Mainframe developers are stuck with outdated tools – GitLab and IBM want to solve that
GitLab and IBM have announced a new partnership aimed at driving mainframe modernization and supporting developer productivity.
The new scheme, GitLab Ultimate for IBM, looks to bridge mainframe and cloud native development, according to the duo, and will provide developers with modern toolkits and collaboration tools.
IBM said the DevSecOps service has been specifically designed for mainframe environments and will allow organizations to “modernize their mainframe development workflows by facilitating a seamless migration from outdated legacy library managers”.
The service will allow developers to run GitLab CI/CD pipelines natively on IBM z/OS, the company’s operating system designed for mainframe computers.
Similarly, new source code management capabilities and GitLab project management features look to improve infrastructure visibility for devs.
The launch of the partnership comes just months after IBM released the latest version of its mainframe, the z17, which has been designed specifically to support AI workloads and inferencing.
Driving mainframe modernization
Enterprises use IBM Z systems for mission-critical workloads, the company noted, but they often face acute DevSecOps challenges that they “aren’t equipped to address”.
While cloud native developers have the luxury of modern CI/CD tools and automated testing capabilities, mainframe teams are lumbered with outdated tools which IBM said leads to “costly inefficiencies and operational silos”.
As a result, development teams frequently resort to workarounds such as SSH connections and manual file transfers. This not only slows down processes, but creates security vulnerabilities and auditing challenges.
In addition to efficiency barriers, organizations often maintain “expensive parallel toolchains”, the firm added. Mainframe development tools carry premium licensing costs and typically offer limited functionality compared to modern alternatives.
“This fragmentation creates two problems: slower delivery cycles and difficulty attracting developers who expect modern development experiences,” GitLab noted.
Katie Norton, research manager for DevSecOps and software supply chain security at IDC, said the consultancy’s research shows organisations with outdated mainframe tools often find it hard to attract new talent.
With this in mind, the GitLab partnership with IBM represents “an important step in addressing a long-standing industry challenge”.
“With this offering, modern DevSecOps capabilities and unified workflows are brought directly to the mainframe,” Norton said.
“This empowers developers to work more collaboratively and efficiently, while helping organizations accelerate innovation and integrate mainframe development into broader digital transformation strategies.”
What can developers expect from GitLab Ultimate for IBM Z?
GitLab and IBM are targeting a more unified development environment with the launch of the new service, ultimately allowing mainframe, cloud native, web, and mobile development teams to collaborate more efficiently.
The service will provide users with native z/OS Runner support, which GitLab said will offer “seamless” CI/CD pipeline execution directly on mainframe infrastructure.
This will play a key role in helping eliminate the cumbersome and complex workarounds developers are often forced to traverse.
With unified source code management capabilities, developers will be able to modernize toolchains and replace legacy library managers with GitLab’s searchable repo system. IBM said this will help “reduce licensing costs and maintenance overhead”.
Elsewhere, IBM Developer for z/OS Enterprise Edition (IDzEE) will help deliver faster software releases, GitLab noted, alongside automated code scanning and debugging tools for mainframe environments.
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