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    Compuware Applies Data Virtualization to the Mainframe

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    How the Data Center Will Grow Up in Three Years

    After deciding to focus its efforts squarely on the mainframe at the end of 2014, Compuware is starting 2015 off with the launch today of Topaz, a data virtualization framework that makes mainframe data more accessible.

    Compuware CEO Chris O’Malley says that with the vast amounts of enterprise data that reside on the mainframe, one of the core challenges organizations face is finding ways to make that information accessible to the entire organization. Topaz, says O’Malley, provides a layer of abstraction that makes that data accessible without having to intimately understand how, for example, a COBOL application was constructed.

    O’Malley says Topaz will enable IT organizations that still depend on mainframes to run their most mission-critical applications to introduce more flexibility by not only making that data available via a single user interface, but also enabling users to copy that data using a simple drag-and-drop file transfer utility.

    As part of a larger bimodal approach to IT that is evolving across the enterprise, O’Malley says Topaz allows organizations to make systems of record more accessible to the large number of systems of engagements that IT organizations are building in and out of the cloud without having to abandon the massive investments they have already made in mainframe applications.

    Topaz Visualizer

    To that end, O’Malley says that in 2015, customers should expect to see Compuware significantly increase its investments in agile development tools that will make it easier for IT organizations to build applications that make use of mainframe data much faster than ever.

    Thanks to the rise in mobile computing and Big Data analytics, O’Malley notes that data residing on mainframes has never been more valuable to the business. When you add in emerging Internet of Things (IoT) applications, O’Malley says that correlating events with transactions being executed on the mainframe has become a major imperative for most enterprise IT organizations.

    Going into 2015, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that data in all its forms is being viewed as a strategic resource. Given how much of that data resides on mainframes, it’s also fairly obvious that a big part of the effort of IT organizations will involve using data from mainframes that have been processing transactions now for the better part of half a century.

    Mike Vizard
    Mike Vizard
    Michael Vizard is a seasoned IT journalist, with nearly 30 years of experience writing and editing about enterprise IT issues. He is a contributor to publications including Programmableweb, IT Business Edge, CIOinsight and UBM Tech. He formerly was editorial director for Ziff-Davis Enterprise, where he launched the company’s custom content division, and has also served as editor in chief for CRN and InfoWorld. He also has held editorial positions at PC Week, Computerworld and Digital Review.

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