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IBM system z and mainframe systems

• Automating FTP transfers to AIX

  Site expert Robert Crawford instructs a reader on how to perform automatic FTPs. Continue Reading

• Workload consolidation attracts new blood to mainframe

  At the recent Share conference, the IBM user group covered workload consolidation, Linux on the mainframe, distributed computing and mainframe education opportunities Continue Reading

• Share conference special report fall 2007

  News and tip roundup from IBM user group Share's recent mainframe conference. Continue Reading

• Control CICS and CPSM with IBM Rexx interface

  The Rexx Library interface to CPSM is strange but powerful. It gives CICSPlex the functionality that allows enterprises to control CICS and CPSM both from TSO and batch. Continue Reading

• CICSPlex System Manager basics

  In this brief overview of CPSM, CICS expert Robert Crawford describes the risks and rewards of using it for system management, automation and workload management. Continue Reading

• Preview: IBM user group Share

  IBM user group Share is gearing up for another event. Immediate past president Robert Rosen gives us a preview, including mainframe news, ITIL, distributed computing and more.Continue Reading

• Risks and rewards of mainframe debugging with DFHTRAP

  DFHTRAP is limited and too risky to use as primary mainframe debugging tool. However, it may be something to reach for when you have an obscure and intermittent bug.Continue Reading

• Disaster recovery on the mainframe: New options for site recovery

  Disaster recovery on the mainframe now includes data recovery support such as redundancy and failover. But disaster recovery planning still requires some strategic effort to properly execute a site recovery.Continue Reading

• Mainframe change management tools ease compliance burden

  Mainframes host a bulk of the critical data important to compliance auditors, but data center managers have had to rely on brute force and aging tools.Continue Reading

• CICS/TS 3.2 for systems programmers

  Some features and capabilities in CICS/TS 3.2, such as service oriented architecture, larger data tables and threadsafe, are suitable for systems programmers.Continue Reading

• Mainframe technical support for the web

  Supporting web services means changing well-established technical support structures to achieve better mainframe interaction. It web may involve 24x7 systems monitoring, outsourcing technical support or turning your IT staff into super operators.Continue Reading

• CICS/TS 3.2 for application programmers

  The newest release of CICS Transaction Server, 3.2, impresses CICS expert Robert Crawford with new web features and enhancements for VSAM-based applications.Continue Reading

• Is there a mainframe skills shortage?

  As baby-boomer IT professionals retire over the next five to seven years, mainframe shops are going to have great difficulty managing their mainframe environments. But how serious is the mainframe skills shortage?Continue Reading

• CICS program list tables: PLTPI and PLTSD programs

  CICS expert Robert Crawford describes the two types of program list tables (PLT)Continue Reading

• FTP a dataset from MVS to Linux

  CICS expert Robert Crawford offers some code to help with an MVS to Linux FTP.Continue Reading