Compuware Corporation announced deep enhancements to Compuware Strobe, a key component of Compuware APM for Mainframe.

Strobe is a mainframe application performance measurement and analysis solution that has helped customers pinpoint application inefficiencies for more than four decades. Throughout that time Compuware has continuously innovated Strobe, most recently enriching it with greater automation, intelligent analytics and increasing ease of use to help those less familiar with mainframe applications to diagnose problems more quickly and effectively.

As Strobe customers around the globe manage the performance of increasingly complex applications that span multiple platforms, they will benefit from the solution's many enhancements, including:

- An enhanced user interface in iStrobe. This new interface utilizes advanced Web technologies to provide an easier navigation path to the root cause. Charts and graphs visually summarize key performance information and provide alternate paths to navigation.

- An enhanced status display. Users can now view the status of all measurements and profiles in one display. They can also sort, filter and tag the data to improve productivity.

- A graphical user interface for taking measurements. This interface allows inexperienced or new users to submit measurement requests using a familiar graphical user interface, without having to learn ISPF.

- Improved DB2 reporting. Users can request an SQL analysis report on demand, without having to take a Strobe measurement. DB2 reports will now indicate the maximum CPU and elapsed times for local SQL statements, as well as the DB2 buffer pool hit ratio. Along with existing iStrobe DB2 reports, having this critical information available in one report makes it easier for DBAs to resolve performance issues quickly.

- Enhanced Strobe Advisor. Strobe Advisor automatically highlights the largest performance opportunities and provides recommendations on how to resolve problems. Strobe Advisor now includes information on CICS, IMS and Language Environment (LE) performance issues.

- Increased visibility into business transactions. Strobe furthers its integration with PurePath for z/OS CICS and now includes the ability to profile CICS transactions from within the dynaTrace dashboard. This facility provides more detailed information on specific transactions of interest.

- Enhanced SMF Record collection. Strobe is now collecting SMF 30 jobstep interval records, in addition to the SMF 70 and SMF 30 jobstep termination records. The interval records allow customers to see which jobsteps are executing when the system is running at its peak capacity. Tuning or rescheduling these jobs will have a direct effect on the MIPS consumed on an LPAR. Customers concerned about their rolling four-hour average will find this data of great importance.

Strobe also supports newly announced capabilities that help IT break down the barriers between development, QA and operations. Deeper integration with Compuware's other Developer Productivity solutions now enable the automated capture of detailed information about an application problem — including Strobe measurements and deep-dive analysis — which helps development teams jumpstart the resolution process.

"The new enhancements to Strobe coupled with deeper integration with our developer productivity solutions help our customers address the ongoing concerns of a transitioning workforce, increased application complexity, mainframe workloads and the ever-present threat of application outages," said Kris Manery, SVP and GM, Compuware Mainframe Solutions. "As mobile and other technologies increase the complexity of the mainframe application environment, new and inexperienced staff will need the expertise built into Strobe to help them quickly and easily identify performance issues and their root causes."