The newest version of IBM Z’s premier operating system is jam-packed with innovation to help clients build applications and services based on the highly scalable and secured mainframe infrastructure. It provides performance and availability for on-premises or provisioned-as-a-service workloads as businesses continue their digital transformation.

z/OS V2.4 is designed to improve the integration of z/OS applications and data into new hybrid multi-cloud environments. Further delivering on our open strategy for z/OS and IBM Z, IBM® z/OS® Container Extensions (IBM zCX) are designed to run Linux on Z applications that are packaged as Docker container images on z/OS.

These containers are collocated with existing z/OS applications and data without requiring a separately provisioned Linux server. This enhancement to z/OS is designed to let developers build new containerized apps, using Docker and Linux skills and patterns, deploy them on z/OS, all without requiring any z/OS skills. While at the same time, z/OS administrators can bring containerized applications to enhance their mission-critical workloads all without having to know Linux.

Application access to data analytics on z/OS could be made more open by providing application developers with standard OpenAPI compliant RESTful services to leverage the rich transactional data on z/OS in their next game-changing applications.

Other new features are included while continuing our commitment to security and data protection on the platform. See the announcement below for more detail.

The new version has been created with client input at every step of the way, using IBM Design thinking methodology and agile development practices to ensure we deliver what our clients need.

z/OS V2.4 runs on IBM z14 Models M01-M05, z14 Model ZR1, z13, z13s, zEC12 and zBC12.

Come and see what’s new, and learn more about the new functions and features delivered in z/OS V2.4 here.