Welcome to the March Issue of Mainframe Access Insights
Dive in for practical strategies to reduce risk, accelerate innovation, and unlock hybrid cloud potential.
Inside this issue:
- White paper: Real-time data access for AI-driven modernization
- Expert insights from SIMBYM, AWS, Mainline & more
- Blog: IMS to cloud — no ETL, no hassle
- Spring Webinar Series on AI, DevOps, SIEM & database modernization
- Podcast: SQL access to VSAM without full migration
- Video spotlight: Instant Mainframe Storage with Mainline
Thought Leadership
AI and Application Modernization Trends, Challenges, and the Role of Seamless Mainframe Data Access.
AI is revolutionizing application modernization, but legacy data access remains a major barrier to success. Traditional ETL and CDC methods introduce unnecessary costs, complexity, and delays — holding back enterprises from fully leveraging AI-powered transformation.
VirtualZ eliminates this challenge by providing seamless, real-time access to mainframe data, ensuring that AI-driven modernization efforts are not hindered by outdated data integration methods.
Read the White Paper
Featured Blog
IMS to Cloud, Without the Hassle
For organizations looking to modernize IMS data access, PropelZ provides the fastest, most reliable path to cloud, AI, and analytics — without failed connectors, ETL headaches, or custom coding.
For enterprises running IBM IMS databases, integrating data into cloud, AI, and analytics platforms has traditionally required complex ETL processes and custom coding — slowing down modernization and increasing costs. PropelZ changes that.
Available as an enterprise-wide, unlimited-use license for a flat, transparent fee of $50,000 per year, PropelZ unlocks IMS data for your modernization efforts by providing a simple, no-code way to move IMS data from the mainframe to any cloud or analytics platform — without ETL, manual coding, or failed connectors.
PropelZ is available as an enterprise-wide, unlimited-use license through a one-year subscription, covering both the license and maintenance for a flat, transparent fee of $50,000 per year. This allows you to transfer as much mainframe data as needed, as often as required, across your entire enterprise — without additional costs.
Read the Blog
What Experts are Saying
“We are 100% no-code. Our platform allows enterprises to develop, deploy, and manage applications without writing a single line of code. But the real challenge in modernization isn’t just building the applications — it’s accessing the data. That’s where VirtualZ comes in. With their seamless mainframe data access, we can now offer a complete solution that eliminates the complexity of legacy data integration. Together, we’re unlocking a new era of modernization.”
Raj Rajendran
Co-Founder,
SIMBYM
Learn More
Spring Webinar Series
Master Hybrid Cloud Data Access!
We are excited to announce a comprehensive webinar series featuring our innovative solutions designed to enhance storage and data access and integration in today’s hybrid-cloud landscape.
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
Accelerate AI-Driven Application Modernization
Register Now
During this session, we’ll explore how VirtualZ’s patented data access software enables real-time and out-of-the box mainframe data access. Simplify or Eliminate ETL and Change Data Capture processes and modernize your applications faster than ever.
What Experts are Saying:
“Lozen was incredibly easy to install and configure. The step-by-step documentation made the process seamless, and with responsive support, everything worked as expected on the first try. Even with our complex AWS and mainframe environment, Lozen integrated smoothly, ensuring secure, real-time data access.”
Gilberto Biondo
Sr. Specialized Solutions Architect,
AWS
Read the White Paper “AI and Application Modernization” and don’t miss this opportunity to learn how VirtualZ can help your organization bridge the gap between mainframes and modern AI platforms.
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Modernize Relational Databases
Register Now
Discover how VirtualZ’s PropelZ™ solution simplifies the modernization of relational databases like IMS, Db2, IDMS, and Datacom, enabling seamless data extraction, automated transformation, and direct integration with modern platforms.
What Experts are Saying:
“PropelZ is a very straightforward install — you create the ZFS, upload it, untar it, and it’s ready to go. It doesn’t take much time at all, just a couple of hours to get the product laid down and installed in a testing environment.”
Jerry Edgington
Senior Solutions and Innovation Consultant,
Mainline Information Systems
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
Simplify Mainframe Log Integration with Exabeam, Splunk, Elastic, and More
Register Now
Learn how VirtualZ simplifies the integration of mainframe logs into SIEM platforms like Exabeam, Splunk, and Elastic, enhancing your security operations and reducing complexity.
To learn more, read the White Paper “Modern Observability for Hybrid Cloud Environments” and join us to learn how VirtualZ can help you enhance your security posture, reduce costs, and simplify the integration of mainframe logs into your SIEM environment.
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Modernize Mainframe DevOps with VirtualZ and GitHub
Register Now
Discover how VirtualZ enables seamless integration between IBM Z mainframes and GitHub, supporting version control, and CI/CD pipelines.
What Experts are Saying:
“Perhaps most challenging to conventional thinking is the company’s Zaac solution, which allows mainframe applications to use cloud storage as if it were native DASD (Direct Access Storage Device). This brings the kind of flexible storage options that distributed systems have enjoyed for years to the mainframe world, but without compromising on the platform’s renowned security and reliability characteristics.”
Dale Vile
Co-founder,
Freeform Dynamics
Read the blog and join us to learn how VirtualZ can transform your mainframe DevOps workflows.
Don’t miss these opportunities to gain insights that can modernize your data strategy!
Video of the Month
Join VirtualZ and Mainline Information Systems and learn why VirtualZ has achieved industry recognition for Instant Mainframe Storage. Together, Mainline and VirtualZ enable IBM Z environments to seamlessly access and dynamically scale cloud-based storage—spinning it up or down on demand — as if it were native DASD.
This advanced capability allows enterprises to significantly reduce storage costs, eliminate reliance on physical DASD and legacy tape, and extend mainframe performance and resilience into hybrid cloud environments without disruption.
Watch the Video
Skyward Data Podcast Episode
Are you looking to make your mainframe VSAM data accessible to SQL-based platforms like Db2 without the complexity and risk of a full migration? PropelZ from VirtualZ offers a no-code solution that automates the process, enabling seamless data sharing and integration.
What You’ll Learn
- The challenges of full VSAM-to-Db2 migration and how sharing data simplifies the process.
- Step-by-step guidance on using PropelZ to automate ETL workflows for Db2 on z/OS.
- Real-world benefits of enabling SQL access to VSAM data, from analytics to cross-platform integration.
- How to reduce costs with zIIP-eligible processing while maintaining mainframe reliability.
PropelZ is available as an enterprise-wide, unlimited-use license through a one-year subscription, covering both the license and maintenance for a flat, transparent fee of $50,000 per year. This allows you to transfer as much mainframe data as needed, as often as required, across your entire enterprise — without additional costs.
Skyward Data is THE podcast for professionals who want to gain a competitive edge in the evolving data landscape. Join us on your favorite platform, and subscribe to remain ahead of the competition.