Achieving maximum agility and productivity through DevOps

Without access to comprehensive software development tools, even the most experienced developers will struggle to deliver innovative solutions at speed. That’s why Swedbank has chosen to proactively modernize its IBM Z^® mainframe toolset.

The bank’s first modernization took place in 2016 with the addition of an Eclipse-based platform to accompany its Interactive System Productivity Facility (ISPF) software.

“Younger developers weren’t accustomed to the ISPF interface on IBM Z mainframes. There was a steep learning curve for beginners,” recalls Tadas Janionis, Software Engineer at Swedbank. To empower the next generation of mainframe developers, Swedbank implemented IBM^® Explorer for z/OS^® Aqua (z/OS Explorer), an Eclipse-based integration platform for application development.

z/OS Explorer helped green developers gain competence in the mainframe space and gave all developers a more convenient way to use Swedbank’s existing problem determination tools. The development team was so impressed with the solution’s effectiveness that the bank vowed to continue its mainframe modernization efforts in perpetuity.

A few years later, Swedbank decided to implement the IBM Application Discovery and Delivery Intelligence (ADDI) solution in response to major changes in banking regulations, technology and customer expectations. “The banking industry changes constantly, and we need to change along with it,” says Girish Wani, Agile Product Owner for Mainframe Development at Swedbank. “We modernize to provide our developers with the support they need to quickly learn our systems and interface with the mainframe.”

Application Discovery helps developers determine which applications to modernize, consolidate or decommission more easily. The time saved investigating interdependencies in the mainframe application landscape means developers can commit more of their time to innovation.

Recently, Swedbank reached another critical juncture in its mainframe modernization journey. The bank needed a more holistic way to conduct analysis on its database and files, and a more streamlined, DevOps-driven mainframe process was within reach.

The success of Swedbank’s previous IBM implementations drove the Mainframe Development Team to choose the IBM Developer for z/OS (IDzEE) solution for the next phase of modernization.

IDzEE is a comprehensive toolset for building, deploying and maintaining hybrid-cloud applications on z/OS. The solution is underpinned by a DevOps toolchain that supports parallel development in a continuous integration and deployment pipeline.

The integrated functions IDzEE offers enable greater developer productivity, holistic analysis, and a reduction in time-to-value. Its intuitive graphical interface makes navigating code infinitely easier thanks to semantics, filters, search and data flow diagrams. The solution also offers both ISPF and integrated development environment (IDE) editor options, so developers can use their preferred editing style when crafting complex code.

The interactive, fully integrated debugger in IDzEE helps developers improve their workflows by giving them the ability to test, examine, monitor and control the program execution. Applications can be executed in phases and paused as needed for inspection or modification.

Code coverage reports help them uncover testing gaps and better understand how the rest of the application will be impacted by changes. As an added benefit, modern tools provide quick analysis of mature, cryptic mainframe code. This includes showing the impact of a change and identifying dead code. These quick, comprehensive analysis capabilities support faster, higher quality delivery of new application functions.

These capabilities are key to helping the bank achieve its goals, according to Rajesh Murugan, Software Engineer at Swedbank. “IDzEE is a critical player in our modernization efforts. It’s the foundation for all our development capabilities, analytical tools and external plug-ins. Everything we need is accessible in one place,” Rajesh Murugan states.

The IBM Lab team provided Swedbank with remote support to ensure the IDzEE implementation was successful. “IBM created a digital support channel for us to communicate and ask questions. This was especially helpful during setup because we were not fully familiar with the product,” says Tadas Janionis.

The Mainframe Development Platform Team also had biweekly meetings with dedicated IBM advocates to discuss ongoing issues. During one of these meetings, IBM helped Swedbank design a program in which internal advocates were selected to help roll out the solution to their teams.

The IDzEE Champions Program helped increase adoption throughout Swedbank’s developer community. “Some mainframe developers aren’t very open to change. The IDzEE Champions Program helped us break the ice with each team and reduce friction during implementation. This was also one of the best practices we got from IBM. It helped us implement IDzEE in a much better way,” says Girish Wani.

Swedbank started the program with two IDzEE Champions and rolled the solution out to about 30 developers. After receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback, champions were selected for each team and the bank was able to roll out IDzEE to the rest of the community.