Storage Startup VirtualZ Raises $4.9M For Real-Time Mainframe Data Access

‘One of the hardest things for people to digest is that we're not making a copy of the data. We're not replicating the data. We're not touching the data. The data stays on the mainframe. So now mainframe applications are running the business on that data. Cloud applications are running on that data, and distributed applications are all running on a single source of truth. No more lifting and shifting data from here to there. The data stays on the mainframe securely and safely where it is,’ says VirtualZ CEO and co-founder Jeanne Glass.

Storage startup VirtualZ, which has developed technology that moves data between IBM Z mainframe servers and cloud or on-premises applications and vice versa, Tuesday unveiled the raising of a $2.2 million seed funding round.

With the latest financing, led by Next Frontier Capital, total funding in the Minneapolis-based startup now totals $4.9 million.

VirtualZ has put together the right team to connect the mainframe with the rest of the world, said CEO and co-founder Jeanne Glass.

“From a data access perspective, the mainframe platform is growing,” Glass told CRN. “More and more applications are being written from scratch to run in the cloud. More and more SaaS applications are being deployed every day. Many of those applications rely on mainframe data where the bulk of business data resides in order for companies to run.”

However, Glass said, getting modern applications to work with data on IBM Z mainframes often runs into several difficulties. For instance, she said, the lifting, shifting, and transforming of data so it can be extracted for cloud applications can consume up to 40 percent of a mainframe’s footprint.

Also, she said, with so much important data running mission-critical applications, including financial and airline applications, permanently moving the data to the cloud is difficult.

“So the way companies solve for that today is, they literally build bridges,” she said. “They write custom code to shift copies of this mainframe data, make a copy of it, send it across the network and drop it down.”

Such a bridge requires heavy custom coding, Glass said.

“Every application for Salesforce, Workday, the airline application, the banking application, they all need different data at different times,” she said. “So they're sending that data across the network multiple times. Imagine the security implications. That takes a lot of coding. So companies have entire staffs of ETL (extract, transform, and load) developers that design, architect, test, deploy, and then maintain that code forevermore.”

Even when coded properly, the applications are likely running on day-old data because it cannot access that data in real time, Glass said.

VirtualZ is looking to solve issues related to running mainframe data in cloud-based applications, as well as allowing mainframe-based applications to run cloud-based data, via three applications that allow those capabilities in real time.

The first application, Lozen, eliminates the need to build bridges between mainframe, on-premises, and cloud-based data and applications, Glass said.

Lozen provides real-time read and write access to mainframe-based data by cloud, SaaS, distributed, and custom applications, she said. With Lozen, unlike bridge technologies, no data is physically moved from the mainframe, but is instead able to be shared by all apps at the same level as mainframe applications. Lozen installs in minutes, she said.

“With our software, one of the hardest things for people to digest is that we're not making a copy of the data,” she said. “We're not replicating the data. We're not touching the data. The data stays on the mainframe. So now mainframe applications are running the business on that data. Cloud applications are running on that data, and distributed applications are all running on a single source of truth. No more lifting and shifting data from here to there. The data stays on the mainframe securely and safely where it is.”

The second application, called Zaac, works in the other direction. External data, including data in hybrid cloud, physical storage and SaaS systems, can be accessed by mainframe-based applications in real-time, Glass said.

The third application, PropelZ, is a utility for quickly creating a copy of mainframe data as needed for experimentation or analysis in hybrid cloud environments. With PropelZ, a one-time copy of the data is made for when real-time read-write access is not required.

From a go-to-market perspective, all VirtualZ’s products will be sold through a variety of channels, including via the IBM Cloud Marketplace, Glass said.

“The IBM Z team is also looking to add our products to the IBM Z Modernization Center,” she said. “And we partner with IBM consulting as well.”

The VirtualZ applications are also slated to be available shortly via Microsoft, AWS, and Google marketplaces, as well as through key IBM Z mainframe solution providers such as Kyndryl, Accenture, Infosys, Cognizant, Capgemini, and Mainline Information Systems. The company is also working with distributors.

VirtualZ’s technology will be a key tool for customers who have invested in IBM Z mainframes and want to modernize how they access data to and from their mainframes, said Dusty Rivers, senior director for US zSystems at Mainline Information Systems, a Tallahassee, Fla.-based solution provider and early VirtualZ channel partner.

Rivers told CRN that he has known Glass for years through their membership on the international IBM user group’s board of directors.

“Most data sources on mainframes are not in a format that can be used in distributed computing,” he said. “Most data can be accessed with the JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) API, making it available to Java programs. Mainframe data is not. So it’s a big wall. How to get data from the mainframe without writing new programs requires jumping through hoops.”

VirtualZ makes accessing that data easier without the need for customization, Rivers said.

“Mainframes are the most modern systems on the planet,” he said. “IBM is adding tons of capabilities. Mainframes fit in with hybrid clouds. Accessing the data from where it sits is an important part of modernization.”

VirtualZ Lozen is currently available, with a subscription starting at $150,000 for 1 terabyte of data moving back and forth. Zaac is slated to be available in the first quarter of 2024 with an annual subscription price of $250,000 for 1 terabyte. PropelZ is available for a flat fee of $50,000, Glass said.