IBM Mainframe Practice
Eight focused services. Two free entry points. Specialist Db2 z/OS expertise — from a free health check and V12→V13 migration readiness assessment through to CPU performance, UTS conversion, data sharing, security, and business continuity.
Services A and B are complete, useful tools — not teasers. Your DBA team gets real findings and a migration readiness rating before any paid engagement begins.
Service A
A profile-driven online scorecard assessing your Db2 z/OS environment across six domains, with adaptive weighting for data sharing configurations and workload type. Buffer pool domain expands to include Group Buffer Pool hit ratio for data sharing environments. Takes 20–25 minutes. No system access from our consultants required.
What you get: Scored health report (Critical / Attention Required / Good / Excellent), domain-by-domain findings with highest-risk items highlighted, and a ranked action list. Downloadable as PDF.
Paid upgrades: Remote SMF deep-dive (Tier 2) · Full subsystem assessment (Tier 3)
Service B
Db2 12 reached end of standard support 31 December 2025. A structured questionnaire covering the five pre-migration areas IBM requires: current function level, fallback SPE APAR status, data sharing group alignment, application compatibility levels, and deprecated function inventory. Takes 15–20 minutes with DBA input.
What you get: Migration readiness rating (Ready / Ready with Preparation / Not Ready — Blockers Exist), specific blocker list, recommended pre-migration task list, and a Db2 13 function level activation roadmap (FL100 → FL500+).
Paid upgrades: Migration planning (Tier 2) · Assisted migration · Full migration + FL activation program (Tier 3)
Fixed-price Tier 2 and project-based Tier 3 engagements — from CPU reduction programmes with direct MLC or TFP impact, through to data sharing and Coupling Facility optimisation that few independent consultants can credibly offer.
Service C
On z/OS, SQL performance is not just a database concern — it is a financial concern. z/OS software costs under MLC are driven by peak CPU consumption during the Rolling 4-Hour Average (R4HA); under Tailored Fit Pricing by total monthly consumption. Service C targets five high-impact CPU reduction areas: SQL access paths and statistics quality, logical getpage demand and buffer pool I/O behavior, BIND option configuration, thread allocation and reuse, and batch window SQL optimization. A 10% CPU reduction on a 5,000 MSU system can represent EUR 150,000–400,000 in annual savings.
Primary data sources: SMF 101, trace class 7/8 (IFCID 0239 package & statement getpage counts), IFCID 0316/0317 (dynamic SQL), EXPLAIN output. Accurate logical getpage measurement requires trace, not SMF 101 accounting records alone.
Sub-services C1–C5 individually (fixed price) · Full CPU & getpage program C6 (project-based)
Service D
Physical database design is the foundational layer that determines the effectiveness of every other service in the portfolio. Environments that still contain non-UTS tablespaces, redundant or inexistent indexes, incorrect compression settings, poorly chosen partition ranges, or random buffer pool assignments will see limited returns from SQL tuning and subsystem configuration work until those design deficiencies are addressed.
Primary data sources: SYSIBM catalog queries (SYSTABLESPACE, SYSINDEXES, SYSINDEXPART, SYSTABLES, SYSCOLUMNS, SYSTABLESPACESTATS, SYSINDEXSPACESTATS) combined with workload analysis from SMF and trace data where available. Physical design findings feed directly into Service C getpage reduction and Service E buffer pool configuration.
Sub-services D1–D4 individually (fixed price) · Full physical design assessment D5 (project-based)
Service E
Service E owns everything that governs how the Db2 z/OS subsystem operates as an entity — independent of object design (Service D) and SQL quality (Service C). This includes ZPARMs, buffer pool sizing and configuration, EDM pool management, log and checkpoint management, utility scheduling, IRLM, WLM integration, and autonomy features that allow the subsystem to operate with reduced dependence on manual DBA intervention.
Primary data sources: ZPARM extract (SYSIBM.SYSPARMS), SMF 100/101, -DISPLAY BUFFERPOOL/-DISPLAY LOG, ADMIN_TASKS and SYSSTATFEEDBACK, RMF, utility job logs. All operational data is usually already available in production environments — no additional instrumentation required.
Sub-services E1–E7 individually (fixed price) · Full subsystem configuration baseline E8 (project-based)
Service F
Comprehensive data sharing and SYSPLEX expertise covering Coupling Facility structure sizing and performance, Group Buffer Pool optimization, false contention elimination, lock structure tuning, inter-member XES communication, workload distribution, member restart procedures, and data sharing group migration planning. Specialist knowledge that very few independent consultants can credibly provide.
Tier 2: CF structure review & GBP optimization (fixed price) · Tier 3: Full data sharing optimisation & HA design (project-based)
Service G
Comprehensive Db2 z/OS security covering authority management, encryption (at rest and in transit), audit configuration, connection security, fine-grained access control (RCAC), trusted contexts, and regulatory compliance mapping for GDPR, SOX, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS. Addresses security gaps that neither RACF teams nor application teams own — closing findings systematically before external audits surface them.
Tier 2: Authority audit & encryption assessment (fixed price) · Tier 3: Full security hardening & compliance project
Service H
Db2 z/OS backup and recovery involves complex interactions between image copy strategies, point-in-time recovery procedures, archive log management, disaster recovery design, and subsystem restart procedures. Most environments have never executed a full recovery test under representative load. We design, document, and test recovery procedures so they work when needed.
Tier 2: Recovery strategy review (fixed price) · Tier 3: Full BC design & recovery test (project-based)
Every service area includes free self-service tools. You arrive with real data; we arrive with real answers.
Available on our website. Immediate results for your DBA team.
A consultant analyzes your tool output alongside data you provide. No direct system access required.
Full end-to-end delivery with direct system access, hands-on execution, and before/after measurement.
Tell us which service interests you, or share your scorecard or collection script output. We will respond within one business day to schedule a free 30-minute discovery call.