Executive summary

BMC set out to modernize its own IBM Z^® data management environment, where legacy storage tools had become complex, costly, and difficult to scale. By integrating BMC AMI Cloud Data with Dell ObjectScale, BMC replaced most of its virtual tape software and infrastructure, offloaded processing to zIIP engines, and unlocked mainframe data for AI and analytics. The result: up to 90% CPU reduction, roughly 50% lower VTS refresh costs, and stronger cyber resilience—all without application changes, outages, or disruption.

Company overview

BMC helps almost 80% of the Forbes Global 100 modernize operations, drive innovation, and stay ahead of an ever-changing technology landscape. Its industry-leading portfolio connects the people, systems, and data that power the world's largest organizations, helping them modernize operations and seize a competitive advantage.

That same expertise applies to BMC's own infrastructure. As a company that helps customers simplify operations, improve resilience, and make mainframe data more accessible, BMC holds its internal systems to the standard it sets for the market. When it came time to transform its IBM Z data management environment, BMC turned to the solution it brings to customers every day.

The challenge

Organizations running IBM Z must balance data security, scalability, and operational efficiency—often while working to transform decades-old infrastructure. BMC faced this challenge firsthand.

BMC's own IBM Z relied on traditional DFSMShsm storage management and a TS7770 Virtual Tape System. Both were proven and reliable, but they had become increasingly complex to manage and costly to refresh. More importantly, they limited BMC's ability to support today's most valuable data use cases, including AI, machine learning, and analytics.

The company needed a way to reduce cost and complexity, strengthen data resilience, and open its mainframe data to additional workloads—without compromising the reliability of its IBM Z.

"Our traditional storage environment was dependable, but it had become too complex and costly to sustain at the scale we needed," says Dave Jeffries, Vice President, Research and Development for BMC AMI. "We needed a simpler way to protect data, control costs, and prepare our mainframe for modern analytics use cases."

The solution

BMC integrated BMC AMI Cloud Data with Dell ObjectScale S3 on-premises object storage, integrated with its IBM Z platform. The design prioritized high availability, scalability, and precision disaster recovery while preserving the integrity of existing systems.

The transition was deliberately non-disruptive. BMC AMI Cloud Data operated alongside the existing VTS environment, so administrators could selectively re-tier data to object storage without impacting applications or ongoing operations.

"Throughout the transition, business continuity held firm—no outages, no application changes required," says Jeffries.

Once deployed, the solution replaced the complex hierarchical storage tools and most of the VTS infrastructure. This reduced the data center footprint, along with power and cooling requirements, and cut future hardware refresh costs. Backup processing shifted from the IBM Z general CPUs to zIIP engines, improving performance without DASD pre-staging or VTS back-end storage.

Simpler operations, clearer visibility

Administrators quickly benefited from BMC AMI Cloud's intuitive interface, which simplified policy creation while providing clear visibility into corrupted data, resource usage, and anomalies. Built-in filtering, search, dashboards, automation, discovery, and load balancing streamlined daily work. Native IBM^® z/OS^® integration and unified reporting gave teams a single view of all protected resources—enabling faster issue resolution and improved service levels.

"Our team noticed the difference immediately," says Jeffries. "Tasks that once demanded considerable time and effort became routine, and our administrators finally had a single, consolidated view across their workloads—spotting issues, tracking consumption, and confirming coverage without jumping between tools."

Resilience built into storage

To replace most of the VTS environment, BMC deployed Dell ObjectScale storage, delivering high durability and availability through a redundant, multi-node architecture. ObjectScale strengthened data protection with encryption, immutability, object locking (WORM), zero-trust design, real-time monitoring, and logical air-gap isolation. It also simplified administration and enabled scalable access to mainframe data for AI, ML, and analytics initiatives.

The results

The transformation delivered measurable operational and financial gains:

• Up to 90% CPU reduction by offloading backup and archive processing to zIIP engines
• Approximately 50% lower VTS refresh costs, along with a reduced data center footprint and lower power and cooling requirements
• Faster backup and recovery, validated through full-volume backup and stand-alone restore testing
• Simplified operations through centralized policy management, automation, and improved data visibility
• Stronger cyber resilience through data encryption, immutability, air-gap isolation, and zero-trust design
• Unlocked mainframe data for AI, machine learning, and analytics, driving smarter business insights

Every result arrived without application changes, outages, or disruption to data center operations.

Looking ahead

By adopting BMC AMI Cloud Data with Dell ObjectScale, BMC strengthened cyber resilience, improved performance, simplified operations, reduced costs, and validated recovery—all while preserving the reliability and integrity of its IBM Z environment. Just as important, BMC unlocked its proprietary mainframe data for AI and analytics, setting the stage for smarter business insights and the next evolution of mainframe operations.

BMC now runs the same solution it brings to customers, at scale, on its own IBM Z. It's proof that transformation and reliability aren't competing priorities—they can advance together.

Ready to reimagine mainframe data management in the cloud? Learn more about BMC AMI Cloud.