IBA Group Showcases Modern Tools at SHARE Kansas City 2024

At SHARE Kansas City 2024, IBA Group showcased its expertise in modernization of mainframe systems through leading technical sessions, contributing to the discussions around Zowe™, and debuting the new Zowe™ COBOL Plugin.

Mainframe Testing Sessions

Led by Alex Burak and Uladzislau Kalesnikau, IBA Group’s testing sessions focused on integrating modern tools like Galasa, test4z, Cobol Check, and IntelliJ with mainframe environments. These sessions emphasized the importance of automating testing processes within CI/CD pipelines, highlighting the critical role of early bug detection in achieving improvements in software quality.

The sessions discussed the following key testing methodologies:

Unit Testing. Focuses on testing individual components of the system, such as a single program or code paragraph, to ensure they work correctly in isolation. Common tools include Cobol Check and Test4z.

Integration Testing. Evaluates how components interact within the mainframe and with external systems. It ensures that combined applications function correctly. Uses tools like CICS Interdependency Analyzer.

Functional Testing. Verifies that the application’s features work as intended across various scenarios. Tools like HCL OneTest and Galasa are used for this stage.

The sessions emphasized the benefits of automating these testing stages, including reduced defects, faster testing, and higher SLA compliance. Challenges such as dealing with legacy systems and integrating testing into modern CI/CD pipelines were also addressed.

IBA Group will be publishing a series of articles to explore mainframe testing, the associated challenges, and potential solutions.

Zowe™ Project

As a contributor to the Zowe™ project since 2020, IBA Group featured the following key sessions:

Zowe™ v3 Preview. In collaboration with Zowe™ team members Joe Winchester, Rose Sakach, Jan Prihoda, Billie Jean Simmons, and Andrej Chmelo, IBA Group participated in the session that outlined new functions and upcoming changes in Zowe™ v3.

Zowe™ and Galasa Integration. Alongside Joe Winchester, Gerald Mitchell, and Billie Jean Simmons, IBA Group contributed to the session that demonstrated how Zowe™ and Galasa work together to enhance mainframe management and testing, providing practical insights into their integration.

New Zowe™ COBOL Plugin for IntelliJ IDEA™

A highlight at IBA Group’s booth was the live demo of the Zowe™ COBOL Plugin for IntelliJ IDEA™. Designed to enhance a developer experience, the plugin features automatic completion and syntax highlighting, and is seamlessly integrated with IDEs like VS Code and IntelliJ. The demo was well received and the visitors recognized the potential of the plugin for the streamlining of COBOL development.

IBA Group extends its sincere thanks to everyone who attended the sessions and collaborated with the company’s team at SHARE Kansas City 2024. Your insights and feedback were invaluable. Special thanks to John Mertic and Maemalynn Nokdhes Meanor from the Open Mainframe Project for their leadership and support.

IBA Group is committed to continuing the work on addressing the challenges and opportunities in mainframe technology. Looking ahead, we are excited to explore new possibilities and remain dedicated to providing solutions that meet your needs.

Thank you for your support and trust. IBA Group looks forward to continuing this journey together at SHARE in Washington, DC, in 2025.