SupportConnect - Advantage CA-Datacom Database and Advantage CA-Ideal Newsletter, Version 07.01
  

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CA
E-News
CA-Datacom® Database and
CA-Ideal® Newsletter

Version 07.01
January 31, 2007

In This Newsletter

Product News
> CA Simplifies Product Names
> CA-Datacom® 2006 Year in Review
> CA-Datacom® Development Buddy Program
> CA-Datacom® Database Server Option r11 Beta Program
> CA-Ideal® r11 Beta Program
> CA-Datacom® "Follow The Sun" Support
> CA-Datacom® and Daylight Saving Time

Product Updates
> Current Releases With Service Pack Levels

Special Events
> CA WORLD® 2007 and Webcast on Modernizing CA-Datacom®
> User Group Hot Line
> Planned Technical Webcasts for 2007
> Webcast Replay Links From 2006

General Information

CA Simplifies Product Names
Beginning January 30, 2007, CA is simplifying its product names. Our intention is to describe our products by what they enable you and your business to accomplish. Some names have already changed; others will change over the next 12-18 months as part of the planned development cycle. There is nothing you need to do. We have established a dedicated site at ca.com/productnames as a resource center where you'll find additional information such as frequently asked questions, customer service numbers, and a list of current product names and former names.

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CA-Datacom® 2006 Year in Review
2006 was a very active year for the CA-Datacom team and our customers. Here are just a few of the 2006 highlights:

  • New team members. The year got off to a good start with the addition of several new
    CA-Datacom team members. The CA Mainframe Center of Excellence in Prague graduated its first class of new CA-Datacom developers in early 2006. This team of new development talent has already delivered several new important features for our
    CA-Datacom clients.

    Team Prague, working directly with the Business Values Metrics (BVM) tuning methodology, has delivered the initial installment of the AutoCollect system for z/OS. For clients that have not heard of BVM and AutoCollect, this is a new system for the automatic collection and generation of CA-Datacom system performance statistics (for tuning and system performance monitoring). Applying BVM to the information collected by AutoCollect allows clients to provide real measurement of the business benefits of database performance tuning. If you want to know more about AutoCollect, view the
    CA-Datacom Tuning 105 presentation.

    Our Prague team has also embarked on several additional development projects including delivering a newly refurbished CA-Datacom® Resource Analyzer r11. This product provides a user-friendly interface to track and maintain CA-Datacom SQL and CBS application performance. Significant performance benefits are possible for
    CA-Ideal® customers by providing a way to measure and track existing application performance (at the CA-Ideal statement level) and compare that with historical measurements. For SQL customers, it provides the same level of detail for each SQL statement. CA-Datacom Resource Analyzer r11 is now in final QA with BETA planned for early 2007. For customers that do not have SQL implemented on their CA-Ideal systems, this product has been enhanced to run in a non-SQL environment.

  • CA-Datacom r11.2 (r11 SP2). In May 2006, we released CA-Datacom r11 SP2, which introduced over 30 new enhancements including significant 24x7 and performance improvements such as: Online Index Defrag, Online Data Reorg, Parallel Variable Log Blocks, Parallel Index Queue processors, Shadow MUF, History Database, Forward Recovery by Master Key, and much more. Please read the press release and view the webcast (executive webcast).

  • CA-Datacom Roadmap. You can view or download the current roadmap from the SupportConnectSM CA-Datacom product page.

  • Webcasts. 2006 was a very busy year for CA-Datacom Technical Webcasts. There were over 20 different webcasts that were delivered including the BVM tuning series, the CADRE quarterly user group meetings and Technology Updates for new product releases and enhancements. Most of these webcasts are available for replay at ca.com/Datacom through the "Webcast Replays" link or on the SupportConnect
    CA-Datacom product page through the "Video/Webcast Library" link.

  • Publicity. The r11 SP2 press release generated a lot of publicity through articles and interviews. Here are some of the highlights:

We had a great 2006 and we are looking forward to a great 2007. The CA-Datacom product team wishes you a successful and happy 2007.

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CA-Datacom® Development Buddy Program
The CA-Datacom development team is actively seeking Development (Dev) Buddies to participate in pre-beta testing for new features planned for the following products:

  • CA-Datacom® Server r11
  • CA-Datacom® Resource Analyzer r11
  • CA-Datacom® r11.4

By participating in the Dev Buddy program, you can provide feedback on individual features before the code is frozen.

We are tentatively planning June 2007 for the start of CA-Datacom r12 Dev Buddy testing.
CA-Datacom r12 has a wealth of new functionality for improved open access, hardware and software exploitation, availability, performance, and ease-of-use. The roadmap, accessible from the CA-Datacom Support Page, contains an overview of the planned features. We encourage you to plan your summer schedule now to include some time for this opportunity to work directly with the CA-Datacom development team.

The Dev Buddy website has more information about the program and the application for signing up to be a Dev Buddy.

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CA-Datacom® Database Server Option r11 Beta Program
CA is pleased to invite you to participate in the CA-Datacom Server r11 Beta program. Your participation offers you the ability to validate CA-Datacom Server r11 in your own environment, allowing you to give us feedback on product enhancements, quality, and the beta program.

Your contribution to this critical product test cycle is directly related to the success of the generally available (GA) release of CA products and ensures we deliver solutions that are ready to meet your real-world requirements.

As a participant in the beta program, you will communicate directly with the Beta Research and Development team to investigate and address any reported problems, questions, or comments.

Key Features:

  • Native TCP/IP Support on Windows and UNIX System Services
  • Additional JDBC 3.0 Compliance Features
  • CLOSE and PRESERVE support for COMMIT and ROLLBACK
  • 31-bit Addressing (increased memory available)
  • Support for SQLPrimary and SQLForeignKeys
  • Dynamic LPAR Identity
  • Mixed Case Passwords (ODBC)

Get information and register for the CA Server r11 beta program.

For more information on CA's Enhanced Beta Programs and Participation Requirements, please visit ca.com/betas.

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CA-Ideal® r11 Beta Program
CA is pleased to invite you to participate in the CA-Ideal® for CA-Datacom® r11 (CA-Ideal) Beta program. Your participation offers you the ability to validate this new product in your own environment, allowing you to give us feedback on product enhancements, quality and the beta program.

Your contribution to this critical product test cycle is directly related to the success of the generally available (GA) release of CA products and ensures we deliver solutions that are ready to meet your real-world requirements.

As a participant in the beta program, you will communicate directly with the Beta Research and Development team to investigate and address any reported problems, questions or comments.

CA-Ideal is an integrated mainframe application development system for z/OS and VSE that addresses all aspects of application creation, maintenance and prototyping. SQL statements can be coded directly into CA-Ideal applications or can be automatically generated by the compiler.

Top Three Key Features

  • Online interactive compilation and testing
  • Line command statement templates
  • Interactive symbolic debug facility

What's New

  • Table partitioning support
  • Multi-MUF support
  • Cursor behavior support
  • Asynchronous run support
  • Edit runtime settings

Get information and register for the CA-Ideal r11 beta program.

Sincerely,
CA-Ideal Beta Team

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CA-Datacom® "Follow The Sun" Support
Follow the Sun adds a new level of "after hours" support for Severity 1 issues. In an ongoing effort to provide world-class technical support, regardless of the hour or geographical location, the CA-Datacom technical support team has implemented a "follow the sun" support process. This provides an additional level of emergency after-hours support for severity one issues by utilizing our worldwide technical expertise.

Customers who call Technical Support with a CA-Datacom Severity 1 issue during U.S. non-business hours may now have their call handled by a CA-Datacom Support technician located outside the U.S. These non-U.S. based technicians will be individuals that are working at their local CA office with all of the CA support systems at their disposal (including direct contact to the US-based technicians that are on-call).

If for any reason the remote technician is not available, the Severity 1 call will be immediately turned over to our after-hours support desk which will page one of our U.S.-based technicians to take the call and work with the customer.

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CA-Datacom® and Daylight Saving Time
See CA's Statement Regarding the New Daylight Saving Time Change: March 11 -
November 4, 2007
.

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Product Updates
Current Releases With Service Pack Levels
The following tapes are generally available (GA) for the CA-Datacom®/CA-Ideal® products:

Product(s)
Release
Service Pack
CA-Datacom® core products:
CA-Datacom/DB Datadictionary™
CA-Dataquery™ Extended SQL Option
r11
r10*
(*Note: Support
drops 02/28/2007.)
SP3
SP4
CA-Datacom® CICS Services
r11
r2.6
base
SP6
CA-Datacom® Server
r5
SP2
CA-Datacom® VSAM Transparency - z/OS
r2.2
SP3
CA-Datacom® VSAM Transparency - VSE
r2.1
SP3
CA-Datacom® DL1 Transparency
r2.3
SP3
CA-Datacom® Total Transparency
r1
SP13
CA-Datacom® DB2 Transparency
r1
9807
CA-Datacom® Star - z/OS
r2.2
9710
CA-Datacom® Fast Restore™ - z/OS
r10
base
CA-Datacom® Fast Restore™ - VSE
r9
9809
CA-Datacom® Presspack - z/OS
r9
SP1
CA-Datacom® IMS/DC Services
r1
SP9
CA-Ideal
r2.2
SP10
CA IPC - z/OS
r11
r4.2
base
SP6
CA IPC - VSE
r4.2
SP6
CA-Datacom® Resource Analyzer
r9
9903
CA-Datacom®/AD
r11
r10
SP2
SP4

To place an order for any of these service packs, go to the product order page or call CA at 1-800-637-5858.

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Special Events
CA WORLD® 2007 and Webcast on Modernizing CA-Datacom®
Coming soon: CA WORLD 2007
January 17, 2007 Preview Recording: CA WORLD Preview - AutoCollect Overview

CA WORLD 2007, being held April 22-26, 2007, in Las Vegas, Nevada, will be here before we know it. Register here for the conference by February 14, 2007, and you can save $200 on the registration fee. If you are a member of the CA-Datacom user group (CADRE), you can save an additional $200 on the registration.

Why should you come to CA WORLD 2007? For one thing, you can learn how to modernize your CA-Datacom systems. As a CA WORLD 2007 preview, we presented a 30-minute webcast on January 17, 2007, about our automated CA-Datacom performance metric tool called AutoCollect and highlighted CA WORLD 2007 sessions from CA customers and partners that drill down into specific aspects of modernizing CA-Datacom. The webcast also described the other CA-Datacom sessions, programs, and opportunities at CA WORLD 2007. You can view the recording at ca.com/webcasts. Use "Webcast Replays" as search criteria.

So make your plans to come to CA WORLD 2007 and share your insights and experiences on modernizing CA-Datacom.

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User Group Hot Line
CA supports more than 250 user groups. To find recognized CA user groups, attend a user group meeting, or establish a user group in your area, visit CA User Groups. The
CA-Datacom® user group is listed in the directory under "CADRE".

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Planned Technical Webcasts for 2007
We will continue the delivery of technical webcasts during 2007. These webcasts will be scheduled about once per month with each webcast presenting a key topic. These webcasts were very successful in 2006 and we want to continue the trend for 2007.

However, we need your input. If you have an idea for a technical webcast, please send an email to (Rick.Reagan@ca.com). Rick is the CA-Datacom® Product Manager, and is formulating a list of topics for 2007 right now.

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Webcast Replay Links From 2006
As stated above, we had over 20 technical webcasts delivered in 2006. Some of these webcasts are available for replay at ca.com/Datacom through the "Webcast Replays" link or on the SupportConnectSM CA-Datacom® product page through the "Video/Webcast Library" link.

Here is a list of the 2006 webcasts that are currently available for viewing:

  • CA-Datacom Roadmap
  • CA-Datacom r11.2 Technology Update
  • CA-Datacom r11.2 Executive Overview
  • Database Tuning 101: Establishing a Performance Baseline
  • Database Tuning 102: DB Performance Analysis (A Customer Case Study)
  • Database Tuning 103: Applying Performance Tuning Techniques (A Customer Case Study ...continued)
  • Database Tuning 104: Database Business Value Metrics
  • Database Tuning 105: Automating Database Business Value Metrics
  • Database Tuning 106: Online Reorg Facility
  • Database Tuning 107: Memory Resident Data Facility
  • CA-Datacom®/AD r11.2 Quick Upgrade Procedure
  • CA-Datacom/AD Shadow MUF Configuration Steps for Unplanned Outages

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