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On IBM Z, z/OS Connect exposes existing applications and data through APIs, IBM API Connect manages those APIs across their lifecycle, and IBM DataPower Gateway applies runtime routing and policy controls to requests. Together, they can let API consumers use existing z/OS services without replacing the business programs behind them.
This architecture is easiest to understand as three cooperating roles, not three interchangeable API products. The flow and examples below follow Joseph Gulla’s October 6, 2026, TechChannel overview. It is an architectural primer rather than an IBM product manual; confirm version-specific support, prerequisites, licensing, and configuration in current IBM documentation before implementation.
What each product does
| Product | Primary responsibility | Question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| IBM z/OS Connect | Exposes z/OS applications and data through REST APIs, and can invoke external APIs from z/OS. | How should existing z/OS programs or data be represented to API consumers? |
| IBM API Connect | Manages API publication and lifecycle, including catalogs, products, consumer access, versions, and analytics. | How will APIs be governed, published, and consumed across the enterprise? |
| IBM DataPower Gateway | Processes and routes runtime traffic and enforces gateway security and policy controls. | Where will requests be checked and routed before they reach backend services? |
z/OS Connect: the z/OS-facing API provider
z/OS Connect provides a way to expose z/OS applications and data as REST APIs. It is not the business-processing application itself: a request can ultimately invoke an existing CICS transaction, IMS transaction or database, Db2 for z/OS resource, batch application, or Java application. The overview describes a runtime using WebSphere with the Liberty profile on z/OS, alongside backend environments such as CICS and IMS and security infrastructure such as Security Server/RACF.
It can also support the reverse direction: invoking external APIs from z/OS. That is distinct from exposing a z/OS asset to an outside consumer.
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API Connect: the lifecycle and consumer-management layer
API Connect organizes and governs APIs rather than replacing the z/OS implementation. The capabilities described include importing API definitions, grouping APIs into products and plans, publishing to catalogs and a developer portal, managing consumer onboarding and subscriptions, and providing features such as version management, analytics, API keys, OAuth support, JWT validation, and rate limits.
DataPower: the runtime gateway
DataPower sits in the traffic path to apply configured gateway behavior. Depending on the design and policy, that can include authentication, authorization, token validation, rate limiting, audit logging, protocol mediation, and routing. API Connect can manage associated DataPower gateways and propagate published configuration to them; DataPower can also be used without API Connect in a simpler client-to-gateway-to-backend arrangement.
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How a request travels through the integrated pattern
In the integrated arrangement described in the overview, the request path is:
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- The consumer discovers and calls an API. API Connect provides the management and publication layer through which an API can be packaged and made available to consumers.
- DataPower handles gateway execution. The gateway processes the incoming request, applies configured security and policy controls, and routes permitted traffic onward.
- z/OS Connect adapts the API call to a z/OS service. It connects the API-facing representation to the relevant backend resource or application.
- The backend performs the business operation. The existing program or data source remains responsible for its business logic; the API layers provide an interface and manage traffic around it.
An OAuth-style design can add a token-acquisition step for a client and token validation or related policy enforcement at the gateway. The exact placement of responsibilities and request path depends on the deployment; not every installation uses an identical sequence.
How an existing program becomes an API
The TechChannel article illustrates the pattern with an existing CICS COBOL program and its COMMAREA. In that example, the development work studies the program’s interface, creates service and API definitions, maps JSON fields to the COMMAREA, and deploys the resulting API so a consumer can call an endpoint such as GET /customers/127643. The COBOL transaction continues to do the underlying work; z/OS Connect supplies the REST/JSON interface.
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This is an illustrative flow, not a universal recipe. The service definition, data mapping, backend integration, security design, and deployment steps depend on the specific resource and supported product versions.
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The overview groups the development artifacts into three categories:
- Service Archive (SAR): describes how z/OS Connect calls a backend resource, such as CICS, IMS, Db2, or Java.
- API project: contains API definitions and related materials, including OpenAPI, YAML, JSON Schema, and mapping definitions.
- API requester WAR: packages a generated requester for deployment to Liberty.
API metadata is generally described as files deployed to the runtime filesystem; a DBMS repository is not required for the definitions. That statement concerns storage of the API metadata, not the storage requirements of the backend application or its business data.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How the products connect during API publication
- Create the API in z/OS Connect and define how it relates to the backend service.
- Export the API’s OpenAPI document.
- Import that document into API Connect.
- Group the API into a product and configure the applicable plans and catalog.
- Publish it so consumers can discover, onboard, and subscribe through the managed API offering.
- Configure the runtime gateway path so consumer requests reach DataPower, then z/OS Connect and the backend as intended.
The OpenAPI definition links the provider-facing API work to API Connect’s management layer. Gateway configuration is also needed to make the published API operate at runtime; publication alone does not implement the z/OS business service.
Where the software and development work run
The overview describes z/OS Connect running on z/OS with Liberty, with backend environments such as CICS and IMS. It presents DataPower deployment options as a physical appliance, virtual appliance, Docker container, OpenShift/Kubernetes workload, or cloud-based deployment. These are overview-level options, not a guarantee that every option is supported for every product release, license, or environment.
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Development can take place on Windows, Linux, or macOS. The workstation is a development surface, not the API runtime. Tooling mentioned includes VS Code with IBM tooling, Eclipse-based tooling, and editors or utilities for Git, YAML, and OpenAPI. The article gives 16 GB of RAM as general laptop guidance, not as an IBM-published minimum or measured performance requirement.
Choosing the right boundary for a design
- If the core question is how to make an existing z/OS program or data resource available through REST, focus on the z/OS Connect service and API design.
- If the concern is publishing, governing, versioning, and managing consumer access to APIs across teams, focus on API Connect’s management and catalog model.
- If the concern is where requests are routed and where runtime security or traffic policies are enforced, define the DataPower gateway role.
- If the design uses all three, document both the API definition handoff and the runtime route. They are related, but API lifecycle management and gateway execution are separate responsibilities.
For implementation, validate the exact supported topology, deployment choices, security features, and configuration procedure against current IBM product documentation for the versions and licenses in use.
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