Why Job Control Language (JCL) for Data Centers?

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Nowadays, companies need production systems that are highly available and reliable in order to remain competitive. The Job Control Language (JCL) is an essential component for the smooth operation of these systems. JCL for Data Center aims to provide a means of communication between application programs, system hardware, and operating systems. However, errors in JCL coding can adversely affect production and cause unwanted delays.

The importance of JCL in Data Centers

JCL for Data Centers | The challenge: Due to the complex nature of JCL, the probability of occurrence of errors is high. In particular, each time new or modified JCLs are introduced. In most cases, especially under deadlines and time pressure, it is not an easy task to thoroughly test the JCL for all events before the applications are put into production. Assuring great performance of JCL in Data Center is very important at this level. SmartJCL is therefore required to manage this situation.

What is SmartJCL and How does it work?

SmartJCL is the most cost-efficient JCL Checker for all Data Centers that allow you to audit JCL and create error-free JCL. SmartJCL is designed for IBM z/OS and IBM System_z. It uses interfaces to various z/OS components such as Security Server (RACF), Catalog Access Method Services, and System Managed Storage (SMS). It equally determines the status of IBM DB2 for z/OS to verify whether a DB2 system can be used by a validated job.

JCL Data Center: Auditing and creating error-free JCL using SmartJCL

The SmartJCL management tool offers you the following advantages:

  • Audit JCL and create error-free JCL in all Data Centers.
  • The SmartJCL management tool drastically reduces the number of aborts, which in turn eliminates the risk of losing time in tight batch windows.
  • Moreover, it significantly reduces the effort required to search for potential sources of problems under time pressure – often in the middle of the night.
  • SmartJCL also offers integrated scheduler interfaces, such as IBM’s IWS z/OS, a powerful Reformat feature, and a REXX interface for flexible maintenance of your JCL.

To find out how to save time and money using a SmartJCL Checker for Data Centers, check out this free verification tool: https://www.betasystems-dci.com/en/products/smartjcl-the-easy-way-to-faultless-jcl/#offer-request

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Demand For Mainframe Skills Explodes During Pandemic

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According to a Compuware survey the mainframe is being used to support a growing number of revenue-driving and customer-facing services. As more and more organizations and consumers turn to the web to conduct business during the Covid-19 crisis, such systems are seeing an increase in usage, which results in an increasing demand for Cobol skills.
The global survey of 400 senior IT leaders, conducted by Vanson Bourne for Compuware, reported that mainframes remain popular for hosting business-critical applications.
Above that, the survey found that organizations expect to increase the frequency of new mainframe application feature deployments by an average of 41% in the next 12 months, compared to 38% for non-mainframe applications. More than half (52%) of those questioned said they have adopted DevOps on the mainframe while 42% have implemented agile methodologies.

The survey found that organizations have made great progress by adapting modern development practices on the mainframe. However, there is still a long way to go before adoption of DevOps and agile methodologies on these core systems is as widespread as today’s digital economy demands.

“Mainframe developers are more critical to business success than ever before,” said David Rizzo, vice-president of engineering at Compuware. “However, to truly innovate on existing core systems and deliver new digital services for customers, developers need the best possible experience and environment to work in. The basis of this should reside in an open and collaborative culture, where developers can work on inspiring and challenging projects, with modern methods and tools, and receive fast feedback that continuously improves their abilities. Providing this kind of developer experience is crucial to enabling organisations to compete effectively in the digital age.”
IBM has seen its customer’s need to scale their systems in order to handle increases in
demand caused by the coronavirus, and has been actively working on managing those applications with clients.
Earlier this month, IBM and the Linux Foundation announced the Open Mainframe Project as a response to the demand for mainframe Cobol skills due to the pandemic. In a post describing the initiative, Meredith Stowell, vice-president, IBM Z ecosystem, wrote: “There are also some states that are in need of additional programming skills to make changes to Cobol – a language that has been widely reported to have an estimated 220 billion lines of code being actively used today. These changes to the code are required to take into account the new parameters for unemployment payment eligibility, in a very short timeframe.”
Working with the Linux Foundation, IBM has established a skills portal to help enterprises recruit Cobol programmers, and is also supporting a free technical forum for programmers new to Cobol. Stowell said online, self-service video courses with hands-on labs and tutorials will be made available via Coursera.
Chris O’Malley, CEO at Compuware, said: “Given the increasingly crucial role the
mainframe plays in innovation, continuously improving the quality, velocity and efficiency of software development and delivery on the platform should no longer be a wishful IT aspiration – it is an urgent strategic imperative.”

If you need more Input regarding mainframe skills contact us right away:

https://www.betasystems-dci.com/en/contact/

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10 Tips for Change Management in Agile

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Businesses are in a constant battle to stay relevant, in a pandemic more than ever. By using agile techniques, your organization can enable software product changes whenever and wherever they’re needed.

There are many benefits that users of Agile software development can profit from. One of them is that teams can change design, development, requirements, and test plans as needed to keep the application delivery on time and on budget – all while creating a quality product that customers enjoy using. Less planned-out software development approaches, in contrast, seem comparatively random or even chaotic, resulting in an insufficient product.

Agile makes frequent software product changes possible, even after the initial delivery.
An Agile methodology also keeps the product or application constantly relevant through shifts in the target market or company roadmap. Additionally, changes arrive in the customer’s hands much faster.
Change, for all its usefulness, is still difficult to manage – and it’s easy to go wrong. To successfully implement iterative change management in Agile software development systems follow these essential 10 tips. They range from methods for iterations and the sprint backlog to how to treat software requirements, as well as ways to make user stories better and – always – keep developers and testers in the loop.

1. Embrace change and make adjustments

Non-Agile approaches often make the implicit assumption that requirements are final and that a change management process can only modify minor variations in them. Design requirements, also called acceptance criteria, are subject to constant, planned change in Agile iterations. Agile facilitates demonstrating working software and receive customer feedback for product managers. If the user’s needs aren’t met, the product owner and developers are able to make change requests to the application code, and possibly revise the delivery schedule. Thus, change management is a fundamental part of the Agile software development process.

2. Meet the customer’s expectations

Since with Agile you are able to demo working applications you can also build a unique design that meets your customer’s expectations.
Instead of creating and developing an application workflow only based on written requirements or feature descriptions, keep the customer updated about the application and its functionality.

It’s a good thing to deliver an application on time. More importantly it should meet the customer’s needs and expectations. If it doesn’t do so the delivery is not successful.
Keep the customer in the loop and manage requirement changes accordingly for long-term application success.

3. Emphasize user stories from the start

Agile development enables app-dev teams to address the highest-value stories in the earliest iterations. These high-value stories include the ones that are the most visible or most necessary for customers, or ones that are technically challenging. The earlier the challenges are addressed by the dev team, the better the customer will understand how the application works.

Furthermore, the prioritization of the user story helps managing delays and changes at an early stage of the development cycle, rather than at the end of the process. It is not only easier but also less costly to go through either smaller or more complicated changes before large parts of the code are completed.

4. Review and prioritize adjustments

The development team needs the product owners to prioritize the coding iterations changes for them. If you compare the existing stories to all upcoming changes, and then determine how developers can logically and efficiently code them with the least interruption and time, don’t simply drop changes onto the planning board. Instead, evaluate and review the design approach for each change to ensure it conforms to the existing app code. Otherwise, significant adjustments will require even more time and updated stories.

5. Manage between sprints

While working on Agile projects try to avoid using change management in the middle of an iteration, especially when planning and coding cycles are underway. Plan those changes in advance and add change requests to the sprint backlog. Give the development team time to look over upcoming changes and synchronize its work to keep coding and the application release on schedule. Keep in mind that surprise changes can degrade software quality and plan within the structure of your Agile sprints.

6. Keep user stories updated and complete

Make Agile change management a rapid, immediate task and thus ensure accurate user stories. Therefore, the project manager or product owner should keep stories up to date with accurate descriptions and acceptance criteria.
There is no bigger waste of time than when a developer writes code to the wrong story details. This would not only interrupt productivity, it will make all members of the software development team feel frustrated.

7. Talk to developers

Although it’s sometimes tempting to skip this step: Share any design changes with the development team, and schedule them into an iteration.
Because if you don’t talk about changes with developers, they simply don’t get done.
And if you don’t provide details on the change in the story, you’re unlikely to get the output you require.
Take the time, as early as possible, to communicate openly a change coming in from the customer.

Be aware that promising a feature to a user can backfire if you don’t have the guarantee that it is possible yet. Customers might not be happy when they don’t get an immediate „yes,“ or a clear „no,“ but it’s still better to check with a developer first than to disappoint customers by not being able to keep your promises.

8. Collaborate with testers

When communicating with the development team about adjustments to features and stories, don’t forget to include the QA and software testing members.
Never assume the developer will update the story information for you – do it yourself and let testers take part in the change discussion.
Provide the QA team with as much information and material as possible, which they can use
to improve the application’s quality and to create more effective tests.

Better understanding leads to more thorough test coverage.

9. Manage changes efficiently

In some gated development approaches, teams manage changes through a change control board, which discusses and then either accepts or rejects proposals.
This method can take an enormous amount of time.

Agile change management, in contrast, puts efficiency first.
Instead of waiting days, weeks or months for a change decision from a set board, product owners must gather the development team to discuss the upcoming changes.

10. Manage customer anticipations

The project manager must communicate with customers prior to application release as well as during the course of development.
Customers should understand what to expect in the release, what changed and why.

The more a customer is aware of what to anticipate, the better prepared they will be for the release.
The element of surprise doesn’t mesh with business success in this case. Open communication about what is in a release, will make the customer feel save and included.  Demos or training sessions are good tools to support this feeling.

In order to apply these agile methods, we also recommend the following in the area of software and scheduling: https://www.betasystems-dci.com/en/products/scheduling/

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Beta Systems Online Technology Forum 2021

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Nachdem wir im vergangenen Jahr von den Entwicklungen der Corona Pandemie überrascht wurden und das Technologie Forum ausfallen lassen mussten, freuen wir uns ganz besonders die Veranstaltung in diesem Jahr vom 21. – 23. April stattfinden lassen zu können. Den Umständen entsprechend wird es dieses Mal ein rein digitales Event. Dieses wird seinen Vorgängern aber in keiner Weise nachstehen. Unter dem Motto „Exchange. Explain. Inspire.“ bieten wir Ihnen aktuelle Informationen zu den neuesten Trends, Best Practice Kundenvorträge und natürlich detaillierte Ausblicke auf zukünftige Produktentwicklungen der Beta Systems Group rund um die Bereiche Data Center Intelligence (DCI) und Identity Access Management (IAM).

Um Ihnen möglichst wertvolle, relevante Informationen und vor allem Inspiration für Ihre eigene Arbeit mitgeben zu können, haben wir eine breit gefächerte Agenda aufgestellt. Diese besteht aus anwenderorientierten Workshops, Erfahrungsberichten von Kunden sowie informativen Gesprächen mit Gästen und Experten.

Die Agenda im Bereich Data Center Intelligence beinhaltet unter Anderem:

Dienstag, 20.04.2021

  • Gastgespräch mit GSE zTalents zu den Themen: klassische Betriebsthemen, Anwendungsentwicklung, Modernisierungsmaßnahmen
  • Workshops in den Bereichen _beta control, _beta view und LDMS & BBC Arbeitskreis

Mittwoch, 21.04.2021

  • Keynote Marktrends und Antworten unter dem Motto „Exchange. Explain. Inspire.“
  • News vom Product Management: Das Neueste zu Symphony und Garancy
  • Online Panel Diskussion: Neugestaltung der Arbeitsprozesse durch vermehrte Automatisierung u.A. mit IBM, Software AG und KuppingerCole
  • Erfahrungsbericht Bedag Informatik: CA Spool Ablöse mit _beta doc|z
  • Erfahrungsbericht Zurich Gruppe: Transparenz in der IT-Produktion
  • Vortrag: Digitalisierung – Die Verschmelzung digitaler und realer Welten

Donnerstag, 22.04.2021

  • Strategische Projekte: Zukünftige Schwerpunkte in der Entwicklung
  • Vorstellung der neuen Beta UX Generation V5
  • Erfahrungsbericht von Fiducia & GAD: Einführung von Beta Systems Webservices auf IBM Z
  • Vortrag: How can you enable your existing mainframe applications to interact with new applications?
  • Erfahrungsbericht Services & Consulting: Migrationserfahrungen aus der Praxis
  • Vortrag: Schnelle und sichere Produktionseinführung: Wie ProcMan massiv Zeit, Nerven und Kosten spart

Melden Sie sich jetzt an und erhalten Sie weitere Informationen und Details: https://www.betasystems.com/de/aktuelles/events/beta-systems-technology-forum-2021.html#c57255

Wir freuen uns auf drei erfolgreiche und vielversprechende Tage!

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Digitalisierungsschub für den öffentlichen Sektor

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Corona und seine Folgen beschäftigen den öffentlichen Sektor nun schon seit Monaten.
Zur Bewältigung der Corona-Pandemie legt die Deutsche Bundesregierung kurzfristig ein „Konjunktur- und Krisenbewältigungspaket“ auf.

Was ist das Ziel?


Ziel ist unter anderem die Verbesserung der digitalen Infrastruktur in Bund, Ländern und Kommunen:

  • Registermodernisierung in Bund, Ländern und Kommunen
  • Sofortige Umsetzung von Digitalisierungsvorhaben in der Verwaltung zur Beschleunigung von Prozessen unter Einhaltung von Compliance Vorschriften wie die EU-DSGVO
  • Zügige und flächendeckende Umsetzung des Online-Zugang-Gesetzes bis Ende 2022, d.h. Verbesserung des Online Zuganges zur Verwaltungsleistungen
  • Erhöhung der IT-Sicherheit
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Aufrund der aktuellen Entwicklungen haben wir uns entschieden, das Beta Systems Technology Forum auf April 2021 zu verschieben.

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Hallo liebe Leser,

Als Ersatz planen wir für den ursprünglichen Termin am Donnerstag, 23. April 2020 jeweils Webcasts auf Deutsch
für die Bereiche Data Center Intelligence (DCI) und Identity Access Governance (IAM) durchzuführen.

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15 rules to protect IBM Mainframe Systems from hacking!

15 rules to protect IBM Mainframe Systems from hacking
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Even the securest IBM Z installations in top security environments are exposed to hacking threats that are underestimated, downplayed or simply unknown to most mainframe operations and security teams. What is your risk exposure, what methods social hackers are using and what are recommended steps to protect yourself from those dangers?

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15 Regeln zum Schutz von IBM Mainframe-Systemen vor Hacking!

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Selbst die sichersten IBM Z-Installationen in Hochsicherheitsumgebungen sind Hackerbedrohungen ausgesetzt, die unterschätzt, heruntergespielt oder den meisten Mainframe-Betriebs- und Sicherheitsteams einfach unbekannt sind. Wie hoch ist das Risiko, welche Methoden verwenden Social Hacker und welche Schritte werden empfohlen, um sich vor diesen Gefahren zu schützen?

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