Controlled

Management Principle

Enhanced Definition

In the z/OS environment, "controlled" refers to the systematic application of rules, policies, and mechanisms to manage, restrict, and govern access to resources, execution of processes, and modification of data. This principle ensures system integrity, security, stability, and adherence to operational standards within the mainframe ecosystem. In the context of IBM z/OS, "controlled" refers to the systematic management, restriction, and protection of system resources, data, and program execution to ensure integrity, security, and optimal performance. It involves enforcing rules and policies to prevent unauthorized access, maintain data consistency, and regulate resource consumption across the enterprise.

Key Characteristics

- Granular Enforcement: Controls can be applied at various levels, from system-wide parameters down to specific datasets, programs, CICS transactions, IMS resources, or even individual data fields.
- Policy-Driven: Control mechanisms are typically based on predefined security policies, operational rules, and service level agreements (SLAs) configured by system administrators and security officers.
- Auditability and Accountability: Controlled environments provide robust logging and auditing capabilities, allowing tracking of who accessed what, when, and what actions were performed, ensuring accountability and compliance.
- Integrity and Consistency: A primary goal of control is to maintain the integrity of data and the consistency of system states, preventing unauthorized or erroneous modifications and ensuring data reliability.
- Resource Optimization: Through mechanisms like the z/OS Workload Manager (WLM), control extends to managing and prioritizing system resources (CPU, I/O, memory) to meet performance objectives for critical applications.

Use Cases

- Security Access Control: Utilizing RACF, ACF2, or Top Secret to restrict user and application access to datasets, libraries (e.g., PDS, PDSE), CICS transactions, IMS databases, and system commands based on defined roles and permissions.
- Workload Management: Employing z/OS Workload Manager (WLM) to control the allocation and prioritization of system resources, ensuring that critical business applications receive the necessary processing capacity to meet their service class goals.
- Data Integrity and Concurrency: Implementing controls within DB2 or IMS DB to manage concurrent access