web server, a database server, an ftp server, or almost any other kind of server.
It can publish it's features as web services, or as other types of services.
It can be a web server, a database server, an ftp server, or almost any other kind of server.
It can publish it's features as web services, or as other types of services.
- Nothing new
- File import/export
- API (e.g. SOAP or REST)
Know what options available.
If there is more than one option, evaluate more than one.
If there is more than one option, evaluate more than one.
I'm not involved with that part.
You usually go through a business partner.
Since we're in a small market, there is only one.
Since we're in a small market, there is only one.
Yes
Our most recent upgrade was a new computer. Once we dod all of the configurations, moving it int production was a simple matter of shutting down the old system, connecting the cables, and starting the new computer.
- A new system with some new functions
- Lower software costs.
- More of the same
No
No
November 16, 2022
IMS on z/OS provides speedy transactions and high availability
Ericsson (formerly Telcordia) provides IMS DB/TM-based inventory systems for very large phone companies. Although primarily IMS-based, we use IMS Connect, DB2, and MQ as well. We make extensive use of MQ and IMS Connect to allow access to our systems for users beyond just the 3270 world. We transformed all our 3270 green screens with our Xj (JAVA eXtensions) product so our users have the advantage of a modern interface. MQ is used to interface with both our other systems that run on other platforms (UNIX, LINUX, etc) as well as an interface to other phone company systems not written by Ericsson.
- I/O is very fast in IMS and outside of IMS as well
- CPU speeds are as fast as any other platform
- User interfaces remain fairly constant (TSO, IMS, DB2, MQ, etc)
- Support is good, but more examples, especially of non-Z/os things like JAVA, would be helpful
- Security is becoming so prevalent it's cumbersome at times.
- Less emphasis on exits coded in BAL/ASM and more parmlib/proclib members would be helpful
- Flexibility-we recently began using USS SHM (UNIX System Services Shared Memory)
- Speed - both I/O and cpu.
- Consistency and support-user interfaces remain largely the same and support is good
- Perception is the platform is WAY too expensive.
- Allowing more Offloading to ziip/zaap may help alleviate the above.
- IBM support has been very reliable for us-especialyl IMS support
IBM/IMS Tools compare favorably in use and performance against other vendors such as BMC. We support both within all our mainframe/zOS products so our users have the flexibility to choose the tools that work best for them and their users and budgets.
So far we have never had to purchase premium support. We have always been able to get adequate or good support, especially in IMS on z/OS. In the past, we had many dedicated IBMers supporting out account. Now we have NONE, BUT, support is still quite good just using normal channels.
Yes
YES-it took a little while, and we had to develop some test cases, and then simplify those test cases quite a bit, but ultimately the bug got resolved to the satisfaction of both our internal users and also our clients in the field, the very large telephone companies. Our problems are often complex ones which straddle the line between application code (like in PLI), and the supporting infrastructure, which is called LE (Language Environment).
We wrote a very complex 'layer' of code called PRF (Programming Resource Facility). It serves as the interface between our code, which is written in BAL/ASM, PLI, and C, and the IBM LE (Language Environment) layer. PRF attempts to use the LE PICI interface to improve performance, and reduce LE overhead. We had quite a serious issue several years ago where something that had been working for over a dozen years in PRF abended under a newer z/OS release, and we would have had to change literally THOUSANDS of lines of complex code to get around it, but IBM agreed to change their code since ours had been functioning properly for so long.
February 22, 2019
Z enterprise stacks up against the competition
IBM Z Enterprise is being used across our whole organization and has solved business problems in many server issues that would require continuous maintenance support
- It handles large amounts of data easily
- No maintenance required to uphold
- Ease of deployment and use
- Access to multiple admin
- Giving permissions
- Space to fix issues
- IBM Z Enterprise servers have improved maintenance costs
- [Reduced] man hours needed to monitor the servers
- Offsite housing allows for less space needed
IBM Z Enterprise Servers stacks up well against other servers and the service that is included in cost is worth the investment
100
They represent the IT business function of the company, handling the mainframes and distribution of the data that is collected using various software and hardware to capture the information, then storing and processing with the Z Enterprise Servers to give the metadata needed to perform analysis of the operations.
100
I would describe the types of people that support our IBM Z Enterprise Servers [as having] the required skills in mainframe capabilities and solutions. They are IT professionals that are able to detect and give solutions on demand. They know real time analytics and workload of the mainframe. They are innovative and thrive in an advanced environment
- mainframe workload
- large enterprise
- real-time analytics
- to house information sent from third party applications
- for security
- reliability
- speed
- speed
- reliability
- security
Not Sure
- Product Reputation
- Vendor Reputation
- Existing Relationship with the Vendor
- Analyst Reports
- Third-party Reviews
if we had to do it again, I am sure the company would not change any choices in our evaluation and selection process.
- Don't know
- Block count
- IPL performance issue
- Programmers not experienced
IBM has never provided anything except exceptional support for all of its products that are used.
- Cloud compiling
- interior lighting
- real-time insights
- complexity
- user interface
- noise