CA Database Management for DB2 for zOS Reviews

I basically use the solution for database management and to view the performance of a particular database object, any specific program, batch program, or online programs. Using the CSSZ tool, I can effectively monitor performance. In case of an exception, I can inform the application team. At DB2, I can also determine what's going on and what the exact issue is. Based on that, I can make conclusions to improve my personal system.

In CADV2, the most improved feature is report generation. The reports generated and the old statistics shown are really helpful.

In the case of any particular SQL which is executing for a longer time and causing issues with any particular store or DB2 programs, if it could pinpoint the problems like any other tool should do, that would be really helpful.

Tim provides excellent customer service.

Neutral

I previously used a stream solution.

The initial setup was straightforward.

The solution operates on JetOS platform. It is a very good, perfect solution. I would rate it ten out of ten.

Currently, I do not have any planning for investment at all. 

It's our DBA product for our database.

It gives us better insight into our tables and our databases. It pulls all of the information from different directions back together, I think that's how it helps us.

Detector and Query. We use Detector for problem determination and Query, all day, to determine information about our tables and databases.

Also, it takes advantage of new features of DB2.

Nine out of 10.

Nine out of 10.

10 out of 10.

We did use a different solution, DBA Expert, and we switched because it was not compatible with the new release of DB2.

It was pretty straightforward.

It's a good product. I would give it a nine out of 10, and the reason is, in general, it's a technical product so I think that it's a little cumbersome.

Monitoring performance in test and production DB2 systems.

Provides accurate reports of components usage; helps tune performance.

There are many valuable features. I would say the most important are batch reporting and the ability to create repositories, enabling automated analysis. These are valuable because they enable me to do automated analysis of trends over time and reduce the time for comparing performance between two periods to identify anomalies.

I think CA is working on performance repositories; we use our own tools as an extension. They need to provide a way to create and maintain performance repositories. The online tool is not perfect, but it is giving me what I need.

No issues with stability.

No issues with scalability.

Excellent.

The solution was installed before I started working here.

Very good and robust product.

Improved monitoring and performance management.

It depends on the environment. For some customers some products are more valuable than others. For sure SYSVIEW, CA Detector and RC/ products.

Minor stability issues.

No issues.

Excellent.

BMC and IBM tools for DB2.

I don’t know.

Able to research issues.

I would say Detector and RC/Query.  The DBAs might say differently.  I use these the most.

They could work on the installation process main job that runs, maybe break it up into several jobs instead of one.

No issues.

No issues.

Excellent.

We switched to the IBM tools for a short time and switched back, due to contract pricing.

Pretty straightforward.

I was not involved.

Research to determine if this product resolves your top five issues.

We use it for performance analysis and troubleshooting. 

It helps us to reduce hardware costs and to optimize processing times.

It tracks the activity at a detail level.

Trend analysis.

All the information we need, we could use to have it in a more usable format.

It is very stable. We have had no issues.

It is very scalable.

I was not involved in the initial setup.

It is a very useful tool for performance monitoring.

PDA and PPA make our daily housekeeping easier and prevents us from unnecessary reorganizations. It is a tool that can also be used by those that don’t have much knowledge

It allowed us to automate all of our housekeeping.

I look forward to the application of these tools to all platforms in use, such as z/OS, Unix, and Windows.

I would like to have the possibility, so as to have access from my host tool, for instance to Unix. By way of this example, I use RC/Query to find objects (such as tablespaces, tables, etc.) on the host and also, in Unix. On the Main panel of the tools, there is one field called location and there I want to choose, if the information I get is from the host or Unix.

I have used this solution for about 25 years.

We have not had any stability issues.

We have not had any scalability issues.

I would rate technical very high.

We did not have a previous solution.

Setup was easy.

We compared BMC and at that time, Platinum; today, CA.

It is quick to install, easy to keep it up to date and easy to use.

The biggest functionality for me was with SYSVIEW for DB2. I used all the functions but exceptions and possible monitoring related to it.

I left the company when we started implementing v19 and I know from my colleague that in v19, they implement the exceptions function I asked for, which checks for stopped databases.

It improved the DB2 v11 upgrade process, so I was able to check more and react faster to problems we observed such as required rebinds.

The vendor reacts to my requests and implements our requirements, which is a benefit of contacting the developers in Prague directly.

I have used the solution for four years including version upgrades.

We had no issues with stability. Everything was working perfectly with DB2 v10 and v11 after the upgrade.

We had no issues with scalability but our systems are not so large. For this amount of customers and systems, it worked almost perfectly (more than 80 LPARs).

About eight out of the ten issues we had were resolved in less than a week.

Only one issue was not resolved but this was because the customer did not agree to send data which the vendor asked for as it was user-sensitive data but without this, a full investigation was not possible. The customer agreed with this.

We also evaluated BMC. CA solutions were cheaper.

In the beginning, we had the possibility to compare solutions and a whole replacement was easier.

You should check the prices over the whole license period and make a future agreement; for example, adding information about a maximum price for a future new contract after replacement. The second contract probably will not be so good like the first one.

We evaluated IBM, BMC and CA.

Check if you have any written procedures and how complicated they are. Our own written procedures delayed the whole project from six months to more than a year.

RC/Query is vital. It is my window to the catalog and helps me find what I need quickly and efficiently. I am in that tool all day long. Detector is my go-to product when something goes wrong. Never trust what someone tells you has happened with their query; let Detector show you. Insight and Detector both provide valuable insight (pun intended) into what is really going on in your subsystem, and has been invaluable in both problem solving and performance and tuning tasks.

We use the Display Impact report in RC/Query as part of our database development life cycle process to make sure that we account for all items that might be affected by any particular change. We have used Detector in countless situations to pinpoint performance issues quickly. We have used Insight to identify the users of particular items and to identify hot spots on our systems. We have used Log Analyzer to recover data lost in errant production jobs. We use the DDL function of RC/Query to give us our baseline and backout text for all database changes. Those are just a few of the tasks that we use these tools for.

Sometimes I find that some of the tasks are not intuitive, such as using PF3 to continue with a screen progression rather than using PF3 to back out. I have had more difficulty navigating through CA’s documentation than with other vendors, although there have been improvements lately.

I have used these tools for over 12 years.

These tools have had their share of bugs. We are currently working through some issues right now. I suggest not being an early adopter of new releases.

There have not been scalability issues in my experience.

I don’t deal directly with CA tech support. We have other teams that do that. But from my experience, CA has been responsive on the issues I have seen.

I am not in a decision-making position and have not been involved in any switch other than from IBM’s QMF to CA Report Facility. That particular conversion was driven by the cost of the IBM’s QMF.

I don’t install the products.

I am not involved in pricing or licensing.

If you want your DBA and programming staff to be efficient and effective, I recommend these tools.

• The RC/Migrator: Migrates tables between systems
• The Detector and Subsystem Analyzer: Monitors the system

We have more control over our DB2 systems and can do our everyday DBA work faster and easier.

There are many good features that we don't use. It would be nice to have some video tutorials on YouTube.

Some examples of the features that we don't use are:

• How to use collection profiles in CA Detector, so as to reduce the amount of data in datastore.

• Best practices for using Thread Terminator.

• View and terminate SQL trace application.

• ISQL online SQL execution.

We have been using this solution for eighteen years.

Version 19 is very stable. We don't have any problems in production.

We did not have any issues with scalability.

The technical support is excellent! They answer very fast. The issue is usually solved the same day when it is opened.

The initial setup is complex. There are many parameters that you don't necessarily know what they mean. But once the product is running, you can easily migrate to new versions.

I was not involved in the pricing or licensing.

We evaluated the IBM DB2 Administration Tool and OMEGAMON.

It's a great tool. Take time to learn all the features that you need.