Applying DevOps to IBM Z

Our prescriptive guidance for applying DevOps to IBM Z® aims to align tools, working practices, and outcomes with other platforms in your enterprise as much as we can.

Its foundation is a continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline consisting of several key components including a Git-based service for source code management and IBM® Dependency Based Build (DBB).

The recommended components are loosely coupled and highly customizable, allowing you to implement a CI/CD pipeline that maximizes the tools and processes shared by all your development teams, mainframe or not.

There are multiple advantages to adopting a standardized CI/CD pipeline across your enterprise:

• Equip developers for productivity

  • Open source tools such as Git, Jenkins, and Artifactory have become the de facto industry standard for powering continuous integration and continuous delivery in the enterprise. These tools support today's best practices and provide advanced functionality in version control, automation, and more.

• Collaborate and communicate more effectively across the enterprise

  • Standardizing the CI/CD pipeline and development workflows where possible between mainframe and other teams makes it easier to communicate and collaborate across the enterprise. This is especially beneficial for hybrid applications, which consist of both mainframe and non-mainframe components.

• Enable modern approaches such as DevOps and Agile for mainframe applications

  • Industry-standard tools such as version control with Git and automation with CI/CD pipelines enable smaller, high-quality development increments and deliverables. This lets your z/OS® application teams respond faster and more effectively to changing market pressures or customer needs, while also building towards a larger development goal.

• Reduce the overhead of onboarding the next generation of z/OS application developers.

  • Newer developers are likely to be more familiar with industry-standard tools, and being able to use these technologies in the z/OS workplace lowers the entry barrier for them to get started with contributions to the team.

This documentation site aims to help your enterprise succeed in the journey from legacy development processes and library managers to a modern CI/CD pipeline.

IBM Z DevOps Acceleration Program

The IBM Z DevOps Acceleration Program (DAP) can help your enterprise get started on the journey to adopt this modern and agile approach to z/OS applications. DAP is a no charge value-add early adoption program designed to partner with clients during four distinct stages that are necessary for any DevOps transformation:

• Value Stream Assessment
• Training
• Deployment
• Adoption

To learn what's involved in migrating your z/OS applications to our recommended toolchain and working practices, see Understanding the migration effort.

To learn more about the CI/CD pipeline itself for z/OS applications, see the CI/CD pipeline introduction.