Open Source Unlocks Mainframe Data: In Situ Analytics with GenevaERS By Kip Twitchell and Randall Ness Are you getting an accurate view of your enterprise? Operational data can be a valuable source of analytics, but it is often inaccessible in critical applications residing on the mainframe. An unexpected reporting solution is now possible through open source on the mainframe. The Linux Foundation’s Open Mainframe Project (https://www.linuxfoundation. org/) has promoted GenevaERS (https:// www.openmainframeproject.org/projects/ genevaers)—the single-pass optimization engine for data extraction, transformation and analytics on z/OS—to an active more mature project status which you can read about here: https://www.openmainframeproject. org/blog/2021/09/29/genevaers-a-growing-community-focused-on-data-insights. 6 | Enterprise Executive | 2022: Issue 1 Open Source on the Mainframe The mainframe is known as a very secure platform. From its pioneering heritage, proprietary software brought commercial development that today’s ubiquitous computing systems are built upon. Yet proprietary and highly secure systems created the perception of data locked up and inaccessible. Much of the most valuable data in the world—much of it business and financial—is still held in critical systems running on the mainframe. The cycle is now turning full circle with the renewal of open source on the mainframe. Open source communities began with the mainframe user community SHARE in 1955, and the CBT Tape started the sharing of code via tapes sent from participant to participant