CA Datacom® Version 14.0 for z/OS GA Customer Installations and Migrations are Underway!
CA Datacom Version 14.0 has been generally available (GA) since November 2011, and customer installations and migration to CA Datacom Version 14.0 are underway and the feedback has been positive. Customers who are able to take advantage of the zIIP utilization improvements are seeing reduced CPU utilization (nearing 50%) and improved cost savings. Please refer to the CA Datacom/DB Version 14.0 Release Notes for a complete list of enhancements, benefits and additional information. An updated CA Datacom/DB product brief is coming to the CA Datacom page on ca.com soon.

New features for CA Datacom 14.0 include a new release of the core CA Datacom product family components (DB, DD, DQ, SQL, Presspack and FastRestore). CA Datacom/DB Version 14.0 expands zIIP exploitation, fully supports CA Mainframe Software Manager™, and adds significant productivity, availability and open access enhancements to address your organizations online and batch processing, transactions from the Web, and other distributed access. We also encourage you to visit the CA Datacom/DB product information page on the CA Support Online website at CA Datacom for more information.

To obtain your copy of CA Datacom/DB 14.0, contact CA Customer Care at +1-800-225-5224 in North America or see the CA Support Phone Directory for the local number in your country. You may also download this product online through CA Support Online.

We recommend that you use CA Mainframe Software Manager (CA MSM) to download and install CA Datacom/DB 14.0. CA Mainframe Software Manager (CA MSM) is a web-based application that simplifies the management of CA mainframe products on z/OS systems. As CA Technologies products adopt the services provided by CA MSM, you can acquire, install, and maintain them in a common way. CA Datacom/DB can be acquired, installed, deployed and maintained using CA MSM today. Please visit CA Mainframe Software Manager to learn more about the new features provided by CA MSM.

CA Ideal™ for CA Datacom® Version 14.0 - General Availability
We are pleased to announce that Version 14.0 of CA Ideal for CA Datacom became GA in 2011. Go to the product page on support.ca.com to see the details of what features are included.

CA Datacom® Server Version 14.0 for z/OS is Generally Available
We are pleased to announce that CA Datacom Server Version 14.0 for z/OS became GA in 2011. Login to support.ca.com and go to the product page for details.

CA Datacom® DL1 Transparency Product Announcement
We are pleased to announce that CA Datacom DL1 Transparency Version 12.0 is now GA as of December 2011. CA Datacom DL1 Transparency Version 12.0 is a major release level with the primary purpose of taking advantage of the new features and functions that are incorporated into CA Datacom®/DB Version 12.0. Click here to see the detailed announcement.

CA Datacom® Announced End of Service Dates
During CA World® 2011, CA development and support reviewed with customers the planned end of service (EOS) dates for the following releases which have already been replaced by newer GA releases. In addition, individual end of service letters were mailed to licensed customers. These end of service announcements include:

• CA Datacom® core products Version 11.0 for z/OS (including all related service packs, base and SP1-SP5). See a copy of the announcement at RI18617.
• CA Datacom® Fast Restore Version 10.0. See a copy of the announcement at RI18619.
• CA Datacom® Presspack Version 9.0. See a copy of the announcement at RI18618.
• CA Datacom® Resource Analyzer Version 9.0. See a copy of the announcement at RI18621.

CA Extended Support enables you to continue to benefit from CA Support on your timetable for upgrades or product transitions after product support is discontinued for the product release you are using. For additional questions or to purchase a CA Support maintenance tier or offering, please contact your CA Account Team or call +1 800 225-5224.

Connect, Learn and Share With MyCA
MyCA is where you can connect, learn and share on ca.com with new features to improve your online experience. CA Community members can test drive the new beta features that integrate online support and Go Live with CA Technologies project management into MyCA.

To register for MyCA and build your personal MyCA page:

• Go to the MyCA link at the top of any ca.com page. Enter your login information or register.
• Update your profile by clicking your first name at the very top of the web page
• Then click the Edit Profile button and enter an Alias/Screen Name that makes you easily identifiable, such as firstname_lastname - no spaces are allowed. Click Submit.
• Click Take Me Back to return to your MyCA page, join a CA Community and start sharing!

The Training and Insights area on your MyCA home page will help answer your questions about interacting with CA Communities. Visit the MyCA Help Library for more information and "how to" videos.

Updated Alert Regarding Control and Flow of Datacom®
In April 2008, an informational solution entitled "Alert Regarding Control and Flow of CA Datacom," APAR QI97125, was published for CA Datacom Version 11.0. It has been updated recently. Informational APARs RI40512 (for Version 12.0) and RI40513 (for Version 14.0) containing the revised information were also published and HIPER notification emails were sent to sites that have registered for such notices. All sites should be aware of this important information.

CA Recommended Service (CA RS) is Now Available for CA Datacom® r12 and V14
As part of the Mainframe 2.0 strategy, CA Technologies is keeping our promise to simplify software management by delivering CA Recommended Service (CA RS). CA Recommended Service identifies PTFs that have passed additional quality validation criteria over a measured time cycle. CA RS is patterned after IBM's preventive maintenance model, Recommended Service Upgrade (RSU), which has been widely adopted. For more information on how to obtain CA Recommended Service, go to CA RS.

Latest GA Releases
Please see the Announcements section above for the latest generally available(GA) releases for the CA Datacom® products. You can also view these on the product pages of support.ca.com.

CA Datacom® CICS Services Version 14.0 Beta Program
CA Technologies is pleased to present you with the opportunity to beta test the latest versions of CA Datacom Products. The CA Datacom product family has a long history of supporting the latest hardware and software technology. The Datacom CICS Services 14.0 version provides a number of useful enhancements including expanded CA Mainframe Software Manager™ (CA MSM) support, threadsafe and Open Transaction Environment (OTE) support and other improvements to increase performance, productivity and usability. For more details and to register, go here.

CA Datacom® Version 14.0 for z/OS MSM Configuration Beta Status!
The CA Datacom version 14.0 support for CA MSM Configuration is currently in beta and customer testing is going very well. We are very excited to bring you this new MSM capability and anticipate that this support will be generally available to CA Datacom version 14.0 customers in spring of 2012. Please note that CA MSM 4.1 is a pre-requisite for this MSM Configuration support, which will be made available in a CA Datacom Version 14.0 PTF. More information on CA's Beta Program can be found here.

View the latest knowledge base articles by going to the CA Datacom® product page on support.ca.com.

The Green Book in the Mainframe Management series is available - CA Datacom®/DB Data Reorganization Green Book. Login to CA Support Online and access the book on the new Mainframe Management Green Book page.

Keep a Look Out for May Mainframe Madness 2012!
May Mainframe Madness has been a resounding success each year and it will be held again this year starting in May 2012. There will be hundreds of valuable sessions and downloads available for viewing. Keep up with the latest changes with CA Datacom®, CA Ideal™ and many other mainframe solutions from CA Technologies. And get the latest on Next Generation Mainframe Management (Mainframe 2.0), CA's innovative strategy to change the way the mainframe is managed forever.

CA Datacom will have a whole virtual booth with informative sessions and lots of other information. To learn more, look for registration information at ca.com/mmm. If you'd like to give a session or hear about something special, please contact Greg Beedy at greg.beedy@ca.com.

CA WORLD® 2011 was a Great Success!
CA World 2011, brought together over 6,000 IT management experts from around the world to share best practices and experience new solutions from CA Technologies, our customers and our partner ecosystem. Don't miss this unparalleled opportunity to experience the technologies and business models that are changing the face of IT management. For more details on this event and access to the session content, please go to ca.com/us/caworld.aspx.

The following CA Datacom sessions handouts are available for download:

• A Closer Look at CA Datacom® Version 14.0
• Early User Experiences with CA Datacom® Version 14.0
• Keeping Your CA Datacom® and CA Ideal™ Software Healthy
• zIIP Enabling CA-based Web Services: Tales from the Trenches
• Impact - How a CA Ideal Application at U.S. Treasury Manages the Development Life Cycle
• Transforming CA Ideal™ Applications To Meet 2011 Business Needs
• CA Datacom® Online Data Reorganization Update
• CA Datacom® Education Workshop - Part 1: What's Inside the CA Datacom® Performance Monitoring Toolbox?
• CA Datacom® Education Workshop Part 2: Advanced Topics

Join a CA Community Today
Gain valuable product knowledge and insight with CA Communities. Could you benefit from practical product knowledge from other CA solution users? Would you like to have insight into product roadmaps, presentations and product specific training? Visit communities.ca.com, where you will find the directory of online global user communities and regional user groups with event listings, message boards/discussion forums, document libraries and more. Joining a CA Community is as easy as logging in with your CA Support Online identification, searching for available communities, and clicking "JOIN COMMUNITY" on the respective community's home page.

Mainframe Academy With CA Technologies
Mainframe Academy is an 8-week, vendor-agnostic education program that arms your IT professionals with core programming skills to manage your mainframe environment.

Mainframe Academy delivers a unique, flexible blend of instructor-led, web-based and self-paced learning, delivered in part on an Apple iPad. Students learn basic mainframe skills including:

• Performing basic programming and application development in z/OS
• Issuing Job-level commands for z/OS job output
• Partitioning z/OS in a real and virtual environment
• Performing basic troubleshooting
• Issuing JES commands for batch jobs, monitor those jobs, and analyze problems
  ....and much more!

Students leave Mainframe Academy as Certified Mainframe Professionals.

To learn more, visit the ca.com/mainframe-academy.

Stay Up to Date With CA Education
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CA Services helps you derive maximum benefit from your investment in CA Mainframe Solutions, deliver greater business results, and speed time to value. Click here for a list of our Services offerings.