IBM Z and LinuxONE IBM Z

IBM has issued a Statement of Direction that IBM Fibre Channel Endpoint Security (IFCES) will be a hard requirement for FICON connectivity to the zNext mainframe generation that follows z17.
Dell and IBM issued a joint statement in March 2025 that Dell will not be supporting IFCES, however they continue to support connectivity to current mainframe technology with their current storage products.  

This was posted in Seismic, but I no longer seem to have access to it and didn't want to paste a possible bad link in here.  

That said, here is the pdf stmt on direction that I found interesting; 

Joint Dell & IBM Guidance on Future PowerMax & DLm IBM Z Support

Dell has elected not to license the IBM Fibre Channel Endpoint Security (IFCES)

specification. As further described in IBM’s Statement of Direction (SoD) dated April 23,

2024, in order to enhance security, this technology will be required for all new FICON-

connected storage systems introduced after December 31, 2024 to attach to future

versions of IBM Z.

Planning Guidance:

• Dell will work with IBM to enable Dell’s existing Storage (current and prior versions of

PowerMax and DLm) to attach to IBM zNext (z17) and IBM zNext+1 but without any

new feature enhancements, including IFCES.

• IBM will continue to enable the attachment of existing IBM Z models to existing Dell

Storage (current and prior versions of PowerMax and DLm) through their respective

product lives, with no degradation of existing functionality. Support for PowerMax

and DLm attached to IBM Z will be available through December 31, 2030 unless an

existing approved agreement to support beyond this date already exists.

• IBM and Dell will continue to support joint customers who currently attach Dell

Storage to IBM Z.

Drew Schulke Tina Tarquinio

Vice-President, Product Management Vice President, Product Management

Dell Technologies Primary Storage IBM Z and LinuxONE