There have been several announcements in the IBM Open Data Analytics for z/OS (IzODA) space:
- End of marketing on December 7, 2022, effective March 7, 2023,
- End of Service announcement on February 7, 2023, effective August 31, 2023 or February 29th, 2024, depending on the terms and conditions.
Sounds concerning, but what's really happening?
In short, IBM is evolving the Open Data Analytics offering to give customers newer versions of the IzODA software faster. We found that in some cases, not all components were needed to satisfy a business problem and customers wanted the ability to select and install the components they needed. This new level of control ultimately leads to a transition period for our existing customers who will have to migrate to the new product set being made available.
The above image details the product IDs needed to replace IzODA components to keep the same capabilities. For example, IBM Z Platform for Apache Spark, which is an in-memory compute engine and analytics runtime and includes Apache Spark 3.2.0, can be installed to replace IzODA Apache Spark with a no charge license and optional S&S. Similarly, the recently announced IBM Python AI Toolkit for z/OS, with planned availability 2/24/2023, will contain many of the AI packages currently available from IzODA Anaconda, with subsequent deliveries making even more open source Python packages available. IBM Enterprise Python and the IBM Python AI Toolkit can be installed to replace IzODA Anaconda with a no charge license and optional S&S. Finally, depending on the use case, IBM Data Virtualization Manager may be an alternative to IzODA MDS in new implementations.
Prototype! Experiment! Build! Create enterprise AI applications using popular open source software, securely delivered, actively maintained, and optimized for z/OS on IBM System Z with a smaller installation footprint than previously available with IzODA. Discover how to leverage the improved technology in a better way to accelerate your journey to AI.
Your Journey to Open Data Analytics starts here: https://www.ibm.com/support/z-content-solutions/journey-to-open-data-analytics.
For help with migration or POC planning, please reach out to:
For general AI on Z questions, please email AIonZ@us.ibm.com.