In today’s fast-evolving regulatory environment, organizations running critical workloads on IBM Z face mounting challenges in maintaining continuous compliance while simultaneously strengthening their security posture. IBM is proud to announce IBM zSecure Compliance, a next-generation solution designed to revolutionize how enterprises approach compliance management on the mainframe.
IBM zSecure Compliance is planned to be generally available on November 21, 2025. See the announcement here
Navigating Complexity in a Dynamic Regulatory Landscape
Modern organizations must comply with a growing array of regulatory frameworks - from established standards like PCI DSS and NIST SP 800-53 to emerging mandates such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). Historically, compliance management has been hindered by fragmented tooling, manual processes, and reactive workflows which struggle to keep pace with ever-changing requirements.
For mainframe environments, this challenge is magnified. Enterprises need a solution that not only understands the unique capabilities of the IBM Z platform but also leverages it’s advanced technologies built to deliver faster, smarter, and more reliable compliance outcomes.
A Unified Compliance Platform Built for IBM Z
IBM zSecure Compliance is a comprehensive, integrated solution bringing together two key compliance capabilities, IBMzSecure Audit and IBM Z Security and Compliance Center (zSCC) and introduces a new feature Sensitive Data Tagging, powered by the AI accelerators of the IBM Telum processors and Watson natural language processing (NLP). This enables the rapid discovery and classification of mission-critical client data. This enhanced and integrated solution strengthens the overall security posture and enables clients to meet their compliance requirements with greater efficiency and intelligence.
Harnessing AI to Accelerate Sensitive Data Discovery and Classification
What truly distinguishes Sensitive Data Tagging feature is it’s intelligent use of AI capabilities embedded within the IBM z16/z17 dedicated Telum AI hardware accelerators, combined with IBM Watson’s Natural Language Processing (NLP) technologies. This powerful combination is engineered to enable:
- Rapid, precise discovery and classification of sensitive data across your mainframe environment.
- Context-aware pattern recognition that adapts to your organization’s unique data footprint.
- Zero data movement outside the Z system — all processing within the mainframe security boundary
- Multi-language support, enabling global organizations to classify sensitive data across diverse linguistic environments
- Encrypted and access-controlled scan results, safeguarding sensitive findings from unauthorized access
- Automation that reduces human error and accelerates compliance workflows.
This is compliance intelligence built into the fabric of your mainframe.
Initial release, Sensitive Data Tagging is supported for DB2 dataset only. Future enhancements will extend this capability to other datasets, including IMS and VSAM, ensuring comprehensive coverage across your mainframe data landscape.
Prebuilt Controls Aligned to Leading Frameworks
IBM zSecure Compliance ships with thousands of preconfigured controls mapped to industry-leading standards and regulations, including:
- Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)
- Center for Internet Security (CIS)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SP 800-53
- Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA)
- Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs)
Organizations can easily tailor goals and controls to meet specific needs and evolving regulatory mandates, designed to provide a truly future-ready compliance foundation.
From Point-in-Time to Continuous Compliance Readiness
zSecure Compliance tracks historical compliance scores, visualizes trends over time, and provides early warning systems for compliance drift—helping clients stay ahead of potential issues. Interactive dashboards provide immediate insights into compliance posture, while integration with IBM Concert extends this visibility across your entire hybrid environment.
Automate, Simplify, and Focus on What Matters
By automating compliance validation, evidence collection and reporting, IBM zSecure Compliance is built to significantly reduce manual workloads and operational overheads. Compliance teams can shift focus from repetitive tasks to strategic initiatives that drive business value. For organizations leveraging the IBM z16 & z17, this solution unlocks additional ROI by maximizing AI hardware investments through practical, high-impact use cases.
The Foundation of an Intelligent Security Ecosystem
IBM zSecure Compliance is more than a compliance tool—it’s the cornerstone of an intelligent mainframe security ecosystem. By enabling continuous discovery, classification, and monitoring of sensitive data, it empowers organizations to build a knowledge base that supports targeted, effective security operations spanning identity management, threat detection, and incident response.
Next Steps
Organizations interested in transforming their mainframe compliance operations are encouraged to contact their IBM representative or IBM Business Partner for more information.
At IBM, we are committed to innovating at the intersection of AI, security, and compliance. IBM zSecure Compliance exemplifies this vision, helping enterprises not only meet regulatory mandates but turn compliance into a strategic advantage. The future of mainframe security is intelligent, unified, and accelerated—and with IBM zSecure Compliance, that future is here.