Mainframe observability

Gain end-to-end visibility across mobile and mainframe systems with IBM Instana Observability on z/OS.

Overview

For observability in mainframe application environments, IBM Instana Observability on z/OS helps application and SRE teams gain end-to-end visibility across mobile and mainframe systems. With this capability, you can monitor the performance and availability of transactions as they flow through CICS, IMS, and Db2 for z/OS.

IBM Instana Observability on z/OS expands the monitoring capabilities of IBM Instana to include hybrid applications that span the public cloud and mainframe. You can easily pinpoint z/OS-based components that impact these hybrid applications and view complete end-to-end transactions by using customizable dashboards.

Key features

Mainframe observability includes the following key features:

  • End-to-end tracing: Follow transactions from distributed systems through mainframe components.
  • CICS monitoring: Track CICS transaction performance and resource usage.
  • IMS monitoring: Monitor IMS transactions and message processing.
  • Db2 for z/OS monitoring: Track database performance and query execution.
  • Infrastructure metrics: Visualize z/OS system metrics and resource utilization.
  • Hybrid application views: Unified visibility across distributed and mainframe tiers.

Common use cases

See the following example use cases:

Hybrid application monitoring
Monitor applications that span cloud microservices and mainframe systems. Trace requests from mobile apps through APIs to CICS transactions and Db2 queries.
Mainframe modernization
Track performance during mainframe modernization projects. Compare performance before and after changes, and make sure that new architectures meet the requirements.
Transaction troubleshooting
When transactions are slow, identify whether the bottleneck is in the distributed tier or mainframe. Drill down to specific CICS programs or Db2 queries that are causing issues.
Capacity planning
Monitor z/OS resource utilization trends to plan capacity. Accordingly, understand which applications consume the most mainframe resources and optimize.

Learn more

For more information about using Instana for observability of mainframe application environments, see IBM Instana Observability on z/OS documentation.