As IT leaders look to spearhead a transformation of mainframe culture, developments around open and uniform industry standards become increasingly necessary.
In a white piece created for SHARE, Sam Knutson of Compuware and Nancy Coia of BMC made a call to action for an open source common install process and tooling for all z/OS software products.
According to the authors, with so many distinctly and different ways to install mainframe software, a simple, standardized and common software product installation for all z/OS products would provide significant cost savings by reducing or eliminating unneeded, manual and repetitive functions.
The white piece also states that inflexible installation tools have the capability to stall implementation at many sites and, in turn, can lead to extra time and effort expended, by all parties, to rectify or adjust with each new installation. Therefore, the need for an open and uniform industry standard and uniformity is apparent as there is no competitive advantage for ISVs to create and maintain a unique install experience.
At SHARE San Jose 2017, John Eells of IBM Corporation introduced attendees to a new installation strategy for z/OS. Eells provided a brief history of IBM software packaging, its current state, and a glimpse of where it is headed for the future.
Access a video of his full presentation here.
Furthermore, IBM has been working with and z/OS Independent Software Vendors on this installation strategy. During SHARE San Jose 2017, Eells was joined by Knutson, as well as Keith Sisson of Compuware, Paul Spicer of BMC Software Inc., and Sujay Solomon of CA Technologies in a discussion on the collective efforts of these vendors to support the new strategy.
Access a video of this session here.