Home/More Topics
Related topics
Analyses that build on the same data basis and sensibly extend the three core topics. Available individually — and cheaper when the data preparation is already running.
Subsystems
Where the load is actually created
Transaction monitor: threadsafe analysis
High leverageIn many regions the central processing thread is the real bottleneck. We measure the split between central and parallel processing, waits at upper limits, the share of database and messaging calls, and the most expensive transactions. The result is a prioritised candidate list.
Database analysis
Frequently requestedConsumption per access path and application, split between application and database time, origin of distributed access, buffer behaviour, lock and latch waits. The basis for both tuning and the correct attribution of database load to applications.
Java environments on z/OS
A growing topicResponse times and throughput per application, share on general purpose and specialty engines, ratio of offload-eligible to actually offloaded work. Essential for any discussion about additional specialty engines or a language change.
Messaging
ComplementaryQueue depths, message throughput and the CPU share messaging creates in the participating address spaces — frequently a blind spot in application attribution.
Other transaction environments
On requestTransaction attribution and consumption in further environments, analogous to the view of the main transaction monitor.
Batch window analysis
Often the most effective leverWhich job chains run when, which sit in the cost-relevant window, and which could be shifted without business impact? Frequently the measure with the best effect-to-effort ratio because it requires no technical change.
Cost and planning
Around contracts, capacity and chargeback
Tailored Fit Pricing — decision basis
Highly topicalBefore moving to a consumption model: reconstruct actual consumption across the year as the basis for the baseline negotiation. The baseline is the economically decisive moment — optimisation belongs before it, not after.
Reconciling the billing reports
RecurringUnderstand how the reported values come about: which partitions, which products, which peak. Surprisingly often this surfaces partitions that need not have been counted at all.
Capacity planning and growth forecasting
ComplementaryTrend analysis across longer periods, derivation of growth rates per workload type and scenarios for model changes or capacity adjustments — as a decision basis, not a sales argument.
Chargeback and showback
Frequently requestedA traceable chargeback model per application or business unit, including how non-attributable system overhead is allocated. Without that definition nothing adds up to 100 per cent.
Hardware change: before-and-after measurement
Point in timeRun the same analysis before and after a model change — to demonstrate what the new machine actually delivered rather than relying on datasheet figures.
Economics of specialty engines
A concrete questionIs another specialty engine worth it? We measure crossover onto general purpose processors and the offload-eligible work that was not offloaded. Often the honest answer is no — and that is a valuable result too.
Security and operations
Follow-on topics for audit and compliance
SIEM integration for z/OS
Frequently underestimatedFeed security-relevant events into your existing SIEM — with defined use cases instead of a raw data flood: use of special rights, changes to privileged libraries, failed logons, data transfers.
Entitlement recertification as a process
RecurringTurn the one-off review into a repeatable cycle: who confirms which rights, at what interval, with what evidence — tool-supported and documented.
Baseline against the CIS benchmark
Good for auditorsTarget-versus-actual comparison against the current CIS benchmark for z/OS, including its supplied mapping to PCI DSS, DORA and NIST — turning technical checks into regulatory evidence.
Resilience and restart evidence
DORA contextWhat do your data show about restart times, startup behaviour and fallback operation? An analysis that converts technical measurements into the test documentation DORA requires.
Encryption and key management
On requestInventory of certificates, key stores and algorithms — including which methods should be replaced in the medium term with a view to quantum-safe cryptography.
Release levels and end of support
Time pressureA simple but often missing overview: which components run at which level, where support ends when, and which migration is genuinely urgent.
Format
Not every topic needs a project
Quick check
One narrowly framed question, a few days, one results document. Well suited to establishing whether a larger initiative is worthwhile at all.
Full analysis with workshop
The standard case: observation period, complete analysis, an assessed sequence of results and a guided results session.
Recurring analysis
Monthly or quarterly reports to verify the effect after a change — generated automatically, with commentary on the deviations.
Which topic is pressing for you?
Tell us the question — we will tell you whether and with which data it can be answered.