Last Updated Jul 24, 2016 — DevOps Expert
DevOps for Mainframes: Essential Processes for Evolution
DevOps
How can a dinosaur adapt to the modern world? Well, if your 'dinosaur' happens to be a mainframe environment, then we suggest you take a good long at DevOps.
The next generation of application delivery and agile methodologies are illuminating the challenges and solutions mainframe engineers face on a daily basis. As Continuous Delivery and DevOps evolve, so too should your mainframe and its processes.
DevOps and The Mainframe
At its core, DevOps is all about automation. As the adoption of DevOps methodologies and culture continues to expand, so do the levels at which it is being implemented. Going beyond configuration and provisioning, beyond build and deployment, even beyond testing, DevOps is now penetrating the mainframe. A common rule of thumb developers might hear is “anything you do twice, should be automated.” Legacy systems fall into this category and mainframe processes are often times in need of automation the most.Snapchatasaurus
DevOps automation has been fueling the IT revolution since the growth of Agile in the early 2000’s. Sadly, mainframes and legacy environments have been slower to adopt DevOps principles. But mainframes do a lot of the heavy lifting and run many of the mission critical applications that are currently becoming more interconnected with the user experience. Your sweet modern smartphone app may well be powered by mainframes! Today’s digital enterprises need to apply the same Continuous Delivery management practices to mainframe environments as they use for their distributed, web, and cloud platforms.Some Key Advantages Enterprises See with Mainframe DevOps, XebiaLabs and Compuware:
- Faster, more reliable upgrades of applications that span multiple platforms—including the mainframe
- Clear and complete visibility into upgrade rollout timelines—enabling DevOps managers to discover and remediate bottlenecks in the end-to-end continuous delivery process
- Simplified one-click rollback and re-start for all application components
- Reduced dependence on idiosyncratic mainframe expertise