You are definitely ready to make that move; you really want to upgrade. However, you've hit what you believe to be a huge stumbling block. You're using one of those compilers not supported by DB2 Version 8. Sure, you know you need to move off of that older compiler. After all, it has been out of service for years. You also know that the move to a brand new compiler is going to take some amount of time, time it seems you are never quite able to find.

When you start to examine what needs to be done to complete an upgrade to Version 8, a couple of things immediately jump out at you that contribute to your planning frustration. First, DB2 for OS/390 & z/OS Version 7 is going out of service in less than a year; its end of service (EoS) date is June 30, 2008 ( DB2 support lifecycle webpage). Next, there's a little thing called 12 month single version charging (SVC).

IBM allows a customer to pay for only the most current version of program, in this case that program happens to be DB2 for z/OS, while running both the current and previous versions on the same CPU. This allows a customer 12 months to upgrade from the previous version to the current version of the program while only paying for the newer version. And finally, there's that compiler issue hanging over your head.

How does one complete what could be a huge migration from an older out of date compiler to the latest and greatest compiler, test everything, upgrade to DB2 Version 8, test everything, and manage to finish all of this in less than 12 months?

If some or all of this sounds all too familiar, then it looks like DB2's Silicon Valley Lab has a short term solution for you.

You read the description of the above APAR correctly. The lab is going to enable the DB2 Version 7 precompiler to run with DB2 Version 8. This means you will be able to move forward to DB2 V8 compatibility mode (CM) even though you are still using an unsupported compiler.

You now have additional time to complete your move to a current compiler, get DB2 V8 CM up and running before DB2 V7 goes out of service, and completing it all in the just 12 months or less.

Read more