DEVOPSdigest

Rocket Software unveiled an updated Rocket Open AppDev for Z software, which breaks down existing siloes to unify DevOps for all platforms, including the mainframe, in a single pipeline.

The enhanced offering provides a comprehensive DevOps/AppDev modernization solution entirely based in open source and updated to incorporate IBM® Open Enterprise SDK for Python—meeting market demand for modernization, cost reductions, and enablement of new talent.

Open source is paramount to the development of mission-critical software. For decades, Rocket has worked to enable innovative development on the mainframe. Despite improved tools, IT teams have still been faced with the challenge of continually downloading, installing, and upgrading multiple open source products—especially when developed by different communities—without the ability to incorporate the mainframe into their unified DevOps pipeline.

This latest version of OpenApp Dev for Z continues Rocket’s commitment to bringing modern DevOps, IT and application development innovation to IBM Z® without compromising data and security. It also alleviates the challenges of dealing with multiple open source products by including IBM Python within Rocket Open AppDev for Z, fully supported—allowing customers to get all the open source languages and support tools needed for the mainframe from a single vendor and eliminating the frustration stemming from patching together support and code language from different vendors.

Evolving the solution to further meet the needs of enterprise customers, Rocket Open AppDev for Z now provides:

- Compatibility between all Rocket z/OS ports and IBM Python, allowing customers to get rid of duplicate z/OS Python installs and standardize on a single Python port

- The option to install and maintain via SMP/E, a tool designed to manage the installation of software products on z/OS, for the first time, enabling customers to choose between conda, the most popular platform-independent way to deploy and manage packages, and SMP/E, the most popular z/OS deployment technology

- A z/OS port for the latest version of Bash, so customers can leverage the latest features from the most popular Unix shell for DevOps on z/OS

- An updated Perl port, adding seamless and transparent ASCII/EBCDIC conversion and allowing customers to run Perl scripts on z/OS in production with full confidence thanks to 24/7 support from Rocket

“Enterprises have had a unified multi-platform DevOps pipeline for building their applications on every system except the mainframe—until now,” said Peter Fandel, Rocket’s Product Director of Open Software for Z. "With Rocket OpenApp Dev for Z software, Rocket is doubling down on its commitment to open source as the future of technology and enabling customers to integrate the mainframe into their unified pipeline and realize the full value of open source on the mainframe.”