CICS Transaction Server

IBM’s Customer Information Control System (CICS), is IBM’s most widely used proprietary, transaction monitor. CICS provides connectivity and online transaction management for mission-critical applications. It supports real-time distributed processing environments and online transaction processing (OLTP). According to IBM, CICS handles more than thirty billion transactions, processing more than one trillion dollars, per day.

CICS is the premier OLTP (On-Line Transaction Processing) products from IBM. It is used to access many file systems and databases including third party products. For IBM product, it interfaces with DB2, VSAM and IMS/DB. For non-IBM products, CICS interfaces with IDMS and DATACOM, to name a few. Most applications in CICS are written in COBOL, although it supports other languages such as PL/1.

OLTP systems provide accurate, up-to-date information within seconds, from terminals that give direct access to data held as either files or databases. CICS provides a company with numerous transaction processing and resource management functions, allowing the user to concentrate on developing application programs that meet that organization’s specific business needs. CICS controls OLTP application programs in a distributed transaction processing (DTP) environment. CICS handles interactions between the terminal user and the application programs. Programs gain access to the CICS facilities with straightforward, high-level commands.

CICS provides:

• Communication functionality to terminals and systems that are required by application programs.

• Control of concurrently running programs that serve online users.

• Facilities for accessing databases and files.

• The ability to communicate with other CICS family members using Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).

• Interactive facilities to configure specific systems.

• Recovery processing and data protection, should a problem occur.