Compuware Corporation and BMC Software, Inc. are partnering to improve the economics of IBM z Systems ownership. By doing so, the two companies hope to help empower customers to reduce mainframe operating expenses, even as they more aggressively leverage their high-value mainframe applications, data and processing capacity.
“Mainframe workload growth is precipitously driving up the Monthly License Charge (MLC) for IBM mainframe software, which for sub-capacity environments is generally impacted by the highest rolling four-hour average (R4HA) of mainframe utilization for all applications on each LPAR—measured in MSUs,” the companies said in a joint statement. IT departments can reduce IBM z Systems software costs by “1) tuning each application to minimize its individual consumption of mainframe resources and 2) orchestrating application workloads to minimize the LPAR utilization peaks they generate collectively at any given time.”
The two companies will employ a range of tools to address these requirements, including BMC Cost Analyzer for zEnterprise, a financially intelligent workload management solution that enables customers to identify MLC cost drivers and take appropriate measures to reduce those costs—such as moving workloads to non-peak periods, running IBM subsystems on fewer LPARs, and capping LPAR utilization.
Additional tools include BMC MainView, which provides real-time identification of application performance issues, enabling customers to quickly eliminate wasteful MSU consumption, and Compuware Strobe, designed to deliver actionable insight into the behavior of application code in the IBM z Systems environment, allowing mainframe owners to quickly pinpoint inefficient sub-routines that can cause MSU consumption to be 20x or more greater than necessary.
One integration allows BMC Cost Analyzer to call Compuware Strobe for a detailed analysis of the specific application component for peak MLC periods, enabling customers to proactively tune applications that have the greatest impact on their monthly software licensing costs. A second integration with BMC MainView allows customers to either automatically or manually invoke Strobe performance analysis, enabling mainframe staffs to perform cost-saving tuning tasks.
To learn more, visit BMC or Compuware.