Every connector, every feature, every capability in PropelZ traces back to a single source: our customers asking us to solve their real-world problems.
When we sat down recently to review PropelZ’s expanding portfolio of drivers and connectors, one thing became crystal clear: innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Every single capability we’ve built — from our Splunk integration to our new JDBC input connector — originated with a customer facing a specific challenge and asking us, “Can PropelZ help with this?”
This isn’t accidental. It’s strategic.
The Problem with Feature-Driven Development
Too many enterprise software companies build features first, then hunt for customers who might need them. They create comprehensive, all-inclusive suites packed with capabilities most customers will never use, then force everyone to pay for the whole package.
We’ve seen this movie before. It ends with feature-heavy products, frustrated customers, and integration projects that take months longer than they should.
Our Customer-First Approach
At VirtualZ, we flip that model. We start with customer conversations, not feature brainstorms.
Take our Splunk connector, for example. That capability didn’t emerge from a product roadmap meeting. It grew out of Microsoft’s request to integrate mainframe monitoring data with their Azure monitoring infrastructure. They had a specific need: real-time visibility into mainframe operations feeding into their cloud-native observability stack.
Or consider our new JDBC input connector. This wasn’t built because we thought database-to-database migration sounded cool. It came from customers struggling with the complexity of COBOL copybook management, asking, “Isn’t there an easier way to get our database data into PropelZ pipelines?”
The console logging connector that handles mainframe system alerts? That emerged from conversations about replacing expensive automation tools like Ops/MVS with more cost-effective, multi-platform alternatives.
The Strategic Advantage of Customer-Driven Development
This approach gives us several competitive advantages:
- Immediate Market Fit: When we build something a customer specifically requested, we know there’s demand for it. We’re not guessing about market need — we’re responding to it.
- Faster Time to Value: Customers don’t have to wait for us to figure out what they need. They tell us, we build it, and they start using it immediately.
- Granular Solutions: Instead of forcing customers to buy a massive suite to get the one feature they need, we can offer precisely what solves their problem. Want Splunk integration? Buy the Splunk connector. Need large-scale parallel processing? Add the multiplexer. Simple.
- Real-World Validation: Every feature gets battle-tested in actual customer environments before we generalize it. By the time we release something, we know it works in production scenarios.
The Innovation Multiplier Effect
Here’s where it gets interesting: one customer’s specific need often unlocks capabilities that benefit many others.
The JDBC input connector we built for database migration scenarios also enables any-to-any data movement. Suddenly, our Linux customers can use PropelZ as a cloud-based transformation hub, moving data between any databases, not just mainframe sources.
The cloud storage connector that started as a way to archive mainframe data evolved into universal support for AWS S3, Google Cloud, Azure, and IBM Cloud. Now customers can route their data to whatever cloud platform makes sense for their broader architecture.
The console logging connector designed for system alert integration opens the door to cost-effective automation that spans multiple platforms — not just mainframe-specific solutions.
Openness as a Design Philosophy
This customer-driven approach also shaped our architectural decisions. PropelZ isn’t a closed ecosystem. We designed it with open protocols specifically because we know customer needs will evolve in ways we can’t predict.
Can’t find the exact connector you need in our current portfolio? The underlying architecture supports custom development. Need to integrate with a platform we haven’t built a connector for yet? Tell us about it — that conversation might launch our next development sprint.
In fact, we’ve structured our partnership with DataDirect to give customers access to 40+ additional JDBC drivers beyond what we’ve certified. If a customer needs connectivity to Teradata, Ingres, or some specialized database we haven’t encountered yet, we can make it happen.
The Result: Solutions That Actually Solve Problems
When you build features customers specifically asked for, something magical happens: they actually use them.
Our Splunk connector isn’t gathering dust in someone’s integration roadmap — it’s streaming SMF records and RACF logs in real-time for security and operations teams who asked for exactly that capability.
Our multiplexer isn’t an interesting technical exercise — it’s moving hundreds of thousands of datasets in parallel for customers executing major cloud migrations.
Our new JDBC input connector isn’t a solution looking for a problem — it’s eliminating COBOL copybook complexity for teams who told us that was their biggest PropelZ adoption hurdle.
What This Means for You
If you’re evaluating PropelZ, this customer-driven philosophy means several things:
- Your Voice Matters: The features we build next will come from conversations like the ones we’re having with customers today. If PropelZ solves 80% of your problem but you need that additional 20%, let’s talk.
- Lean Solutions: You won’t pay for capabilities you don’t need. Pick the connectors that solve your specific problems, add more as your needs grow.
- Battle-Tested Solutions: Everything we release has been proven in real customer environments facing real operational challenges.
- Future-Proof Architecture: As your needs evolve, PropelZ can evolve with you. The open, modular design means adding new capabilities doesn’t require rearchitecting or reinstalling anything.
The Invitation
We’re not done building. Customer needs keep evolving, and so do we.
If you’re struggling with mainframe data integration challenges that our current connector portfolio doesn’t quite address, we want to hear about it. Your specific problem might become our next customer-driven development project — and solve similar challenges for enterprises across industries.
That’s how innovation really works: not in product management meetings, but in conversations with people who have real problems that need solving.
Ready to discuss your specific mainframe integration challenges? Schedule a briefing with our team to explore how PropelZ can address your unique requirements — and maybe inspire our next customer-driven innovation.
Next Steps
- Schedule a PropelZ briefing.
- Learn more about PropelZ 2.0.
- Watch a demo of PropelZ.
- Try PropelZ.
Learn More
- Visit our Customer Briefing Center.
- Review all VirtualZ Use Cases, Thought Leadership papers, and Solution Briefs.
- Explore our YouTube channel, podcasts, and blog.
- Still have questions? Contact us.
