This research brief examines the new release of the BMC Performance Assurance for Mainframes product. We assess its overall significance and describe the reaction of two early users. One customer actually held a shootout between a BMC user and an old line MVS systems programmer.

Summarizing what we learned from the customers using the BMC products, they:

Help customers to accurately forecast hardware requirements so that they can intelligently plan and budget for their needs.

Enable a productivity gain; customers cover more systems with fewer people.

Allow a reduction in the number of people with in-depth z/OS skills needed for capacity planning. Note: this does not apply to diagnostic requirements.

Really link business metrics with IT measurements; allowing more accurate forecast of IT requirements. It is a first step in linking IT more closely with the business.