PKWARE has committed that both SecureZIP® and PKZIP® for z/OS® will completely support IBM’s next mainframe operating system release, z/OS v1.10, on Day One of its release, which IBM announced as September 26, 2008. PKWARE has ensured that versions 9 and 10 of the products are compatible with the new OS version and is, in fact, one of only a handful of vendors worldwide who have publically committed to such support.

Some time ago, a number of PKWARE customers notified IBM that our products are critical to their migration to the new release. Based on that endorsement and our good standing as an IBM Advanced Development Partner, PKWARE was included in IBM’s Early Availability Program, giving us access to the new operating system release for testing, well in advance of many other independent software vendors.

The new z/OS release includes expanded capabilities for managing large data volumes, labeled as Extend Address Volume (EAV). EAV is planned to initially support 223 GB per volume on z/OS v1.10 and IBM System Storage DS8000, when available. This new capability will also be supported Day One for versions 9 and 10 of PKWARE’s PKZIP and SecureZIP mainframe products.

“PKWARE prides itself as an industry leader in supporting mainframe operating systems and hardware advances,” said Joe Sturonas, Chief Technology Officer for PKWARE. “We understand the importance our products can have in our customers’ businesses, and highly value their confidence in and reliance on our products. Just as we’ve done to ensure Day One support for z/OS v1.10, we’ll always work to deliver solutions that meet our customers’ needs.”