Checking In Regularly With Your Mainframe Team Is Vital

Your mainframe team is tasked with the important job of keeping your mainframe working efficiently and doing what you need it to do. That's why checking in regularly with your mainframe team matters.

What kind of conversations do you need to have with them, and what are some of the important practices they should be deploying for your company?

Does Your Team Have a Plan?

One of the most important practices in any aspect of business is planning.

From your marketing to your budget, everything should be carefully planned. The same is true when it comes to your mainframe.

Your mainframe team needs to have a good, solid plan for potential problems. Whether the problem is a security breach, a software conflict or lost information, your team needs to have a comprehensive plan in place.

The backup plan should cover the best course of action to be taken in any crisis, and must cover who is responsible should problems arise. The plan should, of course, include regular secure data backups.

As the article "Is Your Mainframe Team Employing These 6 Important Practices?" points out, your mainframe team should be conducting crises practice in the real world, in real time, to make sure they are prepared to respond to a threat under real working conditions.

Is Everything Monitored and Tracked?

Monitoring and tracking are key practices to keep your mainframe running the way you want it to. From login sessions to activity to downloads to updates, your mainframe needs to be carefully monitored.

Monitoring your mainframe will alert your mainframe team to any potential issues. It also provides a chance to look at how and when the mainframe is being used.

Keeping and checking logs will give your team a good overview of the mainframe. The best practice is to leave nothing to chance, but to keep an eye on everything and understand how and when the mainframe is being used.

Is Efficiency a Priority?

Your mainframe team's remit should extend beyond troubleshooting and uptime, into making the mainframe as efficient as possible.

For example, are processes being automated where possible?

More automation will keep your mainframe efficient by freeing up your team to focus on other tasks. Automation also cuts down on human error, and is useful in terms of making sure important tasks get done on time.

Another way to keep things efficient is to have some order to who accesses the mainframe and why.

Make sure access is secure and data is encrypted where necessary, and restrict access only to those who really need it.

Not only does this help security, it keeps things running smoothly because you can track who is using the mainframe and why.

Is Physical Security Taken Care Of?

Encourage your mainframe team to take care of your mainframe's physical security, too.

For example, as stated above, only specific people should have access to the mainframe. This can be facilitated by keeping the room it's in locked, installing security cameras, and requiring access codes to get into the room, and to use the mainframe.

A backup power supply is a must.

Consider how your mainframe will keep running in the event of a power failure. It's a good idea to keep some fire extinguishers on site, too.

Last but not least, your team should practice data encryption to keep the flow of information in and out of the mainframe secure.

Your mainframe is a powerhouse for your business. Keep it that way by checking in regularly with your mainframe team and making sure they're taking care of these key points.