How to Seamlessly Integrate Your Informatica Solutions with z/OS
Informatica is expanding the horizons of data management with its Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC), incorporating new services and Generative AI. These innovations empower customers to swiftly and effectively leverage cloud computing for their data needs.
For our many on-premises customers using solutions like PowerCenter, it's vital to offer a seamless migration path to an optimized cloud environment. Informatica aids in this transition with strategic migration services and self-service tools, easing the shift from on-premises to IDMC.
Addressing the needs of our z/OS mainframe users is crucial to this strategy. Enterprises require a unified approach to managing all data—wherever it resides—as cloud strategies increasingly reveal the true value of their data assets.
Many of our customers are familiar with Informatica PowerExchange components for z/OS, which have integrated seamlessly with on-premises products like PowerCenter, Data Engineering, and Test Data Management, covering the most popular z/OS data stores (Adabas, Db2, Datacom, IDMS, IMS, VSAM and Sequential Files) for almost three decades. These connectivity options now extend to IDMC, specifically for services intended for IDMC migration support: PowerCenter Cloud Edition and Cloud Data Integration (CDI). These services can use the exact same PowerExchange capabilities as per their on-premises utilization, to create seamless integration simplifying integration of migrated workloads. However, adapting PowerExchange for cloud usage presents challenges. Customers must typically install and configure PowerExchange software on their z/OS systems, which is not aligned with the cloud's promise of minimal customer-managed software. As expectations shift, organizations look for zero vendor software on systems and autonomous functionalities.
To align with these expectations, Informatica has reimagined its z/OS data integration approach. IDMC now offers services like “Cloud Data Ingestion & Replication” (CDIR), which connects to z/OS data objects (Db2 with other data objects to follow) without customer-managed software installations. Using JDBC, CDIR allows rapid, easy access to data for cloud-based applications.
CDIR’s user-friendly interface enables quick connectivity to z/OS Db2 databases, allows for applying filters and handling schema changes. This service supports both batch and continuous CDC data integration for timely reporting and analytics. Customers can also rest assured that the CDIR service will, when permitted, auto update without any user interaction or intervention. Any service disruption during the update is fully managed by IDMC, ensuring optimized and time efficient upgrades.
New users from the manufacturing and financial sectors praise CDIR for its ease of use, zero set-up, reliability and autonomous updates. A financial services client, for example, synchronizes over 10,000 z/OS Db2 tables with Snowflake, handling gigabyte-level data interactions hourly without manual oversight.
Please contact your Informatica sales team for more details on Informatica PowerCenter migrations or IDMC services with z/OS data.
