IBM announced new System z software to enable companies to drive down IT costs while increasing business flexibility and improving service. The company plans to release approximately 30 new software technology enhancements in 2009 that extend the advantages of using System z as a platform for developing, deploying and running applications and business data.

The announcement is part of IBM’s ongoing pursuit to help customers simplify their environment and reduce costs by migrating scattered applications and data onto a lower cost, more scalable and manageable platform.

The software initiative spans IBM’s branded product lines for application architecture, development, and delivery; business intelligence and database management; transaction management and IT service management.

Market adoption of System z as a platform for new applications is demonstrated by the growth in ISV interest in the IBM mainframe. Over the last year, more than 150 new ISVs have embraced the platform, and more than 1,000 new vendor applications were added.

IBM today announced 12 of the 30 software products and enhancements for System z.

For application architecture, development, and delivery: IBM Rational System Architect v11.3 and Rational Focal Point for Product and Portfolio Management v6.4; IBM Rational Developer for System z v7.6; and IBM Rational Team Concert for System z v2.0.

For business intelligence and new database technology, recently announced and future IBM software products include: InfoSphere Warehouse for System z; Cognos 8 BI for Linux on System z v8.4. The next Version of DB2 for z/OS will boost performance, lower administration and maintenance requirements, while improving the efficiency of application developers and database administrators. Available later this year, IMS 11 provides Open Database support which makes interaction with other applications and databases much simpler, faster, and more cost effective to implement.

For transaction management, recently announced IBM software products include: CICS Transaction Server v4.1 and WebSphere Business Events v6.2.1 for z/OS.

For IT Service Management, Tivoli OMEGAMON provides integrated monitoring throughout the enterprise to assure the highest quality application performance. Tivoli Security Management for z/OS helps simplify security administration and user management, establish security policy controls, and automate auditing and compliance reporting. Tivoli Key Lifecycle Management for z/OS delivers platform independent, extreme security for corporate information which can be accessed by thousands of applications inside and outside the enterprise, while combining automated management to minimize required maintenance. Tivoli Workload Scheduler v8.5 provides more intelligent scheduling, boosting throughput with minimal human intervention through increased automation.

Recent IBM System z wins include 40 competitive accounts and System z adoption around the world, such as HDFC Bank in India, Russian Railways, Travelport, Donovan Data Systems (UK), Handelsbanken (Sweden), Daishi Bank (Japan), Sun Life Financial (Canada), Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia, among others.