As a z/OS® system programmer, it will be your responsibility to ensure that all software products and their modifications are properly installed on the system. You will also have to ensure that all products are installed at the proper level so that the elements of the system can work together.

At first, that might not sound too difficult, but as the complexity of the software configuration increases, so, too, does the task of monitoring all the elements of the system. Data center management is typically held accountable for Service Level Agreements (SLAs), often through a specialist team of service managers. Change control mechanics and practices in a data center are implemented to ensure that SLAs are met.

System Modification Program Extended (SMP/E) is the primary means of installing and updating the software in a z/OS system. SMP/E consolidates installation data, allows more flexibility in selecting changes to be installed, provides a dialog interface, and supports dynamic allocation of data sets. SMP/E can be run either using batch jobs or using dialogs under Interactive System Productivity Facility/Program Development Facility (ISPF/PDF). With SMP/E dialogs, you can interactively query the SMP/E database and create and submit jobs to process SMP/E commands.

Software to be installed by SMP/E must be packaged as system modifications or SYSMODs, which combine the updated element with control information. This information describes the elements and any relationships the software has with other products or service that may also be installed on the same system.

The SMP/E job control language (JCL) and commands will be used frequently by a large enterprise z/OS system programmer, however, SMP/E modification control statement (MCS) instructions will rarely be coded by the same system programmer. The product and SYSMOD packaging will include the necessary MCS statements.

A critical responsibility of the system programmer is to work with IBM® defect support when a problem surfaces in z/OS or optional IBM products. Problem resolution requires the system programmer to receive and apply fixes to the enterprise system.