Who's Who in Transaction-Processing Monitors, 4Q05

Research Publication Date: 2 February 2006 ID Number: G00137650

Massimo Pezzini, Yefim V. Natis

This report gives details of five vendors of transaction-processing monitor products. It also offers advice on when to consider buying each vendor's product.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 Overview...... 3 2.0 Vendors ...... 3 2.1 BEA Systems...... 3 2.2 IBM ...... 4 2.2.1 CICS TS ...... 4 2.2.2 IMS TM ...... 5 2.2.3 TXSeries...... 5 2.2.4 z/TPF ...... 5 2.3 Micro Focus International ...... 6 2.4 Sun Microsystems ...... 7 2.5 Tmax Soft ...... 7 3.0 Bottom Line...... 8

ANALYSIS

1.0 Overview For more than 30 years, transaction-processing monitor (TPM) products have been the platforms of choice for supporting online transaction-processing applications. Born on proprietary mainframe platforms, TPM technology was later made available on Unix and then Windows and Linux platforms in the form of mainframe TPM-compatible products (such as IBM’s TXSeries) and products specifically designed to run on distributed, nonmainframe boxes (such as BEA Systems’ BEA Tuxedo). Although TPMs are declining in popularity, they still run the business of thousands of companies worldwide. Increasingly, enterprises designing new high-end, business-critical, transactional applications look at popular enterprise application servers based on the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) set of standards and the Microsoft application server platform, commonly referred to as .NET, because these platforms have significantly closed the quality-of- service (QOS) gap with TPMs. Leading-edge organizations with extreme requirements are also looking at innovative grid-based or event-driven application servers that aim at providing ultrahigh-end performance, scalability, reliability and availability on commodity Linux or Windows boxes. TPMs still have a vast installed base, proven enterprise-class QOS and rock-solid reliability. The most popular TPMs are still viable platforms that continue to evolve in terms of manageability, QOS and support for technologies such as Java, XML, Web services and event processing. Many TPM users will continue to use these platforms during the next five years to run their business- critical applications, although they will increasingly look at more-recent platforms for new developments. In some cases, they will try to reduce the cost of running TPM applications on mainframes by migrating them to mainframe-TPM-compatible products running on Linux, Unix or Windows boxes. Examples of these are Fujitsu's NeoKicks, High Technology World Company's XFrame, IBM's TXSeries, Micro Focus' Micro Focus Server Enterprise Edition, Rosebud Management Systems' Eden Server, Sun Microsystems' Mainframe Transaction Processing and Mainframe Batch Manager, and Tmax Soft's OpenFrame. 2.0 Vendors 2.1 BEA Systems San Jose, California www.bea.com Analysis by Yefim Natis (December 2005) BEA Tuxedo is the dominant online transaction processing (OLTP) monitor for distributed systems. AT&T Labs originally designed the product in the late 1980s. Tuxedo was a visionary product for its time, offering, in the 1990's, support for service-oriented architecture, a precursor of a messaging-based enterprise service bus transport, and a precursor of XML. Its scalability and availability still remain the highest available for Unix and Windows platforms. Approximately 2,000 enterprises depend on Tuxedo for their mission-critical applications. Tuxedo supports C, C++ and COBOL programming (not Java); it uses X/Open XATMI or a less-used implementation of a Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) programming model. BEA Systems has not invested strategically in modernizing Tuxedo in recent years; still, it was

upgraded to support XML and Web services access. Further modernizations and use of Tuxedo technology are expected in the future as BEA Systems is experiencing some renewed interest in Tuxedo in Asia/Pacific markets. Consider BEA Tuxedo when developing high-end distributed business applications using C or COBOL programming. 2.2 IBM Armonk, New York www.ibm.com Analysis by Massimo Pezzini (December 2005) IBM is the dominant vendor of traditional TPMs. Although the installed base of these products is not growing, and possibly eroding at the low end, TPMs are a healthy (about $1 billion in new license revenue in 2004), profitable and growing business for IBM. The daily workload supported by these products is constantly growing, although the number of new applications is relatively small. Among TPM vendors, IBM is the most dedicated to "breathing new life" into its glorious, although aged, TPM platforms, investing more in the products than what is needed to slow down installed- base erosion. IBM's TPMs have gradually absorbed new "Internet-oriented" technologies, such as XML, HTML/HTTP, Java and Web services. Users are still actively extending their IBM TPM- based applications, frequently taking advantage of hybrid architectures that combine J2EE or .NET as front ends and TPMs as back ends to support modern transaction-processing requirements. Although J2EE or .NET has yet to prove to be as dependable as IBM's TPMs, these newer platforms are gradually invading IBM TPMs' vital space and confining them to mainly supporting the most demanding, ultrahigh-end transactional applications. Despite IBM's rejuvenation efforts, its TPMs will continue to be unattractive in comparison with less-proven but more-popular alternatives. This is because of the TPMs' extremely high cost of entry in terms of hardware, software and skills building — a major concern for IBM TPM users, because skills are forecast to become increasingly rare (and, therefore, expensive) during the next five to 10 years. As a result, IBM's TPMs will be confined to their current installed base and will not gain a significant number of new clients, despite their superior maturity and enterprise readiness. 2.2.1 CICS TS Customer Information Control System (CICS) Transaction Server (TS) is IBM's flagship OLTP application platform and the market-dominating enterprise-class application environment since the 1970s. Because of its deep integration with the underlying z/OS (and DOS/VSE) operating system and zSeries mainframe hardware architecture, CICS TS remains one of the most scalable, secure and highly available application environments on the market. CICS TS has a large — albeit slowly shrinking — installed base of about 6,000 enterprises and supports mission- critical business applications with tens of thousands of concurrent users and tens of millions of transactions per day. Since the late 1990s, IBM has been constantly modernizing CICS programming through the addition of support for Java, Enterprise JavaBeans 1.1 Session Beans, Java Database Connectivity (JDBC), Remote Method Invocation (RMI)/Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP), and Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI). IBM also introduced an XML parsing capability, a wide range of connectivity options, including HTTP, the J2EE Connector Architecture (JCA)- compliant CICS Transaction Gateway and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) support. IBM

continues to invest in the evolution of CICS, and it will focus on simplifying manageability, further extensions to the CICS programming model and connectivity enhancements. Users of CICS TS can rely on it for the next five years and beyond, and can comfortably plan for new developments. 2.2.2 IMS TM The more than 30-year-old z/OS-based Information Management System (IMS) Transaction Manager (TM) is an OLTP workhorse able to handle tens of millions of transactions per day and comfortably accommodate increasing and fluctuating workloads, like those introduced by Internet applications. The IMS installed base accounts for approximately 3,000 customers, including some of the largest organizations worldwide. IMS TM and related products (such as IMS DB, a hierarchical database management system, and other tools) have massive and growing revenue, and very few organizations have plans to turn off their IMS systems. However, the number of new IMS applications under development is equally narrow. IBM keeps modernizing the IMS programming model (adding support for Java, JDBC, XML and so on), extending connectivity options (including WebSphere MQ and the JCA-compliant IMS Connect), improving the quality of services, and adding tools to manage, automate, administer and tune IMS applications and databases. For IMS customers, IMS is still a viable, even unmatched, platform to support ultrahigh-end OLTP systems. 2.2.3 TXSeries TXSeries is IBM's TPM product for Unix and Windows platforms. Developed in the early 1990s, it was originally based on the now obsolete, but then visionary, remote procedure call middleware platform known as Open Software Foundation Distributed Computing Environment (OSF-DCE). TXSeries used to expose two programming models: the CICS application programming interfaces (APIs) and the native Encina platform. Both the DCE infrastructure and the Encina monitor have been removed from the most-recent version of the product (version 6), thus repositioning the product as the entry level of the CICS TS family. TXSeries interoperates with CICS TS through Systems Network Architecture (SNA) and TCP/IP standards, and supports COBOL, C, C++, PL/1 and Java programming, but only a subset of the CICS TS API is provided. TXSeries accounts for several customers and some large deployments, but it never gained widespread adoption and was generally used mostly as a transaction gateway into CICS, rarely as a platform for new developments. After years of static or declining revenue, the market has shown renewed interest in the product — especially in the Asia/Pacific region — after it was moved under the responsibility of the CICS TS development team. Organizations — especially those with CICS skills — looking for a non-J2EE transactional platform should consider TXSeries as the main alternative to BEA Tuxedo, although less proven in large-scale, business-critical transactional applications than the BEA Systems product. In certain cases, TXSeries can also be considered for downsizing small or midsize CICS applications. 2.2.4 z/TPF The zSeries Transaction Processing Facility (z/TPF) is the most scalable OLTP platform on the market, although it is complex and, thus, expensive to maintain. TPF is a specialized architecture, based on a light process model that runs on top of the zSeries hardware, and not under z/OS control. This peculiar architecture enables z/TPF to process tens of thousands of transactions per second, but also makes it an esoteric platform for most users. The product has been continuously

refreshed with new technology meant to further improve performance and scalability, lower the implementation cost and provide extensive interoperability. z/TPF supports high-performance integration with TCP/IP, WebSphere MQ and IIOP, as well as e-mail — such as Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) and Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3). Perl, C and C++, including most of the Posix interfaces, as well as native integration with the Apache HTTP server are also provided. IBM plans to further extend z/TPF with Java and 64-bit hardware architecture support. The company will use those new features to incrementally upgrade the current 50- to 70-client-strong installed base. z/TPF recently switched development platforms to Linux, which permits the localization of developer computing resources and the use of widely available skills for z/TPF application development. Its complexity notwithstanding, for the most extreme, ultrahigh-end applications (as in the largest airline reservation systems or the largest ATM networks), TPF is the only answer. 2.3 Micro Focus International Newbury, United Kingdom www.microfocus.com Analysis by Massimo Pezzini (December 2005) Micro Focus, founded in 1976, is a publicly traded company. Its offerings include a variety of tools to support legacy application development and deployment on mainframes, Windows, Unix and Linux platforms. Micro Focus has a very large installed base worldwide and enjoys long-lasting and solid partnerships with premier system vendors, systems integrators and software companies. The Micro Focus COBOL development suite, Micro Focus Studio, is supported by the Micro Focus Server, a COBOL-based application server for Windows, Unix and Linux platforms. The Micro Focus Server Enterprise Edition provides a CICS compatibility layer to enable the porting of CICS mainframe applications to Windows, AIX, zSeries Linux, Intel Linux (Red Hat, SUSE), Solaris and HP-UX. This CICS "clone" layer supports compatibility with CICS 4.x, CICS TS 1.3 and 2.1, interoperates with CICS TS through IBM's CICS Transaction Gateway, and provides Web services and connectivity with .NET and JCA-based J2EE applications. Micro Focus Server Enterprise Edition is targeted at the evolutionary modernization of mainframe applications and reducing total cost of ownership (TCO) through the rehosting of selected mainframe workloads on lower-cost platforms (Linux, Unix or Windows). Micro Focus' strategy for Micro Focus Server is based on partnerships to enable systems integrators to resell the product and provide migration services. At the moment, about 50 migration partners, prevailingly boutique systems integrators, but also large companies, such as Accenture, CSC, EDS, HP, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services, have committed to building the rehosting elements of their legacy modernization practices around Enterprise Edition. A few partners (for example, CSC and DI.GI in Italy) are also porting mainframe, CICS-based packaged applications to Unix, Linux or Windows through Enterprise Edition. Micro Focus has also established a high-profile marketing and technology alliance with Microsoft around Micro Focus Server in the context of the Mainframe Migration Alliance, an organization also including EDS, Fujitsu and other systems integrators. At the moment, Enterprise Edition has a customer base of about 30, either in production or in the final stages of initial migration projects.

Micro Focus has built solid credibility as a provider of COBOL technology. Moreover, Micro Focus Server Enterprise Edition is based on proven technology that Micro Focus has been selling for several years as a part of Mainframe Express — a Windows development and testing environment for CICS COBOL developers. Hence, Micro Focus is well-positioned to intercept the (slow) ongoing erosion at the low end of the CICS installed base (especially of CICS DOS/VSE users) to generate revenue and establish further credibility as a provider of enterprise-class platforms. Consider Micro Focus Server for the migration of CICS COBOL applications off the mainframe to Linux, Unix or Windows platforms, but also be aware of its relatively small installed base when compared with more popular "CICS clone" products. 2.4 Sun Microsystems Santa Clara, California www.sun.com Analysis by Massimo Pezzini (December 2005) Sun Microsystems entered the TPM market in late 2001 with the acquisition of technology, formerly known as Unikix, from Critical Path. This includes two main components: the original Unikix — a Unix-based CICS "clone," renamed Sun Mainframe Transaction Processing (MTP) — and a mainframe-compatible Job Control Language batch manager, now called the Sun Mainframe Batch Manager (MBM). These products had been in the market for years with different names and owners, and had been deployed in several mainframe downsizing projects before being acquired by Sun. The company claims an installed base of about 1,200 servers and 400 customers for MTP and MBM. Most of this derives from companies that downsized applications off small or midsize mainframes — 50 to 150 million instructions per second (MIPS). Some customers run large, business-critical applications; others are downsizing larger mainframe systems (600 to 1,000 MIPS). MTP is compatible with IBM's CICS TS, but Sun's strategy is not to mirror CICS evolution. MTP will only add features that are required to support the needs of clients migrating CICS applications off the mainframe. Framed in a mainframe rehosting program that includes consulting services and third-party software, MTP and MBM are mainly available on Solaris boxes, although the product is supported on AIX as well. In conjunction with partners, Sun has expanded the reach of its mainframe rehosting program to cover other environments, such as IBM's IMS, Groupe Bull's GCOS7, Unisys and Software AG's Natural/Adabas. The most-recent version of the product (MTP 8.1 and MBM 10.1) added support for Acucorp's ACUCOBOL-GT, a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol-based repository for role-based security, improvements in administration and management tools, support for External CICS Interface, and various performance enhancements. Strategically, the primary goal of the mainframe rehosting program is to drive sales of large Sun servers to companies looking to reduce their mainframe systems' TCO or to begin a strategic migration of their business-critical applications to alternative platforms. Users looking to reduce CICS applications' TCO — running on 50- to 1,000-MIPS mainframes — should consider Sun's mainframe rehosting products as a proven option; however, be aware that their evolution is primarily influenced by Sun's server hardware strategy. 2.5 Tmax Soft Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

www.tmaxsoft.com Analysis by Yefim Natis (December 2005) Tmax Soft was first founded in 1997 as a TPM company. Although its headquarters are registered in the United States, its R&D is in Korea, and nearly its entire installed base of more than 1,100 customer organizations is in the Asia/Pacific region, with the majority in Korea. Customers of Tmax Soft include such corporations as Samsung, Hyundai, Daewoo and BP. Tmax Soft has recently begun systematic investments into North American and European markets. Tmax Soft offers Tmax — an online TPM based on X/Open XATMI standards (compatible with Tuxedo ATMI) for C and COBOL programming. The company promotes Tmax as an alternative to BEA Tuxedo for high-end distributed transaction-processing applications. Tmax Soft's J2EE 1.4 compatible-certified application server Java Enterprise User Solutions (JEUS) is a clustered high-availability platform, oriented to high-end enterprise transaction processing. Tmax Soft customers are able to mix Java (via JEUS) and C or COBOL (via Tmax) programming in shared transactional contexts. JEUS is available under traditional perpetual licensing or under the innovative term subscription licensing. Tmax Soft also offers OpenFrame — a clone of IBM CICS for rehosting mainframe legacy applications to Unix, Linux and Windows; BizMaster — a business process management solution; and ProFrame — an integrated development and deployment infrastructure for service-oriented applications. Consider Tmax Soft when looking for a proven enterprise-class vendor with a broad high-end technology offering, when planning high-end transaction-processing projects for J2EE, C or COBOL programming, and especially when planning deployments in Korea and the Asia/Pacific region. 3.0 Bottom Line Organizations with investments in leading TPMs can plan for continuous support from vendors during the next five years and beyond. However, those adopting a classic TPM for new application projects must understand that this will limit their options in hiring skilled talent and acquiring extension tools and platform portability. Consider a new strategic commitment to a classic TPM for only the most demanding and technically skilled projects.