Identifying your CICS systems and regions

The first action when planning to install CICSPlex® SM is to identify the CICS systems or regions in your enterprise. You might already have a clear picture of the systems you have, and of where they are installed. However, in the larger enterprises, where CICS systems are numbered in the hundreds, it's possible that no one individual has this complete view.

The goal is to document the current arrangement of your CICS systems in a graphical form. The map you produce should be a logical representation of your CICS systems rather than a physical one, so you do not need to record details such as where specific processors are located. When you record the map, for example by using a graphics tool, ensure that you leave plenty of space so that you can update the map with CICSPlex SM components as you work through this exercise.

In your initial map of the enterprise CICS systems, include every operating environment in which CICS is installed. Also show the following information:
  • The current version and release of the operating systems in use
  • The CICS systems running in each environment, and the CICS platform, version, and release of each one
  • The resource-manager role of each CICS system, if applicable
If you cannot fit all this detail on your map, record it separately from the graphical representation of the CICS systems.
Figure 1 shows an example of the type of map you should be aiming to produce.
Figure 1. A map of the enterprise CICS systems
System A, B and C are z/OS 2.3 systems. System A has a TOR and two AORs. System B has a TOR, a AOR and a FOR. System C has two CICS TS for z/OS V5.3 AORs. System E and F are z/OS 2.2 systems. System E has two CICS TS for z/OS V5.3 regions and a CICS TS for z/OS V5.4 AOR. System F has two AORs.

CICSPlex SM can manage all supported CICS releases. The CICS systems become your managed application systems (MASs).