Software firm CA has revealed new management software for IBM’s System z mainframe to make it easier for customers to use.

"As the number of mainframes in businesses grow, customers are looking for easier ways to manage the environments, particularly because mainframe operating skills are scarce," said Mark Combs, CA Products Business Unit senior vice president.

CA’s updated management software ensures more unification between a department’s mainframe environment and its distributed systems with reporting processes that take place across both environments. The release of CA’s ACF2 r12 and Top Secret r12 SP2 also gives both types of environments next-generation security protection with updated password protection, the firm said.

Additionally printing management has been made simpler with new drivers for remote printing added to CA’s Spool r11.5 operating system, as well as enhancements that make IBM’s printing hardware features easier for customers to use.

The launch of Database Management r11.5 SP2 gives customers greater visibility and control over the IBM database product DB2 with new metrics, as well as the ability to gather statistics on the usage of IBM's System z9 Integrated Information Processor (zIIP).

All the new products are now available under CA’s flexible licensing options, said the firm.

"The mainframe is undergoing a major renaissance as IT decision-makers recognise how its cost-effective and energy efficient scalability, reliability and security make it the ideal platform to satisfy intensive business requirements," said Combs. "Our latest enhancements demonstrate that CA continues to deliver the solutions necessary to exploit the mainframe’s full economic potential."

Meanwhile, a new BMC Software survey of more than 1,100 mainframe users has revealed the challenges IT departments face when managing mainframes.

Customers need more support for mainframe environments, such as proactive software fixes, intelligent alerts and increased availability of tools that span the barrier between a department’s mainframe environment and its other operating systems, said Peter Armstrong, BMC Software corporate strategist.

Sixty-three per cent of those surveyed said they plan to soon implement shared tools and applications that span both mainframe platforms and distributed systems, while 29 per cent of said they had organised the mainframe and distributed operations together to create common governance across platforms.

Armstrong said BMC would design its next batch of mainframe software to align with the report’s key findings.