BMC Software Presents at Tech Field Day Extra at SHARE KC 2024

Mastering the Fear of Change with BMC AMI DevX Code Insights

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Mark Schettenhelm, Product Manager from BMC, addresses the pervasive fear of change within mainframe environments, particularly when dealing with COBOL applications. He argues that the issue is not COBOL itself, but rather the monolithic and complex nature of existing COBOL programs, which have become difficult to maintain and evolve. Schettenhelm highlights that modern developers are hesitant to work with these outdated systems due to a lack of appropriate tools, which forces them to work in inefficient ways reminiscent of the 1980s. To combat this, BMC has developed AMI DevX Code Insights, a tool designed to provide comprehensive understanding and management of COBOL programs. This tool offers features like structure charts, logic flow, data flow analysis, and code extraction to break down monolithic programs into manageable pieces. Additionally, it includes a runtime visualizer to map out program interactions and an ABEND history feature to inform developers about past errors. Recently, BMC has integrated AI capabilities to explain code sections in plain English, further aiding developers in understanding and maintaining legacy systems. Schettenhelm emphasizes that these tools are crucial for overcoming the fear of change, ensuring the vitality of COBOL applications, and facilitating the ongoing evolution of the mainframe.

Personnel: Mark Schettenhelm

Measuring What Matters with BMC AMI zAdviser DORA Metrics Dashboards

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In this presentation, Anthony Anter, a DevOps Architect and Evangelist for BMC Software, discusses the importance of measurement in mainframe transformation and the value of BMC’s zAdviser tool. He emphasizes that organizations often invest heavily in new tools and processes but struggle to quantify the value of these investments. Anter highlights the reluctance of many organizations to measure their performance due to fear of revealing inefficiencies. He introduces the DORA (DevOps Research and Assessment) metrics as critical indicators for assessing DevOps performance, focusing on deployment frequency, lead time for changes, mean time to recovery, and change failure rate. These metrics provide a comprehensive view of an organization’s efficiency and quality in software delivery. Anter explains how BMC’s zAdviser leverages data from BMC tools and some third-party tools, using machine learning to analyze and generate actionable insights. The tool helps organizations understand their performance, identify trends, and make informed decisions to improve their DevOps processes. The presentation also touches on the integration of zAdviser with existing systems and the potential for custom reports to benchmark performance against industry standards.

Personnel: Anthony Anter

Simplify Mainframe Management with AI and Cloud using the BMC AMI Platform

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Anthony DiStauro presents the BMC AMI Platform initiative, designed to simplify mainframe management by integrating AI and cloud technologies. The initiative addresses the challenge of an evolving workforce, where experienced professionals are retiring and new entrants, proficient in modern programming languages and cloud concepts, are joining the industry. DiStauro emphasizes the importance of leveraging AI to capture the expertise of seasoned professionals before they exit the workforce. The BMC AMI Platform aims to provide a unified, modernized entry point for mainframe management, incorporating generative AI to enhance user experience. The platform will support various deployment options, including on-premises and cloud environments, and will feature multi-LLM support to tailor AI experiences to specific needs. Additionally, it will allow organizations to infuse their own tribal knowledge into the AI system. DiStauro showcases the platform’s capabilities, including a single sign-on feature, an AI assistant for generating reports and scheduling tasks, and the ability to actively manage and respond to system events. The platform also incorporates explainability features to help new users understand complex system analyses.

Personnel: Anthony DiStauro