The News: IBM announced the general availability (GA) of IBM z/OS Container Platform (zOSCP) ahead of KubeCon Paris, a new product offering that utilizes industry-standard open-source technologies. The product delivers a container runtime and the utilities to build, run, and manage containers on z/OS. For more information, check out the product page here.

The Future of Cloud-Native Development: IBM z/OS Container Platform

Analyst Take: In the rapidly evolving technological landscape, organizations continually seek innovative solutions to enhance efficiency, security, and scalability. zOSCP emerges as a pivotal development in this quest, offering a groundbreaking approach to cloud-native development strategies for mainframe customers. This platform not only facilitates the adoption of container technologies but also leverages the inherent strengths of IBM Z, including unparalleled security, reliability, and performance.

Ahead of KubeCon in Paris, the biannual gathering for all things container, microservices, and platform engineering, it is a good time to reflect on how containers and Kubernetes are revolutionizing the computing paradigm by providing a scalable, efficient way to deploy and manage applications across diverse environments, enabling seamless scalability and resilience. This transformative approach to application deployment and management is being integrated into traditional mainframe systems, exemplified by IBM’s delivery of container technology for its mainframe operating system, z/OS. By embracing containers and Kubernetes (see the Statement of Direction in the announcement), IBM z/OS is bridging the gap between traditional and modern computing, leveraging the reliability and security of mainframes while adopting the agility and flexibility of cloud-native development practices.

Revolutionizing Development with zOSCP

I had the opportunity at SHARE in Orlando to connect with the director responsible for z/OS, Matt Whitbourne, to understand the four-year development process that brought IBM to this point. IBM’s timing is impeccable with years of work only to GA the product the Friday before KubeCon. Crucially, IBM will need the support of the open-source community as it plans to upstream the code it has ported in the near future.

The GA of zOSCP is the cumulation of years of development and business investment. IBM added over 75 new syscalls, which not only support the zOSCP product but also increase the number of callable service calls applicable in porting any Linux application. To enable containers on z/OS to run like containers on any other platform, zOSCP is designed to adhere to industry standard technology and tools. The product utilizes over 1,800 open-source packages and as a result of the design and investment, over 80% of these packages require no changes for z/OS. zOSCP:

Added 75+ new syscalls (~25% increase in callable services useful for porting any Linux application)
Introduced three new file systems, applicable in non-container scenarios as well
Consists of over 1,800 open-source packages where over 80% had no changes for z/OS
As RHOCP is to RHEL, zOSCP is to z/OS

What I took away from our conversation is that the IBM zOSCP is ingeniously designed to run containers natively on IBM z/OS, providing a seamless blend of industry-standard open-source container technologies and the robust features of IBM Z. My perspective is that this integration represents a significant advancement in mainframe computing and demonstrates the wider IBM commitment to container-based systems. This approach allows organizations to run applications within a z/OS environment while employing modern, open-source technologies to drive faster time to market and development efficiencies.

The key benefits of IBM zOSCP include:

Integration within z/OS: Containers on z/OS operate within z/OS address spaces, functioning like any other z/OS application. This capability allows for traditional and containerized applications to coexist, optimizing resource utilization and simplifying management.
Enhanced Development Efficiencies: By adopting modern technologies and standards, the platform fosters a self-service, isolated environment for development and testing, thereby reducing time to market and enhancing security.
Consistent Environments: System programmers have access to an image repository, enabling them to obtain IBM-provided container images and customize them for consistent usage across development and testing environments.
Built to Industry Standards: The platform uses container runtime following the Open Container Initiative (OCI) runtime specification, ensuring compatibility and interoperability with cloud-native development practices.
Cloud-Native Development Support: It offers container management tools and integrates with existing DevOps pipelines, facilitating a smooth transition to cloud-native development methodologies.
Expanding Image Catalog: The IBM Cloud Registry will provide a growing catalog of containerized z/OS UNIX applications, providing a rich ecosystem for application modernization and development.

IBM zOSCP is a significant technological innovation and a transformative force in various enterprise computing scenarios. By facilitating the containerization of z/OS UNIX applications, the platform enables organizations to modernize existing workloads, significantly enhancing their flexibility and scalability. It offers an isolated, self-service environment ideal for development and testing, which supports parallel development and continuous integration, thus accelerating the deployment of new features and versions. Furthermore, the platform champions a cloud-native development strategy, advocating for adopting microservices and APIs to expose z/OS applications, thereby promoting integration in a hybrid cloud environment and fostering new function and workload growth.

IBM provides a comprehensive suite of resources to get started with zOSCP, from product overviews to technical guides. Furthermore, the platform’s alignment with the Open Container Initiative underscores its commitment to industry standards and community engagement, ensuring that users have similar experiences and access to a vibrant ecosystem for collaboration.

Looking Ahead

zOSCP represents a monumental leap forward in cloud-native development for enterprise computing. By harnessing the power of IBM Z while embracing open-source container technologies, organizations can achieve unprecedented levels of efficiency, security, and scalability. As businesses continue to navigate the challenges of digital transformation, zOSCP stands out as a beacon of innovation, guiding the way toward a more flexible, resilient, and future-proof computing environment.

Disclosure: The Futurum Group is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.

Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of The Futurum Group as a whole.