For mainframe administrators

Who need to monitor IT system(s) comprehensively and automatically for the detection of early-stage issues and the prediction of anomalies or resource exhaustion

Our Z-RAYS software is the primary tool supporting administrator for exhaustive and coherent view and alerting if anything happens thanks to smart machine-data collection and machine learning algorithm

That enables the automation of the mainframe system monitoring process, as well as integrates with leading analytics and monitoring platforms of the IT environment as a whole

Our offer could be implemented easy way on-premise or SaaS model and characterized by:

• precise data in real-time and in an exact format,
• openness to change and integration with other tools,
• alerting using AI algorithms,
• easy to install and operate.

Z-RAYS is a software tool that makes z/OS performance data available, understandable, and presentable or exportable. Based on existing infrastructure for accessing machine data on z/OS systems, the tool gathers data from multiple sources, including RMF Records, SMF, Syslog, Security Log, and SQLs. As a result, the tool provides data for top analytics platforms, streaming it in almost real-time.

Thanks to Z-RAYS, you can stream that data in near real-time, sending it to multiple destinations in different formats for different consumers and allow IT operations to analyze and manage operating systems, databases, and mainframe other environments.

The modern admin monitoring Z-RAYS-console provides comprehensive performance and the availability view makes administrators’ life easier, enabling professional action to be taken based on figures:

• detecting mainframe performance problems across multiple subsystems,
• allowing computer operations personnel to isolate quickly and take action on these problems,
• status tracking and prediction for better resource allocation, utilization, or planning.

If you operate a large infrastructure and have organizational or technical challenges due to the increasing complexity of systems producing too much data to analyze, Z-RAYS is the solution. Z-RAYS tools address the pain of dynamic workload, old reporting processes, manual analytics, and the lack of experts.

Therefore, this offer is suitable for companies that struggle with staff shortages and have the challenge of problem detection but need to improve system performance quickly, combined with the challenge of maintenance costs.

Moreover, this offer is aimed at companies who:

• are developing a modern monitoring operation center and implement holistic umbrella monitoring,
• are planning a migration.

Automated, Smart Monitoring

• The AI engine detects issues at an early stage, predicts anomalies or resource exhaustion, and provides an alert – it is much more than typical ordinary messages.
• Thanks to smart rules, alarms, indicators, and our general embedded expert knowledge, daily professionalism is automated and simply more qualitative.
• Real-time machine data in-take and on-line observability overcome static information post factum.

Integration with Analytical Platforms

The central concept of Z-RAYS is the established collaboration with Elastic Stack, Dynatrace, Strobe and other leading monitoring tools. This way, Z-RAYS amplifies:

• • the power of the best analytical tools;
  • umbrella (holistic) monitoring in an enterprise, delivering information to central cockpit and the center of monitoring;
  • the connection of two worlds: mainframe and distributed environments;
  • the customizable output by JSON format.

Information Exploration and Effectiveness of Monitoring

Z-RAYS offers a modern graphical user web-based interface based on Kibana/Elasticsearch or Dynatrace, which makes a substantial difference compared to 3270-standard or windows style.

• • Visibility sorted, cleaned, grueling metrics across OS, DB2, WAS, CICS (and more) in relation in one place, instead of unselected information scattered around the modules.
  • The data are available in a single Operational Cockpit, with dexterous navigation Top-to-Bottom (into low-level dashboards for various areas), presenting indicators and charts, including sophisticated drill-down and filter-out mechanism.
  • The front-end is customizable, and the user can easily fit it to the needs, defining SLO, SLI or information structure for supporting advanced administrator or junior operator.

Easy to Operate

• Z-RAYS is a ready-to-use, user-friendly solution, and thanks to well-selected metrics, predefined dashboards, and an intuitive interface, there is no need to invest additional time and money in learning for the operation team. Moreover, implementation takes 2-4 hours.
• The software optimizes resource usage without overhead for the monitoring systems (fully utilized zIIP processors) and is not invasive to the system.
• The tool purely focuses on monitoring and doesn’t capture areas like system configuration setup or transaction scheduling. This way, the software is “light” and does not require significant permissions.

A Mainframe landscape is a very complex architecture. The lack of skills in mainframe admins requires a comprehensive tool for infrastructure management. Most of the critical banking, insurance and public applications uses mainframe as a best stable & secure platform. It’s very important to:

–      have Mainframe configuration information available – and preferably without direct access to the mainframe. We are talking here about the digital twin; i.e. a digital image of the mainframe configuration in all its aspects.

• have a clear view of system topology – Means, understand the relation between all mainframe  configurations and components
• track all changes on such Mainframe environments
• verify that defined and planned system parametrization
• all software components are up to date
• no security vulnerabilities are in use and
• Mainframe technologies and product follow the enterprise architecture plan

And how can customers implement the whole thing technically?

Please find below practical response for that challange from Z-RAYS and Versio:

Z-RAYS significantly automates the monitoring, eliminating much manual work, achieving time reduction to identify incidents’ causes. It delivers alerts with exceptions and anomalies or resources exhaustion prediction.
Better monitoring means reducing MSU and related processing computer’s work cost caused real money-saving. The tool protects your organization to avoid outages’ risk and associated losses. Moreover, it provides information for proper resource planning.

Z-RAYS, inteligentne rozwiązanie do analizy i monitoringu systemów Mainframe wykorzystujące mechanizmy AI/ML, jest teraz dostępne w Europie również dzięki współpracy z AZ Frame sp. z o.o. ,firmą specjalizującą się w technologii Mainframe, która jest jednocześnie Platynowym Partnerem IBM w zakresie z/OS.

AZ Frame sp. z o.o. to firma o ugruntowanej pozycji na rynku, z biurami w Europie, obecnie w Hiszpanii i Francji, gotowa udzielić wsparcia w zakresie informacji o produkcie, procesu Proof of Concept (POC) oraz pomocy w zakupie licencji. Firma zapewnia solidną infrastrukturę i bogate doświadczenie w dziedzinie technologii Mainframe, oraz kompleksowe wsparcie europejskim klientom we wdrażaniu i wykorzystywaniu Z-RAYS.

Zapraszamy do skorzystania z ekspertyzy AZ Frame i dołączenia do grona klientów korzystających z Z-RAYS – narzędzia, które zrewolucjonizuje sposób, w jaki monitorowane są systemy i środowiska Mainframe.

Kontakt z nami: www.azframe.pl

Z-RAYS, smart solution for analyzing and monitoring Mainframe systems utilizing AI/ML mechanisms, is now available in Europe through a partnership with AZ Frame Ltd., a company specializing in Mainframe technology and also a Platinum Partner of IBM for z/OS.

AZ Frame Ltd. is a well-established market player with offices in Europe, currently in Spain and France, ready to provide support regarding product information, Proof of Concept (POC) processes, and assistance in licensing procurement. The company ensures a robust infrastructure and extensive experience in Mainframe technology, as well as comprehensive support to European clients in implementing and utilizing Z-RAYS.

We invite you to benefit from AZ Frame’s expertise and join the ranks of clients leveraging Z-RAYS – a tool that will revolutionize the way Mainframe systems and environments are monitored.

You can contact us : www.azframe.pl

Z- RAYS –  Mainframe Systems Monitoring

The subject of the Project

The subject of the Z-RAYS project is to create an intelligent solution for efficient and ergonomic monitoring of the mainframe environment in real-time in order to optimize the efficiency of IT specialists and improve troubleshooting times during the operation of mainframe systems. Monitoring will be done without significant impact on system performance and significant additional consumption of system resources with the support of Machine Learning algorithms. The project will also provide integration with solutions in the world of open systems.

Project Objective

The project aims to carry out R&D work related to the development of specialized algorithms using machine learning and to implement the results, as well as to raise the technological readiness of the product from TRL 3 to TRL 9.

Project budget: 1.000.000,- PLN

Contribution of the European Funds: 800,000,- PLN

Project implementation: 05.11.2020 – 04.11.2021

Program name

The project is implemented under the Operational Programme Intelligent Development 2014 – 2020, Measure 1.3: R&D works financed with the participation of capital funds (sub-measure 1.3.1): Support for R&D Projects in the preseed phase by proof of concept funds – BRIdge Alpha.