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  • Testing Emerges as DevOps Hurdle in Mainframe Shops

    Testing Emerges as DevOps Hurdle in Mainframe Shops

    A survey of 400 senior IT leaders responsible for application development using mainframes finds 90% believe automating more test cases could be the most important factor in their success, as the pressure to accelerate innovation increases. However, the same survey finds only 7% of organizations automate the execution of test cases involving mainframe code today.

    The survey, which was conducted by Vanson Bourne on behalf of Compuware, also finds the time required to conduct thorough testing is the biggest barrier to integrating the mainframe into agile and DevOps processes for just over the half the survey respondents (53%), followed by a lack of skills (39%) and lack of understanding how code changes will impact distributed applications (34%).

    A total of 82% said that unless they can automate more test cases, they will not be able to meet the need for speed the business now requires. That may account, in part, for why 56% of respondents said they plan to start automating the execution of test cases on mainframe code within the coming year.

    The biggest benefits expected to be derived from those investments include greater efficiency within the IT team (59%), improved consistency of testing (53% ), reduced chance of human error (47%), reduced pressure on IT teams (47%), accelerated innovation cycles (46%) and less chance of bugs making it into production (40%).

    Primary areas of focus for automated testing are ranked as functional testing (63%), followed by integration testing (53%) and unit testing (37%).

    The survey also finds development teams are spending, on average, more than half their time (51%) on testing during the release of a new mainframe application, feature or function. That compares to 39% of their time testing applications, features or functions on applications that don’t run on mainframes.

    A full 92% said mainframe teams are spending more time testing code than they needed to in the past because of the growing complexity of cross-platform application environments. Issues organizations are contending with are “Manual and time-consuming test processes” (44%), “Mainframe testing processes require specialists that are not always readily available” (40%), “Testing processes are costly” (39%) and “It’s hard to visualize and understand dependencies” (35%).

    Not surprisingly, 77% of respondents find it increasingly difficult to simultaneously increase quality, velocity and efficiency to meet business innovation goals when developing and testing mainframe application code. Top concerns when it comes to mainframe development are introduction of security flaws (50%), impact on customer experience (38%) and disruption to operations (36%).

    A full 85% said it is becoming more difficult to deliver innovative and faster applications without compromising quality or increasing the risk of bugs finding their way into production.

    Steen Brahe, product manager at Compuware, said organizations that have mainframes are usually under pressure to innovate faster now because competition from startups relying on DevOps processes and modern platforms has increased sharply. Rather than incurring the cost of replacing mainframe applications on which the business currently depends, organizations that have mainframes are looking to extend DevOps processes to integrate emerging and legacy applications.

    It’s not clear to what degree those organizations will succeed. However, the one thing that is clear is organizations with mainframes that fail to embrace best DevOps processes are already most certainly doomed.

    — Mike Vizard

  • Compuware Announces Intent to Acquire INNOVATION Data Processing Assets

     

    • INNOVATION Data Processing is a leader in enterprise data protection, business continuance and storage resource management solutions, serving the mainframe market since 1972.
    • The addition of INNOVATION’s robust data and backup solutions complements Compuware’s existing product line, focused on empowering enterprises to leverage their modern mainframes with ease and effectiveness.
    • This acquisition will be Compuware’s sixth in the last three years.

    DETROIT and LITTLE FALLS, N.J.—December 10, 2019—Compuware Corporation, the leading provider of software for mainframe DevOps, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of INNOVATION Data Processing, a market leader in enterprise data protection, business continuance and storage resource management solutions serving the mainframe market.

    The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close within the next quarter. It will be Compuware’s sixth mainframe software or services acquisition in the last three years.

    The addition of INNOVATION’s flagship data management and protection solutions product lines FDR, FDRPAS and IAM, as well as segment leading solutions including UPSTREAM and FATSCOPY, complements and extends Compuware’s portfolio of mainframe software including Abend-AID, COPE, File-AID, Hiperstation, ISPW, Strobe, ThruPut Manager, Topaz and Xpediter.

    “Given our mission to modernize every aspect of mainframe software delivery, the inclusion of INNOVATION’s talent, expertise, and leading backup and data protection solutions is a natural extension of our company’s culture and portfolio of leading mainframe software,” said Compuware CEO Chris O’Malley. “Like Compuware, INNOVATION has a rich heritage of innovation that empowers customers to leverage their mainframe with ease and effectiveness. With the growing importance of data and compliance mandates, our customers will now have access to a full set of proven solutions already in use by hundreds of large enterprises worldwide.”

    “Compuware is the perfect home for INNOVATION’s products and customers,” said INNOVATION’s CEO and Founder Anthony Mazzone.  “Compuware has demonstrated a unique understanding of the new challenges mainframe owners face and I believe that this acquisition will best serve the needs of the mainframe storage management worldwide customer base.”

    INNOVATION Data Processing

    INNOVATION Data Processing is a leading international provider of enterprise data protection, business continuance and storage resource management solutions satisfying business information security concerns since 1972. Combining high-performance design with non-disruptive virtualization, easy-to-use and extremely reliable backup, recovery, data replication and privileged information protection, INNOVATION solutions seek to eliminate business downtime while addressing data security concerns. By actively partnering with leading storage vendors, to ensure technological currency, INNOVATION is the choice of thousands of enterprise customers worldwide for their business resiliency needs. The company is headquartered in Little Falls, New Jersey.

    Compuware Corporation

    Compuware empowers the world’s largest companies to excel in the digital economy by taking full advantage of their mainframe investments. We do this by delivering innovative software that enables IT professionals with mainstream skills to develop, deliver and support mainframe applications with ease and agility. Our modernized solutions uniquely automate mainframe work, integrate into a cross-platform DevOps toolchain and measure software delivery quality, velocity and efficiency. Learn more at compuware.com.

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  • Test Automation Is the Single Most Important Factor in Accelerating Innovation, Say 90% of IT Leaders

    Independent Survey Finds Manual Testing a Major Impediment to Business Success,Yet Only 7% of Organizations Automate Tests on Mainframe Code

    • 77% of organizations find it increasingly difficult to increase quality, velocity and efficiency to meet innovation goals when developing and testing mainframe application code.
    • 53% of application development managers say the time required to conduct thorough testing is the biggest barrier to integrating the mainframe into Agile and DevOps.
    • 82% said that unless they can automate more test cases, they won’t be able to meet their business’ need for speed, and innovation and customer experiences will suffer.

    DETROIT—December 4, 2019—Compuware today announced the findings of a global survey of 400 IT leaders, which reveals that manual testing practices, still in widespread use, are one of the biggest challenges large organizations face as they attempt to accelerate digital innovation.

    The survey, conducted by Vanson Bourne on behalf of Compuware, examines the processes that organizations have in place to deliver innovation on the mainframe as quickly as in their distributed environments—which are highly reliant on the mainframe.

    The survey also explores the methods used to support testing on the mainframe and the challenges businesses face in simultaneously increasing quality, velocity and efficiency during the application development and delivery process.

    Key findings of the global survey of application development managers revealed:

    • Manual testing is a drain on resources

    o   77% of organizations find it increasingly difficult to simultaneously increase quality, velocity and efficiency to meet business innovation goals when developing and testing mainframe application code.

    o   92% of respondents said their organization’s mainframe teams are spending more time testing code than was required in the past, due to growing complexity in their application environments.

    o   On average, development teams spend more than half (51%) of their time on testing during the release of a new mainframe application, feature or functionality.

    • The pressure to cut corners creates business risk

    o   85% of application development managers say that it is becoming harder to deliver innovation faster, without compromising on quality and increasing the risk of bugs in production.

    o   The biggest concerns that respondents have over the pressure to cut corners when testing mainframe code to deliver innovation faster are: introducing potential security flaws (50%); impacting customer experience (38%); disrupting operations (36%); draining operations team resources to find bugs (31%); wasting development teams’ time in war-rooms to fix problems (30%); and revenue impact (28%).

    • Test automation is critical to success

    o   82% of respondents said that unless they can automate more test cases, they won’t be able to meet the need for speed from the business, so innovation and customer experiences will suffer.

    o   90% say that automating more test cases could be the single most important factor in their success as the pressure increases on IT to accelerate innovation.

    o   80% of respondents say it is inevitable bad code will make its way into production unless they can automate more test cases.

    o   87% also stated that they believe automating mainframe test cases will be crucial to overcoming the growing skills shortage in that area of their business.

    • Challenges of test automation are holding businesses back

    o   Despite the recognized benefits, 86% of respondents said they find it difficult to automate the testing of mainframe code.

    o   At present, only 7% of respondents said they automate the execution of test cases on mainframe code to support their ability to accelerate innovation.

    o   75% of organizations do not have automated processes that test code at every stage of development.

    o   Less than a quarter (24%) of organizations perform both unit and functional testing on mainframe code, to ensure its quality before it is released into production.

    The research shows that organizations see test automation as the key to their ability to deliver innovation faster while maintaining quality, but many still use manual testing practices when it comes to the mainframe. Given the central role that the mainframe continues to play in powering modern digital services, these manual testing practices are creating a bottleneck. Ultimately, this is hindering the delivery of innovation and preventing organizations from meeting their business goals.

    According to the report, by “shifting left” with automated testing—automated unit testing in particular—organizations can gain “fast feedback” on the mainframe, supercharging innovation without fearing the risk of introducing problems that disrupt operations, introduce security risks, hinder customer experiences or impact business revenues. Better still, they can improve quality, velocity and efficiency on the mainframe in spite of the growing shortage of experienced developers; giving themselves a major advantage as they look to drive a competitive advantage through supercharged digital innovation.

    “As customer demand for a constant cycle of new and improved digital services and experiences continues to grow unabated, speed and innovation have become the rallying call for IT departments across every industry,” said Chris O’Malley, CEO of Compuware. “Automation and the shift to Agile and DevOps are crucial to improving the pace of innovation without compromising quality and efficiency, in response to the always beautifully, wonderfully dissatisfied customers that organizations are striving to serve as a means to growth.”

    The complete research whitepaper, entitled “Test Automation: The Key to Increasing Velocity, Quality and Efficiency,” is based on a global survey of 400 senior IT leaders responsible for application development in organizations with a mainframe and 1,000+ employees, conducted by Vanson Bourne on behalf of Compuware.

    Compuware Corporation

    Compuware empowers the world’s largest companies to excel in the digital economy by taking full advantage of their mainframe investments. We do this by delivering innovative software that enables IT professionals with mainstream skills to develop, deliver and support mainframe applications with ease and agility. Our modernized solutions uniquely automate mainframe work, integrate into a cross-platform DevOps toolchain and measure software delivery quality, velocity and efficiency. Learn more at compuware.com.

  • OpenLegacy Partners With Compuware to Advance DevOps on Mainframes

    OpenLegacy Partners With Compuware to Advance DevOps on Mainframes

    OpenLegacy has allied with Compuware to make it easier to build and debug microservices-based applications employing REST application programming interfaces (APIs) to access data residing on mainframes.

    Zeev Avidan, chief product officer for OpenLegacy, said the company’s namesake platform analyzes mainframe environments to create microservices-based APIs written in Java without requiring any changes to the legacy environment. That approach not only minimizes disruption to the mainframe environment, but it also eliminates the need to rely on enterprise service bus (ESB) platforms and legacy web services interfaces to access mainframe data, he said.

    The alliance with Compuware now makes it easier access the OpenLegacy platform from within Topaz Workbench, a set of tools from Compuware that are used to apply DevOps practices to applications that either run on a mainframe or need to access data residing on a mainframe.

    Avidan said it is becoming increasingly common for organizations to want to build and deploy applications that need to access mainframe data as part of various digital business transformation initiatives. The challenge they face is that most legacy monolithic applications running on a mainframe don’t have an API to invoke. OpenLegacy provides a framework for generating those APIs, which in turn makes it easier to incorporate mainframes within the context of a larger DevOps process. The alliance with Compuware furthers an ongoing effort by the two companies to foster the adoption of best DevOps processes in mainframe environments, he said.

    Legacy waterfall-based application development processes are still relevant in mainframe environments, he added, but it’s also clear organizations want to apply DevOps processes to applications spanning hybrid environments that include mainframes. The majority of data in many enterprise IT environments is created on a mainframe. Rather than being forced to copy that data, API platforms such as OpenLegacy make that data more accessible where it resides. Once the APIs are in place, it becomes practical for DevOps teams to create software development kits (SDKs) to access various applications running on mainframes, Avidan said.

    Organizations that have invested in mainframes generally are interested in agile development methodologies that enable them to derive more value from those investments. The challenge they face is finding a way to make that data available in a way that doesn’t disrupt the mission-critical applications running on the mainframe, he said. Over time, IT organizations running mainframes will adapt their processes to incorporate best DevOps practices, but the level of disruption they can embrace in pursuit of that goal has to be minimized, Avidan noted, adding it would be unreasonable to expect that level of cultural change to occur overnight.

    Despite ongoing predictions about the eventual demise of the mainframe, the number of workloads running on the venerable platform continues to increase, thanks in part to the ability to run Linux on a mainframe. What many organizations that opt to run Linux on a mainframe don’t always initially appreciate is the degree to which that decision also opens the door to transforming their internal IT culture, regardless of whether they are ready.

    — Mike Vizard

  • Compuware Takes Mainframe Software Delivery Quality, Velocity and Efficiency to the Next Level with Topaz Advancements and OpenLegacy Integration

    Advanced Topaz for Total Test Reporting and Direct Access to OpenLegacy Platform from Topaz Workbench Speeds Software Delivery, Improves Application Quality, and De-risks Modernization Efforts

    – Improved Topaz for Total Test reporting, zAdviser dashboards and new support for complex programs that simplify test result analysis and improve software quality.

    – OpenLegacy integration with Topaz provides an end-to-end framework for modernizing cross-platform applications, speeding software delivery and enabling more accurate microservices-based API creation and comprehensive application analysis, debugging and testing.

    – Previously announced Day One support of the IBM z15, IBM z/OS V2.4, IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS V6.3 and PL/I for z/OS V5.3.

    – These improvements enable large enterprises to overcome mainframe resource constraints, keep up with Agile software delivery requirements and build a mainframe-inclusive DevOps toolchain.

    DETROIT, Oct. 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Compuware today announced enhancements to Topaz for Total Test and a partnership with OpenLegacy to help large enterprises speed mainframe software development and delivery while improving quality.

    This quarter also marks Compuware’s 20th consecutive delivery of new software, as well as enhancements to classic offerings and/or integrations every quarter since January 2015. During that time, Compuware has:

    • Evolved Topaz from an enterprise data management product to a full suite of force- multiplying solutions widely adopted by software developers
    • Forged collaborations with 18 state-of-the-art DevOps partners, including SonarSource, XebiaLabs, CloudBees (Jenkins) and BMC to enable customers to build mainframe-inclusive DevOps toolchains with their preferred tools of choice
    • Successfully integrated and advanced five acquisitions, further enabling customers’ ability to enhance their mainframe assets with cutting-edge solutions designed for today’s digital economy

    Ease, Speed and Improve Testing with Advanced Reporting, Dashboards and Complex Program Support

    Topaz for Total Test provides unit, functional, integration and regression testing, enabling application leaders to adopt a “shift left” approach to testing to improve application quality and development velocity and efficiency. When testing large, complex applications, the job of reviewing test results can be arduous and time-consuming. A new Eclipse-based report summarizes only the errors and failures so developers and testers can focus on understanding and resolving specific problems.

    zAdviser, a free service for Compuware customers, now provides advanced analytics for Topaz for Total Test users. A new dashboard provides a macro view of mainframe testing efforts. Development managers can quickly see what is being tested, if the tests are being leveraged within a DevOps pipeline, and success and failure rates—enabling teams to identify risks and continuously improve mainframe software development and delivery outcomes.

    The new release of Topaz for Total Test also includes improvements that enable unit testing to be applied to a larger range of programs. New support is included for complex programs that make advanced use of pointers, as well as virtualization for CICS APIs, return-codes, and accept statements.

    Speed On-platform Modernization with Topaz and OpenLegacy Integration

    OpenLegacy automates and accelerates microservices-based API creation, deployment, testing and maintenance for core systems. The OpenLegacy platform can now be accessed directly from Topaz Workbench, a familiar Eclipse-based IDE, providing developers with a common framework to create the API and to visualize, understand, debug and maintain their mainframe-connected applications.

    Using OpenLegacy and its microservices-based approach to create REST APIs on top of existing mainframe systems improves the reusability of an organization’s mainframe applications, allowing them to be used natively in modern architectures without complex intermediate layers of technology.

    Using the Topaz suite of products in conjunction with the OpenLegacy platform, developers can see exactly what mainframe code and data is available, understand code structure and logic, and visualize data relationships, so that the OpenLegacy-created REST API can be more precisely defined. Once created, developers can seamlessly debug and analyze the modernized code and data using Compuware’s full suite of Topaz products.

    “OpenLegacy’s microservices-based API platform provides more than a façade, as developers can work directly with the microservices in Compuware Topaz,” said Jason Bloomberg, president of analyst firm Intellyx. “The combination of the two vendors’ offerings thus gives mainframe developers unprecedented control and flexibility into their API implementations. This partnership empowers mainframe customers to incorporate mainframe applications into the modern, cloud-native world.”

    “The Compuware partnership is an example of the rapid expansion of OpenLegacy through horizontal, vertical, partner, and ISV channels, demonstrating how we can open doors for any company whose clients suffer legacy innovation issues,” said Zeev Avidan, Chief Product Officer, OpenLegacy.

    Day One Support for IBM Enterprise Software, Hardware and New Operating System

    Compuware previously announced Day One support for IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS V6.3 and PL/I for z/OS V5.3 as well as the IBM z15 and IBM z/OS V2.4.

    Compuware collaborated with IBM to ensure that its solutions—including Abend-AID, File-AID, ISPW, Strobe, ThruPut Manager, Topaz and Xpediter—work for customers installing or upgrading to the new releases and hardware.

    “Compuware‘s Product Management and Engineering teams leverage Agile, DevOps, Lean and Value-Stream methods to create a continuous stream of value and integrations our customers care about,” said Chris O’Malley, CEO of Compuware. “We are 100 percent focused on helping our customers mainstream the mainframe. After an unprecedented 20 consecutive quarters of keeping our bold promises to customers, it should be clear we are and always will be The Mainframe Software Partner for the Next 50 Years.”

    OpenLegacy
    OpenLegacy accelerates delivery of innovative digital services from legacy systems in days or weeks versus months. Our microservices-based API integration and management software reduces manual effort by automating API creation, simplifies the process by avoiding layers of complexity, and improves staff efficiency and API performance. Our software directly accesses and extends business logic to web, mobile or cloud innovations in the form of java objects, or as Rest APIs or SOAP. Most importantly, this process is not only fast, easy and secure, but also does not require special staff skills or changes to existing systems or architecture. Together, business and IT teams can quickly, easily and securely meet consumer, partner or employee demands for digital services without modernizing or replacing core systems. Learn why leading companies choose OpenLegacy at http://www.openlegacy.com.

    Compuware Corporation
    Compuware empowers the world’s largest companies to excel in the digital economy by fully leveraging their high-value mainframe investments. We do this by delivering highly innovative solutions that uniquely enable IT professionals with mainstream skills to manage mainframe applications, data, and platform operations. Learn more at compuware.com.

     

  • Compuware Advances Cross-Platform CI/CD with Machine Learning, Expanded Git Integration and Customized Expert Services

    DevOps Leaders Can Speed and Modernize Mainframe Software Delivery with zAdviser Analytics, ISPW Git Integration and ISPW Sentry Services

    -Compuware zAdviser’s enhanced machine learning leverages Compuware ISPW data to shine a spotlight on zones that should be prioritized for reducing technical debt or improving efficiency efforts.

    -ISPW Promotion Analysis builds confidence in code promotion and smooths the path to build and deploy modernization.

    -Expanded ISPW integration with Git improves the developer experience by standardizing CI/CD practices across the enterprise.

    -New ISPW Sentry Services program provides remote access to the highest skilled ISPW resources for administrative services.

     

    DETROIT, June 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Compuware today announced new zAdviser analytics that enable application development and delivery teams to make data-driven decisions that improve mainframe software quality, velocity and efficiency, as well as ISPW enhancements and Git integration that modernize mainframe code pipelines.

    Advanced Analytics Build Confidence, Lead to Big Improvements

    Advanced analytics come from leveraging ISPW, the leading mainframe Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) solution along with zAdviser, a free service for Compuware customers that leverages machine learning to continuously improve mainframe software development and delivery outcomes. Customers can now marry their rich ISPW usage data with software delivery KPI data from zAdviser to understand how their teams work and where future resources can be applied most effectively.

    Through zAdviser dashboards, teams can visualize constraints in changing source code and focus their development efforts to better meet business and customer requirements, answering questions such as:

    • What modules are contributing most to our technical debt?
    • Where do we need to focus our code revitalizing and refactoring efforts?
    • Where are the constraints that, if improved, could have the biggest positive impact on improving future flow?

    More insightful developer productivity data helps teams answer questions such as:

    • How much time is spent developing and testing code?
    • How long does production-ready code wait before being promoted into production?
    • What’s the time difference between code first being checked out to it running in production?
    • How are regressions and fallbacks affecting development flow?

    “zAdviser’s ability to measure our current state helps us make decisions based on hard data and improve our software development and delivery practices,” said Tina Johnstone, Director, Mainframe Applications at Pacific Life Insurance Company.

    With zAdviser, ISPW customers now have a way to identify the code contributing to technical debt and determine immediate, optimal actions such as revitalizing and refactoring essential mainframe code on the platform or eliminating obsolete code. This allows them to begin taking small steps that build confidence and lead to big improvements in quality, velocity and efficiency.

    Build and Deploy Faster with ISPW

    ISPW is earning the hearts and minds of new customers at a volume not seen in the mainframe market in decades. The answer as to “why” can be seen in the innovative and preferred developer experience that has been continuously delivered over the last fourteen quarters.

    ISPW uniquely ensures customers’ mainframe code pipelines are secure, stable and streamlined throughout the DevOps lifecycle. Through an expanded Promotion Analysis feature, ISPW automatically identifies dependencies so that vast numbers of components can be deployed confidently.

    For example, if a copybook is changed, all related programs that have been compiled and are ready for promotion can be confirmed before deployment. Development teams can catch overlooked components and other issues early in the lifecycle, helping them avoid issues downstream in the CI/CD process. Ultimately, this accelerates build and deploy velocity on the mainframe and in cross-platform efforts.

    Improve the Developer Experience with ISPW Git Integration 

    Compuware’s continued “open borders” approach to DevOps enables customers to integrate our mainframe-focused tools into a multi-vendor, cross-platform DevOps toolchain of choice. In keeping with this approach, Compuware is announcing expanded integration of ISPW and Git, the version control software-of-choice for many distributed development teams.

    The integration helps developers with little mainframe experience work confidently with mainframe source code. Changes in Git are now automatically synchronized back into the mainframe where ISPW’s automated build, deploy and fallback capabilities can be leveraged in a CI/CD pipeline. By employing consistent methods for all code across all platforms, customers will gain consistent visibility into their diverse codebases and ease the process of managing code throughout the enterprise.

    “Reducing technical debt inherent in mainframe applications is essential for any organization looking to incorporate mainframe applications into their CI/CD pipelines,” said Jason Bloomberg, president of industry analyst firm Intellyx. “With the new analytics from zAdviser along with modern mainframe CI/CD tools like ISPW and its integration with Git, it’s possible to break down the silos separating mainframe development from the rest of the DevOps effort, thus reducing technical debt and extending the speed, quality, and collaboration benefits of CI/CD to the mainframe.”

    New ISPW Sentry Services

    Compuware is now offering a customized end-to-end service that leverages expert ISPW technical resources and proven best practices to provide ongoing administrative support of ISPW.

    ISPW Sentry Services provides remote access to the highest skilled ISPW resources for expert assistance with maintenance, upgrades and enhanced support services. The program is committed to meeting best-in-class SLAs across the world for a fraction of client’s current administrative costs.

    This marks Compuware’s 19th consecutive quarter of delivering mainframe customers the features and functionality they urgently need to improve mainframe software delivery velocity, quality and efficiency.

    “The modernization of mainframe software delivery to a state of high-performance is absolutely achievable, said Compuware CEO Chris O’Malley. “Companies can transform their most critical back-end platform by enabling a preferred developer experience, automating manual-process constraints, integrating with best-in-class tools and inspiring a culture of continuous improvement inspired and guided by software delivery KPIs of velocity, quality and efficiency.”

    Compuware Corporation

    Compuware empowers the world’s largest companies to excel in the digital economy by fully leveraging their high-value mainframe investments. We do this by delivering highly innovative solutions that uniquely enable IT professionals with mainstream skills to manage mainframe applications, data, and platform operations. Learn more at compuware.com.

     

  • Compuware Advances DevOps on Mainframes

    Compuware Advances DevOps on Mainframes

    Compuware has updated its Topaz for Total Test suite to enable organizations applying best DevOps practices to the development of mainframe applications to combine unit, functional, integration and regression testing within a single test scenario.

    In addition, Compuware is making it easier to test multiple applications simultaneously. The latest update to Topaz for Total Test adds the ability to not only orchestrate a sequence of steps, but also design tests to measure how programs interact with each other and various data sets.

    Also added is the ability to automate several testing functions, including the ability to launch functional tests within a browser and execute unit, functional and integration tests without having to manually create their own Job Control Language (JCL). According to Compuware, testers now can design test cases upfront based on program specifications before developing a program. What’s more, Topaz for Total Test has been integrated with the DevOps pipeline management platform developed by XebiaLabs.

    Finally, Compuware announced that the Topaz 3270 Emulator now makes it possible complete one-off “green screen” tasks without leaving Topaz. Initiating a CICS transaction or accessing REXX utilities through the Emulator within Topaz, for example, makes it simple for developers to quickly resume Eclipse-based tasks without having to exit its testing environment or toggle between tools.

    Compuware CEO Chris O’Malley said the pace at which IT teams in mainframe environments have been adopting DevOps practices has accelerated considerably in the past year. Not only are applications being developed and deployed faster, the quality of those applications has increased because DevOps tools provided by Compuware make it easier to both visualize a complex application development process and then test those applications as they are being developed. Given the often mission-critical nature of mainframe applications, it’s crucial that any increase in development velocity doesn’t have a negative impact on application quality, he noted.

    DevOps has become a greater imperative in mainframe environments, O’Malley added, as organizations look to leverage investments in existing mainframe applications rather than try replicating functionality that already exists on a mainframe in a distributed computing environment. That approach helps to reduce sharply the amount of technical debt an organization needs to service when they duplicate functionality across two or more platforms. Mainframe teams that historically have relied on waterfall developments process have been challenged by keeping pace with the rate of change. As applications that are deployed on a distributed system look to invoke a mainframe application function, organizations that have deployed those applications need to keep pace with a much faster rate of development, especially when it comes to application programing interfaces (APIs).

    It may take a while longer for DevOps practices on mainframes to become adopted widely. But as the rate of innovation continues to increase, thanks to the rise of various digital business transformation initiatives, it’s apparent that mainframe application development will need to become more agile. The challenge at this point is not so much the availability of DevOps tools for the mainframe, but rather training the teams that build and deploy those applications on when and how to implement DevOps practices.

    — Mike Vizard

  • Compuware Announces New Mainframe Knowledge Sharing and Advanced DevOps Pipeline Integration

    Topaz Empowers Teams to Better Leverage Core Mainframe Resources While Achieving Application Development Excellence

    • Topaz Team Profiles enable top mainframe professionals to share their methods, techniques, and assets, quickly onboarding less-experienced peers and bringing familiarity to unfamiliar mainframe code and data.
    • New Jenkins plugin accelerates fast, secure use of JCL in cross-platform DevOps pipelines.
    • As a result, enterprises can more quickly and successfully adopt Agile and DevOps on their mainframes, despite the generational loss of mainframe expertise.

    DETROIT—January 3, 2019—Compuware today announced significant enhancements to Topaz, the leading mainframe DevOps solution for empowering next-gen developers to bring modern development best practices and third-party tools-of-choice to the mainframe. With these enhancements, organizations can quickly get new developers up to speed and build seamless mainframe-inclusive DevOps pipelines.

    Quickly on-board new developers

    Developers and testers can now easily group both mainframe and Java projects, preferences, configurations and/or working sets into Topaz Team Profiles and share them with other individuals and teams. This sharing provides access to high-value knowledge that can be used to jump-start common tasks such as editing data, debugging programs, or running unit tests. Topaz’s use of Eclipse projects has also been enhanced so the mainframe developer experience is even more like that of a Java developer.

    This knowledge sharing empowers new staff to become dramatically more productive in less time, while eliminating redundant work. It also ensures that mainframe teams consistently embrace best practices honed by more experienced developers.

    “We are hiring a lot of bright and talented developers, and we need to get them productive as quickly as possible,” said Raju Debroy, Director of IT, Cloud & Digital Operation at Pekin Insurance. “Topaz’s Eclipse interface and the new ability to share the work of more experienced developers will help us achieve our onboarding goals, while also accelerating our adoption of DevOps on the mainframe.”

    Build better DevOps pipelines  

    A new Jenkins plugin for Topaz makes it easier to automate and integrate mainframe processes into a cross-platform DevOps pipeline. The plugin enables DevOps professionals and Release Managers to execute Job Control Language (JCL), an essential scripting language that controls mainframe tasks such as setting up test data and directing programs to run, in their DevOps pipelines.

    The Compuware Topaz Utilities plugin accesses the mainframe using a technology that is faster and more reliable than conventional FTP—which many consider an unacceptable security risk.

    Expand automated testing

    Compuware has also enhanced Topaz for Total Test, the premier automated unit testing solution for the mainframe, to support CICS—the mainframe’s dominant transaction processing technology. The patent-pending technology creates virtual CICS commands, eliminating the need to access active CICS test regions. The CICS test cases can be automatically executed through a Jenkins plugin.

    These Topaz innovations mark the 17th consecutive quarter that Compuware has delivered significant innovations that empower enterprises to modernize and mainstream their mainframes, so they can better leverage their mainframe intellectual property—as well as the platform’s unmatched performance, scalability, reliability, efficiency and security.

    “The next generation of developers can deliver extraordinary business value by applying their skills to mainframe applications,” said Chris O’Malley, CEO of Compuware. “Topaz gives these development artisans the familiar, intuitive, automated and richly functional environment they need—and prefer—to fulfill this critical mission and continuously improve in the measures of velocity, quality and efficiency.

    Compuware Corporation

    Compuware empowers the world’s largest companies to excel in the digital economy by fully leveraging their high-value mainframe investments. We do this by delivering highly innovative solutions that uniquely enable IT professionals with mainstream skills to manage mainframe applications, data, and platform operations. Learn more at compuware.com.

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    Copyright © 2019, Compuware Corporation. All rights reserved. The Compuware products and services listed within this release are trademarks or registered trademarks of Compuware Corporation.

  • Compuware and CollabNet VersionOne Announce Integration of ISPW and Continuum

    Partnership Enables Value Stream Management with Unified View of Cross-Platform Development and Deployment

    • Application Development and Delivery Professionals are under pressure to track the progress of code deliverables across the DevOps lifecycle based on their value to the business.
    • Large enterprises are additionally seeking increased visibility and control over agile development work across all platforms—from inception to delivery.
    • The integration of ISPW, Compuware’s DevOps-enabled source code management solution for the mainframe, and CollabNet VersionOne’s Continuum release delivery platform, will serve this customer need.

    LAS VEGAS, Oct. 23, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Compuware and CollabNet VersionOne today announced the completed integration of their respective products, ISPW and Continuum. The companies previously announced they were partnering to help large enterprises unify their Value Stream Management (VSM) by incorporating their critical mainframe software development activities into their digital value chain. Both companies are at DevOps Enterprise Summit (DOES18), featuring the integration in Compuware booth 827 and CollabNet VersionOne booth 219.

    ISPW provides DevOps-enabled source code management (SCM) capabilities for mainframe code while CollabNet VersionOne’s Continuum tracks, automates and orchestrates software value streams across the DevOps lifecycle. Continuum’s visual interface helps users see and understand the progression of what is happening in the process of development.

    The initial integration will enable Application Development and Delivery managers to view and control the status of user stories moving through the mainframe software development pipeline from the same Continuum dashboard as they use to manage those pipelines across other platforms. This dashboard enables managers to quickly identify which stories are progressing on schedule, which have been delayed by defects, and which contain trailing commits.

    Large enterprises are relying increasingly on their core mainframe systems of record as essential back-end support for critical mobile and web front-end customer engagement. They must therefore orchestrate the delivery of new software across all platforms at the same speed and frequency to deliver value to customers.

    “As planned, our partnership with Compuware is already delivering capabilities that make it easier for mainframe users to scale Agile and DevOps. We are helping them connect their mainframe-based development activities into broader cross-platform efforts that can be incorporated into unified value streams,” said Flint Brenton, CEO of CollabNet VersionOne. “Value Stream Management keeps software aligned with business objectives, which is essential for today’s dynamic and continuous application development processes.”

    “Enterprises need greater automation, better visibility and a mainframe-inclusive DevOps tool-chain to increase the quality, velocity and efficiency with which they create new digital experiences for customers,” said Chris O’Malley, CEO of Compuware. “Our partnership with CollabNet VersionOne will provide such capabilities, empowering development and delivery teams to accelerate their DevOps journeys to better meet their customers’ digital demands.”

    About CollabNet VersionOne
    CollabNet VersionOne is the Enterprise Value Stream Management leader that accelerates high value software development and delivery, while improving quality and reducing risk. Our offerings provide global enterprise and government market leaders a cohesive solution, spanning idea through delivery, that enable them to capture, create, deliver and measure the flow of business value throughout their application development lifecycles. For more information, visit www.collabnet.com.

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    Compuware Corporation
    Compuware empowers the world’s largest companies to excel in the digital economy by fully leveraging their high-value mainframe investments. We do this by delivering highly innovative solutions that uniquely enable IT professionals with mainstream skills to manage mainframe applications, data, and platform operations. Learn more at compuware.com.

  • Compuware Adds Testing Tools to DevOps for Mainframe Portfolio

    Compuware Adds Testing Tools to DevOps for Mainframe Portfolio

    Compuware is extending its ongoing campaign to bring DevOps processes to the mainframe by acquiring XaTester, a provider of tools for creating unit tests for both batch and CICS-based programs written in COBOL, PL/I and Assembler.

    In addition, Compuware announced it has formed an alliance with Parasoft, a provider of tools for testing application programming interface (API) calls between mainframe and non-mainframe systems.

    Finally, Compuware revealed it has added support for automated unit testing for the IBM Management System (IMS), a hierarchical database that is used to run both transaction and batch-oriented applications.

    Those latest editions  come on the heels of an update to the Topaz for Total Test platform that, among other things, make it easier to extract data from mainframe applications.

    Compuware CEO Chris O’Malley said all these new capabilities will expand the reach and scope of Topaz for Total Test platform that makes it possible to apply DevOps practices to both new and legacy applications being developed and deployed on IBM mainframe platforms.

    Despite being more than five decades old, O’Malley noted that mainframes are still widely employed to process both transaction and batch-oriented applications at a level of scale other platforms still can’t match. The challenge now is to integrate the wealth of applications running on IBM mainframes within the context of a modern application development process, he said. That requires putting new application development and deployment tools in place that are optimized for DevOps versus traditional waterfall approaches still widely used in mainframe environments.

    CICS and IMS applications are at the heart of some of the fastest transaction processing applications running in the enterprise. Rather than rewrite those applications, O’Malley said organizations that have invested in mainframes want to be able to expose those applications as a service using APIs. Testing those integrations requires mainframe teams to adopt frameworks that enable them to become more agile, he noted—for example, organizations integrating applications need to be able to easily engage in A/B testing to be able optimize performance.

    As the lines between mainframes and distributed computing systems continues to blur, most organizations are working toward having one team support both platforms. As part of that effort organizations are introducing DevOps practices that have proven themselves on distributed computing platforms to mainframes. That approach helps mitigate a mainframe skills shortage that is occurring as more IT professionals with mainframe skills leave the workforce.

    It may take a little extra effort to get IT staffs managing mainframes to part ways with legacy approaches to building and deploying applications that have clearly stood the test of time. But as more organizations embrace digital process transformation the rate of change in mainframe environments clearly need to accelerate, O’Malley said.

    In fact, IT professionals with mainframe skills that are also literate when it comes to DevOps just might find themselves among the most sought-after people in enterprise IT. After all, the number of IT professionals that can play both side of the mainframe and distributed systems ball are very few indeed.

    — Mike Vizard