CICS open transaction environment and other TCB performance considerations

With the introduction of the CICS Open Transaction Environment (OTE) architecture introduced with CICS Transaction Server 1.3, we now have much more flexibility for CICS to exploit more CPU engines without the need to split a single region into multiple regions, with the added benefit of reducing CPU consumed per transaction. The implementation of this architecture is fairly simple, but improper specifications can have ramifications which diminish or even hamper the advantages of the new approach. This paper will focus on considerations for appropriate specifications and the key monitoring factors which can be used to assure an optimum transaction processing environment.