IBM® z/OS® Management Facility (z/OSMF) provides a modern, web-based interface that allows you to manage various aspects of your z/OS systems through a browser at any time, from any location.

z/OSMF is a product for IBM z/OS® that simplifies, optimizes, and modernizes the z/OS system programmer experience. z/OSMF delivers solutions in a task-oriented, web-browser-based user interface with integrated user assistance. Its focus is to improve system programmer productivity, and make the z/OS functions easier to understand and use. The goal of z/OSMF is not to simplify IT in an organization; the goal is to simplify certain tasks for system programmers.

The intention of z/OSMF is to make system programmers productive as quickly as possible with the least amount of training. This task is accomplished by automating tasks and reducing the learning curve through a modern, simplified, and intuitive task-based and browser-based interface.

z/OSMF is aimed at a mixed skills workforce: It is suited to both professionals who are new to z/OS and those who are already skilled in z/OS. Each professional has their own needs and faces their own challenges. Novice system programmer might need to understand the "big picture" and how procedures are done. Novices must get documentation on procedures and tasks, and implement them according to the rules of the enterprise. Experienced system programmers, conversely, have knowledge of tasks and procedures, so the goal is to make their work less error-prone and easier. This allows them to be more productive and contribute more to their business.

z/OS has been delivering simplification since it was introduced, but z/OSMF brings a new dimension and focus to simplification. z/OSMF simplifies and modernizes the user experience and helps make pertinent information readily available and easily accessible.

The first release of z/OSMF was z/OSMF V1.11 and was delivered with z/OS V1.11. Since then, there has been a z/OSMF release with every release of z/OS, with some functional enhancements in between releases.

The following figure shows the Welcome window of the z/OS Management Facility.


Figure 1. z/OSMF Welcome window


Did you know?

z/OSMF V2R1 includes the IBM® WebSphere® Application Server for z/OS V8.5 Liberty profile, which is a composable smaller run time that can be embedded in the application. WebSphere Application Server for z/OS V7.0 OEM Edition, which was packaged with z/OSMF, required separate configuration and application deployment. This new z/OSMF V2R1 package has the run time embedded, which means easier configuration, a smaller footprint, reduced resource requirements, and faster starting and stopping. You get to use the Java Runtime 7 64-bit version that is installed on your z/OS system.


Business value

An IT organization has many domains. There is business management, business development, and service management, each of which has its own disciplines and areas in which it works. Simplification is required. There is a need for organization and tools, not only in each area, but across all these areas. For z/OS Systems Management simplification, the focus is on the system programmer.

The system programmer is a technical expert that is responsible for ensuring that the infrastructure is available. The areas that system programmers traditionally cover are installation, configuration, maintenance, disaster recovery, and enabling new functions, problem analysis, and determination. All of these areas have the following goal in common: Make sure that the system is available and running correctly.

Currently, there is no central system management portal for z/OS, and the many interfaces that are available are unfamiliar to users that are new to z/OS. In many cases, there are many manual tasks that require the review of extensive documentation and the possession of years of z/OS experience to be productive.

The following two sections list some of the challenges that are faced by both new and experienced systems programmers regarding z/OSMF.

There are many challenges for novice system programmers: