Db2 z/OS projects are starting up every day. With a decreasing pool of talented/experienced resources it is sometimes difficult for companies to get these projects off the ground. Project management and project scoping are the first actions needed in these projects as well as follow-up consultancy with experienced resources. YL&A can provide both the technical project management skills as well as the expertise for proper Db2 database/application/system implementation and management 

Db2 z/OS has been in existence for 40 years now. While there may not be many new users, it is often desired to do an overall evaluation of the environment to ensure best practices are being implemented and adhered to, and to find any gaps in operational capabilities. YL&A has experience in performing these types of comprehensive assessments and helping organizations become a world-class Db2 shop.

Db2 z/OS security administration has become more critical in today’s cyber computing environment. Compliancy and regulatory rules have become more challenging and knowledge of the intricacies of Db2 z/OS security is needed, but often not available. Thereby making shops vulnerable to data breaches and or violations. The Db2 z/OS Security Audit reviews and evaluates the environment and provides recommendations for any potential exposures.

Db2 z/OS system management is challenging today due to lack of available expertise and workload backlogs. YL&A can provide resources to evaluate the current environment and perform necessary work to help better manage the Db2 z/OS subsystem and the related environment components.

Db2 z/OS version migration needs to go smoothly to keep applications and databases running optimally. With each release of Db2 there are numerous features to utilize and implement in the environment. YL&A can provide assistance with the actual migration and the implementation/usage of new features.

Are you converting an IDMS, IMS, VSAM/CICS, or batch application to Db2 for z/OS? YL&A can help. We’ve worked on major legacy migrations involving all of these technologies. Are you migrating from a non-DB2 DBMS to Db2 for z/OS? We can help you. We know how Db2 z/OS is different, and where the impacts will be. In the past 20+ years we have been directly involved with several major legacy migrations for companies that are household names. These migrations have involved new application languages, new database concepts, and have also included implementations where the database changed but the application did not. We know where the impacts are in these situations, and we know how to solve the performance problems. Our level of legacy migration consulting can be adjusted to fit your needs. 

Designing new Db2 database can be challenging in today’s environments due to the need to support ever increasing volumes of data and support applications in need of high performance and high availability. A proper design is needed from the beginning and must be done with an understanding of what needs to be done to support current needs. Many of the rules have changed with the new releases of Db2 as well as the new needs/requirements to support modernized applications.

Db2 z/OS applications are expected to perform at increasingly high volumes against very large data stores. Often performance becomes an issue due to the fact that most legacy applications/databases were never designed to deliver high performance against the ever-increasing performance requirements of today’s environment. Now these applications are being required to migrate to a cloud computing environment and if the current issues are not being addressed, this migration effort can lead to further magnification of problems and potential showstoppers. A Db2 z/OS Application/Database Modernization and Optimization consultancy identifies and fixes potential issues in order to make the current application/database optimal for a smooth migration without delays in current processing.

Cost avoidance can be achieved for many challenges via identification of performance/availability opportunities and implementation of best practice design and tuning efforts. A Db2 z/OS Performance and Availability Audit provides skilled expertise to find those opportunities and provide recommendations for achieving high performance and availability, thereby realizing cost avoidance/savings by avoiding unnecessary cost and availability exposure. It can also help to identify and fix lingering performance issues with applications involved in cloud migration efforts, thus leading to additional cost and potential risks.

Industry wide, it is a known best practice to collect Db2 z/OS SMF data needed for proper Db2 system and application performance evaluation and troubleshooting. A sound methodology for designing, testing, and implementing the collection/reporting of Db2 z/OS performance and statistics data will provide the best opportunity for success.

Improved collection and reporting of performance and capacity data will allow for the ability to do trend analysis, performance benchmarking and troubleshooting