Try the no-risk approach to testing out mainframe data replication on the Cloud with a tcVISION Proof of Concept

by Joseph Brady, Director of Business Development / Cloud Alliance Leader at Treehouse Software, Inc.

Many Treehouse Software customers have discovered that they can save weeks, or months in their mainframe modernization initiatives by doing a tcVISION Proof of Concept (POC) for Mainframe-to-Cloud data replication. Depending on the complexity of the customer’s project, a tcVISION POC generally lasts as little as 10 business days after the product is installed and all connectivity is set up between the mainframe and Cloud environments. Treehouse Software provides documentation beforehand that outlines all of the requirements and agenda for the POC, and Treehouse technicians assist in downloading and installing tcVISION.

The customer provides a representative subset of z/OS or z/VSE mainframe data (e.g., Db2, Adabas, VSAM, IMS/DB, CA IDMS, CA DATACOM, etc.), use case, and goals for the POC, and the Treehouse team mentors the customer’s technical team via remote screen sharing sessions. The application is executed on customer facilities, in a non-production environment, and a limited-scope implementation of a tcVISION application is conducted to prove that the product meets the customer’s desired use case.

By the end of the POC, customers will have replicated mainframe data on their Cloud target, tested out product capabilities, and demonstrated a successful, repeatable data replication process, with documented results. After the tcVISION POC, the customer has all the connectivity and processes in place to begin setting up the production phase of their mainframe data modernization project. The minimal cost, in terms of human resources and time makes a tcVISION POC a valuable ROI in the customer’s mainframe modernization journey.

A key advantage for customers is once tcVISION is up and running, their legacy mainframe environment can continue as long as needed, while they replicate data – in real time and bi-directionally – on the new Cloud platform. Now the enterprise can quickly take advantage of the latest Cloud services, such as analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), etc., as well as move data to a variety of highly available and secure databases and data stores.

About tcVISION…

Many Cloud and Systems Integration partners are recommending tcVISION from Treehouse Software for Mainframe-to-Cloud modernization projects. tcVISION focuses on changed data capture (CDC) when transferring information between mainframe data sources and Cloud targets. Through an innovative technology, changes occurring in any mainframe application data are tracked and captured, and then published to a variety of RDBMS and other targets.

Additionally, tcVISION utilizes a Windows-based GUI Control Board, which is ideal for non-mainframe programmers. While mainframe experts are required in the design/architecture phase during the POC and occasionally during implementation, the requirement for their involvement is limited. The tcVISION Control Board acts as a single point of administration, data modeling and mapping, script generation, and monitoring. Comprehensive monitoring and logging of all data movements ensure transparency across all data exchange processes.

Further reading…

Treehouse Software is an AWS Technology Partner and tcVISION is a Validated AWS Qualified Software. The AWS Partner Network published a blog about tcVISION, which describes how tcVISION allows legacy mainframe environments to continue, while replicating data on highly available and secure AWS targets.

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Contact Treehouse Software for a tcVISION Demo Today…

Simply fill out our tcVISION Demonstration Request Form and a Treehouse representative will be contacting you to set up a time for your requested demonstration.

Treehouse Software, Inc. helps US Foods® with their Mainframe Modernization Initiative

by Joseph Brady, Director of Business Development / Cloud Alliance Leader at Treehouse Software, Inc.

 

Treehouse Software, Inc. is pleased to announce that we were chosen by US Foods for their mainframe data modernization initiatives using the tcVISION Mainframe-to-Cloud and Open Systems data replication product.  

Treehouse Software is the worldwide distributor of tcVISION, the leading tool for using change data capture (CDC) for synchronizing mainframe data with real-time and bi-directional data replication. tcVISION’s intuitive data modeling and mapping, and ease of migrating data, made it the ideal choice for helping to modernize the large mainframe environment at US Foods.  

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“The entire Treehouse Software team is excited about working with US Foods to make their modernization initiatives a success!” – George Szakach, CEO and President at Treehouse Software

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About US Foods

With a promise to help its customers Make It, US Foods is one of America’s great food companies and a leading foodservice distributor, partnering with approximately 250,000 restaurants and foodservice operators to help their businesses succeed. With 70 broadline locations and more than 80 cash and carry stores, US Foods and its 28,000 associates provides its customers with a broad and innovative food offering and a comprehensive suite of e-commerce, technology and business solutions. US Foods is headquartered in Rosemont, Ill. Visit https://www.usfoods.com/  to learn more.

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Interested in seeing a live, online demo of tcVISION?

Simply fill out our tcVISION Demonstration Request Form and a Treehouse representative will be contacting you to set up a time for your requested demonstration.

Government and Infrastructure Customers are Looking to Modernize Their Crucial Mainframe Data on Highly Available, Scalable, and Secure Cloud Databases

by Joseph Brady, Director of Business Development / Cloud Alliance Leader at Treehouse Software, Inc.

Everyone has seen the recent headlines about how aging and outdated technology nearly crippled the airline industry. As a result, modernizing and securing information systems has taken center stage and top priority again. Even before the airline IT disaster, the COVID-19 crisis was a critical event that forced modernization to become a strategic imperative for government, supply chain, healthcare, utilities/energy, financial, and defense industries. All of these sectors have critical data residing on a variety of long-standing mainframe databases (often still updated by COBOL applications), including Db2, VSAM, IMS/DB, Adabas, IDMS, Datacom, and sequential files. Unlocking the value of this important data can be difficult, because the data is often utilized by numerous interlinked and dependent programs that have been in place for decades.

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“The Federal Aviation Administration’s 30-year-old hazard-notification system recently had its first crash ever to cause a nationwide grounding of flights. The incident is focusing a bright light on the outdated federal computer systems that, IT experts say, are increasingly vulnerable to failure and cyberattack.” – Source: Christian Science Monitor Daily

Read the entire article here: Bringing US up to code: How outdated software has become a safety issue

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As a result of this renewed push to modernize IT systems, Treehouse Software has been seeing a significant increase in requests from Cloud platform partners, government agencies, and other infrastructure customers to evaluate modernization solutions that replicate data, in real time, on highly available and secure Cloud-based databases, data warehouses, etc.. Fortunately, Treehouse has the deep mainframe expertise and software tools to help. 

Since 1983, Treehouse Software has been working with many of these enterprises with mainframes in the areas of data migration, security, control, auditing, performance enhancement, etc.. Treehouse has also expanded its capabilities to focus on new requirements for modernizing legacy mainframe databases on various Cloud and open systems platforms with the tcVISION mainframe data replication product.  tcVISION is the primary tool  in Treehouse Software’s “data-first” approach, whereby immediate data replication to the Cloud helps customers get on the fast track to meeting spikes in demand for vital information, especially in times of crisis.

Some examples of popular Cloud databases supported by tcVISION are Amazon RDS PostgreSQL, Google Cloud SQL for SQL Server, and Azure SQL-Database. A complete list of data sources and targets that are supported by tcVISION can be found here.

Replicating mainframe data on the Cloud can happen within days during a tcVISION Proof of Concept (POC)…

After setup and installation, a tcVISION POC is approximately 10 business days, with the customer providing a small subset of data and use case for the POC. A Treehouse Software technician will assist in downloading and installing tcVISION and conducting a limited-scope implementation of a tcVISION application. This application uses a small subset of customer data and executes on customer facilities, usually in a non-production environment. A document is provided beforehand for the customer to fill out their requirements, use cases, and agenda for the POC.

By the end of the 10-day POC, customers can replicate and test mainframe data on their Cloud target database.  It can happen that fast!

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Further Reading…

Treehouse Software and AWS published a blog about tcVISION’s Mainframe-to-AWS data replication capabilities:

https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/apn/real-time-mainframe-data-replication-to-aws-with-tcvision-from-treehouse-software/

Treehouse Software and Confluent recently co-authored a blog on modernizing on Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Environments:

https://www.confluent.io/blog/modern-data-management-for-hybrid-and-multi-cloud-architectures/

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Contact Treehouse Software for a tcVISION Demo Today…

Simply fill out our tcVISION Demonstration Request Form and a Treehouse representative will be contacting you to set up a time for your requested demonstration.

Video: Mainframe-to-Azure Data Replication with tcVISION from Treehouse Software

by Joseph Brady, Director of Business Development and Cloud Alliance Leader at Treehouse Software, Inc.

Treehouse Software was recently invited by Microsoft Azure Mainframe Modernization technical teams to do a presentation and demonstration of tcVISION, our innovative Mainframe-to-Cloud data replication software product.

In this video, we show an overview of the product, then demonstrate replication of mainframe data on Azure SQL:

Click Here to View the Video

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Contact Treehouse Software Today for a tcVISION Demonstration…

No matter where you want your mainframe data to go – the Cloud, Open Systems, or any LUW target – tcVISION from Treehouse Software is your answer.

For more information, please contact customer sales at +1.724.759.7070, email us at sales@treehouse.com, or fill out the Treehouse Software Product Demonstration Request Form and a Treehouse representative will contact you to set up a time for your online tcVISION demonstration.

Video: Mainframe-to-AWS Data Replication with tcVISION from Treehouse Software

by Joseph Brady, Director of Business Development and Cloud Alliance Leader at Treehouse Software, Inc.

Treehouse Software was recently invited by AWS mainframe modernization technical teams to do a presentation and demonstration of tcVISION, our innovative Mainframe-to-Cloud data replication software product.

In this video, Chris Rudolph, Treehouse Software’s tcVISION Product Manager shows an overview of the product, then demonstrates replication of mainframe data on AWS RDS for PostgreSQL:

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Contact Treehouse Software Today for a tcVISION Demonstration…

No matter where you want your mainframe data to go – the Cloud, Open Systems, or any LUW target – tcVISION from Treehouse Software is your answer.

If interested in more information, please contact customer sales at +1.724.759.7070, email us at sales@treehouse.com, or fill out the Treehouse Software Product Demonstration Request Form and a Treehouse representative will contact you to set up a time for your online tcVISION demonstration.

Mainframe VSAM Change Data Capture (CDC) to Cloud and Open Systems with tcVISION from Treehouse Software

by Joseph Brady, Director of Business Development and AWS and Cloud Alliance Leader at Treehouse Software, Inc.

Treehouse Software is the worldwide distributor of tcVISION, the innovative software product that allows immediate data replication between an impressive array of Mainframe sources and Cloud and Open Systems targets. This blog focuses on tcVISION‘s support of VSAM mainframe data sources (batch and CICS on z/OS, and CICS on z/OS and z/VSE).

tcVISION performs VSAM Change Data Capture (CDC) either via its own “DBMS-Extensions”, or via IBM’s CICS VR product. tcVISION has separate DBMS-Extensions to capture changes from CICS (using the CICS External Interface) and batch (via a JCL wrapper). All captured changes, regardless of whether they are performed by tcVISION or CICS VR are written to the z/OS Logstream on the mainframe. tcVISION then reads the Logstream and transfers the transactions to a tcVISION server running in the Cloud or on-prem, which is responsible for queueing, transforming, and applying the captured changes to the specified target.

Additionally, when planning VSAM CDC there are a number of operational items to consider, such as volume of batch transactions, data changes that occur during periods of time while the VSAM file is offline, etc.

In this instructional video, tcVISION is shown capturing changes from VSAM on z/OS and writing them to SQL Server on Windows:

 

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Contact Treehouse Software Today for a tcVISION Demonstration…

No matter where you want your mainframe data to go – the Cloud, Open Systems, or any LUW target – tcVISION from Treehouse Software is your answer.

Just fill out the Treehouse Software Product Demonstration Request Form and a Treehouse representative will contact you to set up a time for your online tcVISION demonstration.

Why is High Availability so Important for Mainframe Data Modernization on the Cloud?

by Joseph Brady, Director of Business Development and Cloud Alliance Leader at Treehouse Software, Inc.

Many customers embarking on Mainframe-to-Cloud data replication projects with Treehouse Software are looking at high availability (HA) as a key consideration in the planning process. All of the major Cloud platforms have robust HA infrastructures that keep businesses running without downtime or human intervention when a zone or instance becomes unavailable. HA basic principles are essentially the same across all Cloud platforms.

In this blog, our example shows how the AWS Global Infrastructure and HA is architected with Treehouse Software’s tcVISION real-time mainframe data replication product. A well planned HA architecture ensures that systems are always functioning and accessible, with deployments located in various Availability Zones (AZs) worldwide.

The following example describes tcVISION‘s HA Architecture on AWS. During tcVISION ’s Change Data Capture (CDC) processing for mainframe data replication on the Cloud, HA must be maintained. The Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), which contains the tcVISION Agent, is part of an Auto Scaling Group that is spread across AZs with Amazon EC2 instance(s).

tcVISION and AWS overall architecture…

Upon failure, the replacement Amazon EC2 instance tcVISION Agent is launched and communicates its IP address to the mainframe tcVISION Agent. The mainframe tcVISION Agent then starts communication with the replacement Amazon EC2 tcVISION Agent.

Once the Amazon EC2 tcVISION Agent is restarted, it continues processing at its next logical restart point, using a combination of the LUW and Restart files. LUW files contain committed data transactions not yet applied to the target database. Restart files contain a pointer to the last captured and committed transaction and queued uncommitted CDC data. Both file types are stored on a highly available data store, such as Amazon Elastic File System (EFS).

tcVISION and AWS HA architecture…

For production workloads, Treehouse Software recommends turning on Multi-AZ target and metadata databases.

To keep all the dynamic data in an HA architecture, tcVISION uses EFS, which provides a simple, scalable, fully managed elastic file system for use with AWS Cloud services and on-premises resources. It is built to scale on-demand to petabytes without disrupting applications, growing and shrinking automatically as you add and remove files, eliminating the need to provision and manage capacity to accommodate growth.

More information on AWS HA

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Treehouse Software helps enterprises immediately start synchronizing their mainframe data on the Cloud, Hybrid Cloud, and Open Systems to take advantage of the most advanced, scalable, secure, and highly available technologies in the world with tcVISION…

tcVISION supports a vast array of integration scenarios throughout the enterprise, providing easy and fast data replication for mainframe application modernization projects and enabling bi-directional data replication between mainframe, Cloud, Open Systems, Linux, Unix, and Windows platforms.

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Contact Treehouse Software for a Demo Today…

Just fill out the tcVISION Product Demonstration Request Form and a Treehouse representative will contact you to set up a time for your tcVISION demonstration. This will be a live, on-line demonstration that shows tcVISION replicating data from the mainframe to a Cloud target database.

Starting a Mainframe Data Replication Project? Consider Your Use Cases Carefully

by Joseph Brady, Director of Business Development and Cloud Alliance Leader at Treehouse Software

Planning for Real-time and Bi-directional Mainframe Data Replication with tcVISION

A customer’s mainframe data may be utilized by many interlinked and dependent programs that have been in place for several years, and sometimes, decades, so unlocking the value of this legacy data can be difficult. Therefore, careful planning must occur for a mainframe data modernization project, beginning with identifying uses cases for the project and a Proof of Concept (POC) of data replication software, such as tcVISION, the Mainframe-to-Hybrid Cloud and Open Systems data replication product from Treehouse Software.

This blog serves as a general guide for organizations planning to replicate their mainframe data on Cloud and/or Open Systems platforms using tcVISION.

Questions and Considerations for Your Use Cases

A general principle should be to prove out the data replication technology (tcVISION) by using identified use cases. Listed below are some examples of questions and use cases to assist customers in planning and experiencing successful Mainframe-to-Cloud and/or Open Systems data replication projects:

• What is/are the mainframe source database(s)? Obvious, yes, but the software solution vendor and outside consultants need this information.
• What are the critical issues you need to test? Are there any areas that you believe that would be challenging for the vendor? Examples would be specific transformations, data types (e.g., BLOB), required CDC SLAs, field/column changes, specific security requirements, data volume requirements, etc. Document all of the critical test items.
• Select the minimal set of files (generally 3-10) with representative conditions that will enable you to test all of your critical items. If there are multiple source databases, ensure specific test use cases are defined for each source.
• What are the target databases? Will you be replicating to a Cloud database manager, such as AWS RDS? Are there additional requirements to replicate to S3, Azure BLOB, GCP Cloud Storage, Kinesis, and Kafka? What needs to be tested?
• What are your bulk or initial load requirements? tcVISION can load data directly from mainframe databases, mainframe unloads, or image copies. What are the data volumes? Do you have sufficient bandwidth between your mainframe manager and on-premises or Cloud VM to handle your volume requirements?
• What are your Change Data Capture (CDC) requirements?
• Do you have plans for bi-directional replication in the future. What are your specific requirements? Since bi-directional replication can be complex and greatly lengthen a modernization project, the customer generally will perform one bi-directional use case for conceptual proof. Will this suffice for your organization?
• What are your specific high availability requirements? Can they be handled by a technical discussion, or is a specific use case required?
• What are your general security requirements for data at rest and data in transit? Do you have any specific security regulations to follow, such as HIPPA or FIPS? What are your PII / data masking requirements?
• What are your schema requirements? For example, tcVISION creates a default schema based on your input mainframe data. Major changes to the default schema usually require a staging database.
• Do you have staff available to perform the required tasks for the project? For example, for the length of a tcVISION POC you will need part-time staff, 2-4 hours per day. A part-time mainframe administrator will generally require 2-8 elapsed hours. Other staff will include Windows/Linux/Cloud administrators. 2-4 hours of project management may also be required.
• Are business data transformations required? tcVISION handles minor transformation via point and click (e.g., date format transformations). Major transformations can require C++ or product scripting.
• Are there any triggers or stored procedures? tcVISION performs CDC replication processing using a database that utilizes these database features.

Of course, each project will have unique environments, goals, and desired use cases. It is important that specific use cases are determined and documented prior to the start of a project and a tcVISION POC. This planning will allow the Treehouse Software team and the customer develop a more accurate project timeline, have the required resources available, and realize a successful project. 

More About tcVISION from Treehouse Software…

tcVISION supports a vast array of integration scenarios throughout the enterprise, providing easy and fast data migration for mainframe application modernization projects. This innovative technology offers comprehensive abilities to identify and capture changes occurring in mainframe and relational databases, then publish the required information to an impressive variety of targets, both Cloud and on-premises.

tcVISION acquires data in bulk or via CDC methods from virtually any IBM mainframe data source (Software AG Adabas, IBM Db2, IBM VSAM, IBM IMS/DB, CA IDMS, CA Datacom, and sequential files), and transform and deliver to a wide array of Cloud and Open Systems targets, including AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Confluent, Kafka, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, etc. In addition, tcVISION can extract and replicate data from a variety of non-mainframe sources, including Adabas LUW, Oracle Database, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM Db2 LUW and Db2 BLU, IBM Informix, and PostgreSQL.

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Contact Treehouse Software for a tcVISION Demo Today…

Simply fill out our Product Demonstration Request Form and a Treehouse representative will be contacting you to set up a time for your requested demonstration.

What’s Your Mix?

Real-time and Bi-directional Data Replication Between Mainframes and Virtually Any Target

tcVISION from Treehouse Software — Enterprise ETL and Real-Time Data Replication Through Change Data Capture (CDC)

Planning a data replication project between Mainframe, Cloud, and Open Systems platforms? tcVISION supports a vast array of integration scenarios throughout the enterprise, providing easy and fast data migration for mainframe application modernization projects. This innovative technology offers comprehensive abilities to identify and capture changes occurring in mainframe and relational databases, then publish the required information to an impressive variety of targets, both Cloud and on-premises.

tcVISION acquires data in bulk or via CDC methods from virtually any IBM mainframe data source (Software AG Adabas, IBM Db2, IBM VSAM, IBM IMS/DB, CA IDMS, CA Datacom, and sequential files), and transform and deliver to a wide array of Cloud and Open Systems targets, including AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Confluent, Kafka, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, etc. In addition, tcVISION can extract and replicate data from a variety of non-mainframe sources, including Adabas LUW, Oracle Database, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM Db2 LUW and Db2 BLU, IBM Informix and PostgreSQL.

Whatever your mix, Treehouse Software has got it covered with tcVISION.

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Moving the right data to the right place at the right time

Visit the Treehouse Software website for more information on tcVISION, or contact us to discuss your needs.

Quickly Begin Replicating Mainframe Data on Cloud and Open Systems During a tcVISION Proof of Concept.

by Joseph Brady, Director of Business Development / Cloud Alliance Leader at Treehouse Software, Inc.

Customers can start moving mainframe data within days during a tcVISION POC…

An online tcVISION Proof of Concept (POC) is approximately 10 business days, with the customer providing a representative subset of data, use cases, and goals for the POC. A Treehouse Software consultant will assist in downloading and installing tcVISION, and conduct a limited-scope implementation of a tcVISION application. This application uses customer data and executes on customer facilities, in a non-production environment. A document is provided beforehand that outlines the requirements and agenda for the POC.

By the end of the POC, customers can begin replicating mainframe data to their Cloud or Open Systems target database.  It can happen that fast!.

About tcVISION

More Cloud, Open Systems, and Systems Integration partners are recommending tcVISION, Treehouse Software’s Mainframe-to-Cloud data replication product for modernization projects. tcVISION focuses on changed data capture (CDC) when transferring information between mainframe data sources and Cloud and Open System databases and applications. Through an innovative technology, changes occurring in any mainframe application data are tracked and captured, and then published to a variety of RDBMS and other targets.

Further reading…

Treehouse Software is an AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Technology Partner, and the AWS Partner Network published a blog about tcVISION, which describes how tcVISION allows legacy mainframe environments to continue, while replicating data on highly available and secure Cloud platforms.

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Contact Treehouse Software for a tcVISION Demo Today…

Simply fill out our Product Demonstration Request Form and a Treehouse representative will be contacting you to set up a time for your requested demonstration.