IBM Content Manager Migration Services

We connect to the mainframe and get your documents and index data out, converted and reconciled

What Is IBM Content Manager?

IBM Content Manager for z/OS is IBM's enterprise content repository for the mainframe. For decades it has stored the high-volume document images, statements, and records behind banks, insurers, healthcare payers, and government agencies, often alongside the core business systems that run on the same mainframe.

Content Manager keeps its catalog in a library server database on DB2 for z/OS and stores the documents themselves as objects, typically managed by the mainframe's Object Access Method (OAM) across disk, tape, and other storage tiers. Content is organized into item types with attributes, child components for repeating data, multiple parts per item, links and folders, versions, and access control lists.

Those same strengths make it hard to leave. The content is locked behind mainframe security, stored in mainframe formats, and spread across storage that was designed for retention rather than bulk export.

Why Organizations Migrate Off IBM Content Manager

Mainframe modernization programs, the rising cost of MIPS and storage, retiring mainframe skills, and the push to move documents to the cloud are the usual drivers. In many organizations Content Manager is one of the last workloads keeping a mainframe footprint alive, so getting the content out is what lets the rest of the modernization finish.

IBM Content Manager migration flow: Merkh connects to the mainframe, reads the DB2 library server catalog and the stored objects, converts EBCDIC data and mainframe document formats such as AFP and MO:DCA, and loads the content into the target system with a reconciliation report
We connect to the mainframe, read the catalog and the objects, convert them, and load a reconciled result.

Specific Technical Challenges

A mainframe repository brings challenges that distributed ECM migrations never face.

Getting Connected to the Mainframe

Access runs through mainframe security (typically RACF), DB2 for z/OS, and tightly controlled network paths. Extraction has to work within those controls and with the mainframe team, not around them.

EBCDIC and Mainframe Data Types

Catalog data and text content are stored in EBCDIC code pages, with mainframe date and numeric formats. Everything has to be converted precisely, or names, account numbers, and dates arrive corrupted.

AFP, MO:DCA, and Legacy Image Formats

Documents are often stored as AFP print streams, MO:DCA and IOCA images, or older TIFF variants that modern platforms cannot display. They need to be converted to PDF or standard images with nothing lost in rendering.

Item Types, Child Components, and Parts

An item can carry repeating child components and several parts, and items link into folders and other items. That structure has to be flattened or remapped carefully so related content stays together in the target.

Objects Spread Across Storage Tiers

Older objects may live on slower storage tiers, including tape. Recalling millions of them has to be planned and sequenced so the extraction runs efficiently and does not disrupt production.

Batch Windows and MIPS Cost

Mainframe capacity is shared and metered. Extraction has to be scheduled around batch windows and online peaks, and kept efficient enough that it does not drive up the mainframe bill.

How Merkh Helps

Merkh connects directly to the mainframe and gets the data out. Working with your mainframe and security teams, we read the Content Manager library server catalog in DB2 for z/OS and retrieve the stored objects, then convert EBCDIC data, mainframe dates and numbers, and AFP, MO:DCA, and legacy image formats into standard, searchable documents. Item types, attributes, child components, parts, links, and versions are mapped to the target so every document keeps its context. Extraction is scheduled around your batch windows and peaks, and every run ends with reconciliation reporting that accounts for every item, part, and attribute value.

Where we move IBM Content Manager content

We migrate IBM Content Manager to SharePoint Online and Microsoft 365, OnBase, cloud object storage with a searchable index, other ECM platforms, or a read-only archive that lets you retire the workload entirely. The target is chosen to fit your retention rules and how the content is actually used today.

An IBM Content Manager Migration, Step by Step

1

Connect and assess

With your mainframe team, we set up secure access and inventory item types, volumes, formats, and storage tiers.

2

Map

Item types, attributes, and components are mapped to the target, and you sign off on the plan.

3

Extract and convert

Objects are read in scheduled runs, converted from mainframe formats, and loaded in validated batches.

4

Reconcile

Every item, part, and attribute value is counted and checked against the mainframe source.

See our full migration process

IBM Content Manager Migration FAQ

Yes. We connect to the mainframe, read the Content Manager catalog and the stored objects directly, and deliver them as standard documents with their index data, ready for the new platform.

Extraction is scheduled with your mainframe team around batch windows and online peaks, and throttled so production work always comes first. Objects on slower storage tiers are recalled in planned sequences.

They are converted to PDF or standard image formats that any modern system can display and search, and the conversion is checked so pages, fonts, and images render the way they did on the mainframe.

No. We need their help with access, security, and scheduling, but the extraction, conversion, and reconciliation are ours to build and run.

Every migration ends with a reconciliation report that accounts for every item, part, and attribute value in Content Manager, with any exceptions listed and resolved. That report is your evidence for decommissioning.

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