IBM z/OS® Connect is software that is used to design and run OpenAPI conformant APIs to interact with z/OS applications and data.

IBM z/OS Connect provides a simple, intuitive way to bring the power of APIs to your mainframe. You can create consumable OpenAPI 3.0 interfaces in minutes to unlock the value of your IBM Z® subsystems with truly RESTful APIs. Make IBM Z central to your hybrid cloud strategy by enhancing mainframe applications and data with the power of cloud-native functions.

Features

• **Drive rapid transformation: **Accelerate innovation on IBM Z - Enable external applications to call into IBM z/OS applications and data - Call APIs from IBM z/OS apps  - Choose the deployment option that best fits your hybrid strategy, whether this is close to the data on z/OS or on the cloud
• **Increase agility: **Create OpenAPI 3-defined APIs in minutes - Confidence that APIs being built meet company and industry standards - Rich functional mapping provides control over responses to the user
• **Simplify operations: **Decentralized ownership of API integrations - Isolated API flows are deployed separately - API flows can be scaled independently - Automation that uses OCI containers and industry-standard platforms such as Kubernetes and Red Hat OpenShift
• **Standardize: **Common cloud development experience across an enterprise - A consistent way to monitor, control and audit APIs on the platform - Secure APIs with modern OpenAPI based security schemes - Integrate seamlessly with your existing CI/CD pipelines

Benefits

• **Monitoring: **Use a single, consistent approach to monitoring and auditing for all your z/OS APIs no matter where you choose to run.
• **Security: **Implement secure enterprise-grade APIs that can handle the large volumes of API requests per day associated with core business services.
• **Scalability: **Use flexibility to scale according to real-time demand without the need to change configuration or risk of outage.
• **zIIP-offloadable: **As a Java-based product, over 99% of the product is eligible to be offloaded to zIIP.
• **Image availability: **Use Red Hat® OpenShift® Dev Spaces, including Red Hat OpenShift Wazi Dev Space or make the z/OS Connect Designer image available in your image registries for self-service use with an OCI-compliant container run time.