A privately managed context is one that a resource manager creates. The resource manager owns any privately managed contexts it creates, and the resource manager can switch privately managed contexts from one task to another. A privately managed context is usually used by a work manager that is a resource manager. For example, IMS™ accepts and manages work, such as transactions, from outside the system.

Every task in the system has an associated context, thus, for a given task there is always a context. When a task is created, context services provide the native context for the task. Resource managers can create privately managed contexts and associate them with a specific task. The privately managed context then becomes the current context. The native context still exists, but it is not current. If the resource manager later disassociates the privately managed context from the task, the native context would again become current. The native context would also become current if the privately managed context ends but the task with which it is associated does not. DFSMStvs does not create or switch contexts; it does, however, allow others to do so. DFSMStvs runs under a privately managed context only if another resource manager has created one. That context must be the current context associated with a task when DFSMStvs receives control.