Winter Is Coming: How a Double Layer of Mainframe Investment and Value Helped Me Embrace My New Home

Winter is coming! No, I am not referring to a popular TV show that might sound familiar. I am talking about a bold journey to a new part of the country. With an offer in hand from Broadcom, my family left the sunny Bay Area and headed to Chicago. The concept of moving is a big deal and not for the faint of heart, I must say. A lot to consider on the personal side and on the professional side too. Plus, the expectation of a Chicago winter took this to another level, with a full dose of awareness of the notoriously bad winters there. Super cold, windy, and “lake effect” snowfall on top of regular winter storms. Brrrr! Was this wintery move the right one for my family? Fast forward to today, I can say resoundingly “yes!”

On the professional side, a huge factor for me was hearing Broadcom’s continuing commitment to the Mainframe platform. I remember asking myself, “is this for real?” I did my due diligence and kept testing. As I did, a feeling of excitement and confidence grew within me. These guys are serious! My due diligence paid off. There is no doubt to Broadcom’s commitment and investment in the Mainframe – and that this was the right move for me. Even better, I quickly found myself with Broadcom’s leadership team in acquisition discussions for a company called Relational Architects Inc (RAI). It didn’t take long. The deal was signed. RAI was acquired.

The RAI acquisition perfectly fit the overall Broadcom strategy – to deliver exceptional value to our enterprise customers. Smart Jobstream products allow our Db2 and IMS tools clients to resume execution of abended batch jobs often long running from the last checkpoint and not from the beginning of the job. The RLX family of products provide capabilities on top of native REXX to access Db2 and mainframe services, and TASKLIB+ helps clients manage their ISPF applications.

The acquisition closed in December 2020 and soon thereafter the first release plan was committed, all within the first year of closing the acquisition. The RAI team members made it happen with additional help to meet our aggressive timeline. Showing further investment, the Broadcom acquisition team added budget to hire additional developers. In parallel with planning release milestones, my team was interviewing candidates. Fast-forward to August 2021, Broadcom shipped our first RAI release and we added incredible new developers to our value stream. A win on top of a win.

So, what’s in RAI Release 20? Customers can now manage maintenance and new releases like any other Broadcom Mainframe software product using an industry standard installation method (SMP/E). The team also integrated a standard Broadcom license and checking mechanism. This means our customers are no longer required to open a case to get new keys. Additionally, we implemented standard coding techniques within the RAI product code base. All this was possible because of Broadcom investment in the team and dedication of resources to get it done.

So, if you haven’t checked out RAI Release 20, download it from the Broadcom Support Portal like any other Broadcom Mainframe product. It’s already integrated with our support process and any potential issues will get the same level of support that our customers expect from the Broadcom Mainframe team.

Oh, as for Chicago winters, I will be investing quite a bit in upgrading our winter clothing wardrobe. This city has so much to offer, amazing people, culture, and history. We are embracing and looking forward to our new future.

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