Two years ago we reviewed VirtualZ with its Lozen IBM mainframe data access and PropelZ mainframe data extract products. Now it has two more, FlowZ and Zaac, and is talking about AI and mainframe data. It’s time for another look.
Mainframes hold vast amounts of highly-valued data, some of which needs contributing to an organization’s general data pool so that its x86 servers, GPU servers, and cloud processing instantiations can make use of it. Lozen enables real-time, read-write, peer-to-peer, access to IBM z mainframe data, while PropelZ makes one-time copies of the Z-held structured data for transfer to an on-prem or public cloud database. The two new products extend VirtualZ’ product repertoire, with FlowZ moving mainframe-held files to a target on-prem or public cloud destination, and Zaac expanding mainframe storage capacity with an external SAN or the public cloud.
Let’s take a closer look at each one.
FlowZ
With FlowZ, mainframe and on-prem X86 server/public cloud apps can have bi-directional file – unstructured – data access. Mainframe users can open, close, read and write to these files without having to write extra code. The admin person configures an output file name in JCL and FlowZ transparently maps local mainframe file operations to the external storage.
This can support:
- Cloud backups without staging.
- File sharing for distributed teams/hybrid apps.
- Feeding unstructured data into AI training/inference.
- Replacing FTP/manual processes for compliance/archival.
Zaac
This software resides in the mainframe and acts as a bidirectional gateway for mainframe apps, presenting on-prem NAS/SAN and cloud block storage as a local DASD (Direct Access Storage Device aka disk or SSD) or tape. That means it can be quickly spun up and used by mainframe apps or by external apps. This could be significantly cheaper than buying additional mainframe capacity, and significantly faster to provision as well. It can, VirtualZ says, “feed real-time mainframe data into AI pipelines and hybrid analytics platforms.” When these external apps put their data into the Zaac stores then mainframe apps can access it, as if it were local.
The Zaac SW installs on the Z system in minutes, with no app software changes, and is public cloud-agnostic, supporting AWS S3, Azure Blob, or Google objects. It enables mainframe apps to access cloud-native data, AI-generated datasets, or external-sourced data directly, supporting read-write operations without intermediaries. Mainframe applications interact with external data via standard JCL or APIs, treating remote storage as local.
Data flows bidirectionally in real time, with built-in optimization for zIIP offload to minimize MIPS costs. Zaac support unlimited LPARs (virtual mainframe in partitions) and sites, with cloud-agnostic drivers for seamless integration.
The Zaac name comes from Z (IBM Z mainframes) and its aim to provide Access to Any data, Cloud, or platform.
VirtualZ says both FlowZ and Zaac can contribute mainframe data to AI pipelines. Find out more about FlowZ here and Zaac here.
Bootnote
VirtualZ has had six funding rounds, with about $7 million raised in total. It took in $4.9 million in October ($2.7 million) and December 2023 ($2.2 million) to help develop its FlowZ and Zaac products and build out its sales team. It raised an additional $2.1 million in August 2024, for research, development, team expansion, and scaling operations to meet rising demand for hybrid cloud integrations.
Its competitors include BMC Software, which acquired Model 9 in April 2023, and startup Geniez.
