BMC Compuware Topaz Workbench Reviews

We are using the Topaz Workbench to replace file access, browsing, and editing  activities currently done in ISPF.  Also using XPEDITER in Topaz to debug programs.

The smart editor helps because it includes code completion technology, cutting down keyboard strokes. The flexibility of having a window longer than the ISPF max lines on a screen allows more lines to be viewed to get a better view of the code without the need to print it.

I've talked to some people who use it for applications and they are seeing that with the combination of our source management plugin and using the SlickEdit editor in Topaz, as well as being able to have the Host Explorer, is an improvement over ISPF. They have been able to see a savings of one day a week.

We can develop in parallel today on ISPF, but it is giving us the advantage of the newer interface into the mainframe programming languages that younger programmers can use and are familiar with, rather than using the ISPF green screen. Our intention is to use Topaz for the next generation of mainframe developers to maintain mainframe applications. As we hire new people, if they're familiar with an Eclipse environment, which Topaz is included, we can get people to become productive faster, because all they have to learn is the language. They don't have to learn how to manipulate through a green screen.

Another advantage of using Topaz is for IT personnel that are not familiar with the mainframe to now have an interface into our z/OS environment with an environment similar to the Windows Explorer interface instead of using TSO/ISPF.

I have also found that XPEDITER under Topaz is easier to use than the old green screen.  It is easy to save breakpoints in Topaz and reuse the test in Topaz than from a green screen in either CICS, or ISPF.

I really like the enhancements that have been coming from Compuware.  They listen to the ideas from their customers on how to improve the product.

Our use case is debugging using Xpediter.

The debugging is really the most important feature, enabling us to be able to step through.

The primary use is programming, database design, and development.

The most valuable feature of Topaz is Xpediter. It's more flexible than Xpediter through MVS.

Our primary goal wasn't using Topaz Workbench. Our primary goal was to satisfy people in cyber security roles. We just included it because people were using the product a little bit here. What we did was rolled everything up, taking all the plugins from other third-party vendors into the Eclipse state, then put those in as plugins.

With our environment, we have taken the core clutch open source software and added a third-party vendor plugin into Eclipse. We use the Topaz Workbench, but not for any insights in the programs. The software that we have today is still a basic level mainframe software integration in the total Eclipse environment. We haven't taken advantage of any new features or tools which are out there for any Eclipse-based tools.

The byproduct of setting our Eclipse up for cybersecurity should allow newer developers to work, who are used to this type of environment.

It helps our staff work by speeding up their documentation process.

It's an optional feature that our users are able to use for mainframe development and data analysis.

It has been an optional feature. It hasn't been very heavily used, so I don't really have a concrete example of how it has improved our organization. We are trying to ramp it up as we get more DevOps initiatives in the company.

Our developers use the tool for application development.

It's helping onboard application developers who might be new to the mainframe environment. Whether they're interns or global development resources, they might be new to the mainframe environment, and giving them this Eclipse tool to use, instead of having to learn the traditional mainframe interfaces, has helped them with that onboarding process.

We use it with mainframe. I'm a mainframe systems programmer, so we install the Compuware product onto the mainframe for our end users.

It speeds up processes, makes things easier, more efficient. From a mainframe perspective, the way the mainframe is utilized has become that much easier.