Compuware Topaz for Enterprise Data – delivers a trifecta of benefits

By Rich Ptak

        

Graphic courtesy of Compuware, Inc.

With the announcement of the latest release of Compuware Topaz for Enterprise Data, the company leverages Topaz’s modern interface for fast, simple access to data for testing and other purposes…critical to digital agility. Specifically, Topaz for Enterprise Data provides a powerful combination of data visualization, extract and load, and advanced data masking capabilities so companies can get maximum value from their high-value data.

“But, that’s what Topaz was designed for and has been delivering for some time!” - you say. True. However, this time the focus is on a long-festering problem that the pursuit of digitization and agile development has raised to a critical issue. Here’s the story.

Digitization, mainframe mainstreaming, KPIs & GDPR

Enterprises are realizing that DevOps on the mainframe is necessary if they want to be digitally competitive. As Compuware CEO Chris O’Malley often says, “big no longer beats small, fast beats slow.” Good test data management – and the tools that enable it – are core to DevOps. Without them, you can’t understand data and data relationships, automate unit testing and ultimately shorten development cycles, making it virtually impossible to bring high-quality deliverables to market faster.

Historically, enterprises have been unable to exploit the full business value of their data due to their reliance on siloed tools, ad hoc manual techniques and slow processes. They also had to rely on subject matter experts when working with disparate databases or when it was necessary to create and manage custom data sets. Exacerbating these problems was –and continues to be –the shrinking mainframe workforce and the transfer of platform stewardship to mainframe-inexperienced developers who are, rightly so, averse to tools that lack integrations and automation and are too complex and hard to use.

The Tide is Changing

The rise of the digitized enterprise raised management interest in mainframe operations. The mainframe as a data repository is a cornerstone to enterprise digitization. As a result, business management interest in the mainframe resulted in significantly increased pressures on DevOps for faster development of new and extended services that involved more complex data relationships and varied sources. The mainframe’s role in the success of the digital economy becoming more visible and recognized meant more focus on being able to measure and monitor performance and progress. Data management for code testing, agile development techniques, data visualization and automation became critical issues in mainframe DevOps.

The digitized enterprise raises the stakes to continuously monitor and raise performance base on business KPIs – Velocity, Quality, Efficiency, Privacy for all IT operations

Data protection during development and testing, especially when outsourcing, is also a top concern. The publicity and controversy resulting from abuses and lack of serious security in public data management increased interest in and awareness of GDPR. The result has been a dramatic escalation of concerns over and discussions of the legal responsibility implications of data security to preserve data privacy.

As senior mainframe professionals retire, and a new generation of DevOps staff take over stewardship of the mainframe, Topaz for Enterprise Data ensures that any sensitive business or personal data extracted from production is properly masked for privacy and compliance purposes, while preserving essential data relationships and characteristics.

Further, IT staffs are realizing the integral role data management plays in velocity, quality, and efficiency, as well as privacy. Creating mainframe KPIs to continuously drive success in these areas – and having a tool such as Topaz for Enterprise Data to ensure good data management throughout the lifecycle – is critical to long-term success in today’s digital-centric markets.

Topaz for Enterprise Data – That and More

Through the single, consistent user interface of Topaz for Enterprise Data, IT developers and operations staff can manage, edit, manipulate, analyze and view the disparate collection of data types and applications available to today’s mainframe. Developers can access and manage data of different types from diverse databases. Customized test data sets and subsets are easily created, anonymized and manipulated in a straightforward manner. Disguised sets and subsets of sensitive data can be created and stored for test runs, while maintaining the integrity of data relationships across multiple environments. All done without requiring the help of data specialists or experts in data analytics or specialized cross-database knowledge. The programmer has now become self-sufficient.

The Final Word

Compuware delivers once again by expanding its portfolio of new, improved and extended solutions that pave the way to broad mainframe popularity and extended application. Their approach is based on accelerating and applying agile development solutions that make the mainframe increasingly attractive and easier to use by millennial DevOps and management staff.  

Today’s enterprises are all about digitization and digital agility goals. Enterprise managers rely on KPI’s to track DevOps performance and data management as measured in terms of velocity, quality, efficiency and privacy protection. Reliance on inefficient, labor-intensive manual processes and tools frustrate the achievement of KPI goals. In Topaz, Compuware combines disparate manual tools and processes under a common UI and facilitates automation of complex processes to assure reliable, consistent, secure and speedy data management and exploitation.

The payoff with this latest version of Compuware’s Topaz for Enterprise Data will be seen not only in improving performance as reflected in KPIs. But also, in better, more efficient utilization and, importantly, increased the satisfaction of valuable staff. For 15-quarters now Compuware has been refining their vision and implementation processed to mainstream the mainframe. Consider the effort and time spent over the last 50 years to identify and resolve problems associated with mainframe operations, management and applications. Further, consider that Compuware’s impressive contributions have consistently been created and delivered faster than competitors. We believe that the Compuware team deserves significant credit for a job very well done. Check them out.   

Publication Date: July 6, 2018

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