What Dino-Software does

Dino Software Corporation is a privately held, US-based specialist vendor of enterprise software for IBM z/OS mainframe environments, founded in 2002 in Alexandria, Virginia by former Softworks, Inc. engineers after EMC Corporation acquired Softworks for $192 million in 2000. The company's founding team includes the original developers of the Mechanic, the world's first ICF catalog backup and recovery tool, and Catalog Solution, an industry-standard catalog product with several thousand historical licenses sold. Dino-Software has since authored over 25 z/OS utilities organized around four functional pillars: ICF catalog management and repair (T-REX), enterprise storage management GUI and automation (UDM, Universal Data Manager), VSAM/xSAM batch performance optimization (VELOCI-Raptor, HSA), DASD defragmentation (RealTime Defrag), secure data erasure (XTINCT), and catalog merge operations (TERADON).

The technical platform consists of native z/OS components that integrate with IBM infrastructure including RACF security, DFSMShsm, ICF catalogs, and standard TCP/IP for cross-sysplex communication. Products are delivered as CPU-keyed software downloads, operate through ISPF interfaces, started tasks, JCL, and (in UDM's case) a Java-based GUI, and are designed to install in minutes without distributed servers. Quantified outcomes claimed in customer environments include 60-90% reductions in VSAM batch processing time, catalog recovery measured in minutes rather than days, and the elimination of over 90% of EXCP SVCs for some datasets. The portfolio is engineered to be used standalone or composed together via UDM for enterprise-wide automation, reporting, and monitoring.

The business model combines perpetual CPU-based software licenses with annual maintenance contracts (documented via product end-of-service schedules) and 24x7 tiered technical support. Distribution is direct enterprise field sales, supplemented by 30-day free trials, SHARE conference presence across 14+ US cities, technical whitepapers, webinars on GoToWebinar, and product demonstration videos. The company serves Fortune 500 enterprises and large multi-sysplex organizations globally (with disclosed presence in North America and Europe), is cash-positive with no significant external debt, and operates with a small team of 11-50 geographically distributed employees using remote communication technologies.

Name

Dino-Software

Legal name

Dino Software Corporation

Website

https://dino-software.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Dino Software Corporation is a privately held US specialist vendor of enterprise utilities for IBM z/OS mainframe environments, offering ICF catalog management (T-REX), enterprise storage GUI (UDM), VSAM performance optimization (VELOCI-Raptor, HSA), real-time DASD defragmentation (RTD), secure data erasure (XTINCT), and catalog merge tools (TERADON) to Fortune 500 customers via CPU-based perpetual licenses and annual maintenance contracts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mainframe Storage Management Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (51321), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

IT Asset Discovery, Inventory & CMDB Services (BPAEAOAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Data Protection & Archiving (WORM, Long-Term Retention) (HDABAEAH)

Keywords

• Z/OS storage management
• Mainframe software solutions
• ICF catalog management
• VSAM batch optimization
• Secure data erasure

Headquarters

HQ city

Alexandria

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses: Perpetual software licenses for products including T-REX, UDM, VELOCI-Raptor, HSA, TERADON, RTD, and XTINCT. Products are licensed per CPU with software keys provided upon purchase.
2. Software Maintenance and Support: Annual maintenance contracts providing product updates, technical support, and version upgrades. Multiple product versions have documented end-of-service dates indicating active maintenance relationships.
3. Technical Support Services: 24x7x365 mission-critical technical support with tiered severity levels. Support includes phone and email assistance, with guaranteed response times based on severity.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Dino-Software develops and sells CPU-licensed z/OS mainframe enterprise software for storage management, ICF catalog management, VSAM performance optimization, DFSMShsm administration, online DASD defragmentation, and secure data erasure. Its flagship product, T-REX, consolidates the functionality of at least six standalone utilities for ICF catalog backup, recovery, and repair, and is complemented by UDM (enterprise sysplex-wide storage GUI), VELOCI-Raptor (VSAM batch buffering), HSM Adminisaurus, TERADON (open MERGECAT), RTD (RealTime Defrag), and XTINCT (compliant data erasure). Products are sold as perpetual licenses with annual maintenance and 24x7 support to large enterprise mainframe customers.

Product overview

Dino-Software develops a comprehensive portfolio of z/OS mainframe enterprise solutions organized around storage management, performance optimization, and data protection. The core product lineup includes: T-REX for ICF catalog management and VSAM repair; Universal Data Manager (UDM) as an enterprise-wide storage management GUI platform with automation and monitoring capabilities; VELOCI-Raptor (VR) for VSAM/xSAM batch buffering optimization; HSM Adminisaurus (HSA) for DFSMShsm administration; TERADON for catalog merge operations with datasets open; RealTime Defrag (RTD) for automatic DASD volume maintenance; and XTINCT for secure data erasure. These products are offered as standalone utilities that can be used independently or enhanced through integration with UDM, which extends their capabilities with enterprise-level automation, monitoring, reporting, and multi-system management across sysplexes. Dino-Software specializes exclusively in z/OS mainframe technology and has authored over 25 products serving Fortune 500 organizations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• T-REX: ICF Catalog Manager - Access Method Services/Extended product for ICF catalog management, backup, recovery, and repair.
• UDM | Universal Data Manager
• HSA | HSM Adminisaurus
• VR | VELOCI-Raptor
• TERADON
• RTD | RealTime Defrag
• XTINCT

Products and services

• T-REX (Access Method Services/Extended) ICF catalog management and VSAM cluster analysis, diagnosis, reorganization, reporting, backup and repair utility for z/OS mainframe environments. Contains functionality equivalent to at least six standalone products and features automated problem correction (AUTOFIX) capability. Targeted at enterprise mainframe storage administrators and z/OS system programmers.
• Universal Data Manager (UDM) GUI-based enterprise-level z/OS storage management solution providing a consolidated global view across multiple systems and sysplexes. Extends automation, auditing, monitoring, reporting, and control functions with a single-pane-of-glass interface, command and JCL management, SQL-filtered reporting, integrated message trapping and scheduling, and RACF-based security. Targeted at z/OS storage and operations teams managing multi-system mainframe environments.
• VELOCI-Raptor (VR) Intelligent VSAM/xSAM batch buffering and file I/O tuning tool that automatically optimizes buffer allocation for VSAM and non-VSAM files, dynamically selecting between NSR or LSR buffering techniques. Reported to reduce batch processing time by 60–90%. Targeted at mainframe performance and capacity teams seeking to accelerate VSAM batch windows.
• HSM Adminisaurus (HSA) DFSMShsm administration and management tool providing over 30 pre-established quick scans, health checks, and more than 200 reports and commands to simplify HSM environment management, CDS auditing, and error resolution. Targeted at z/OS storage administrators responsible for DFSMShsm-managed data.
• TERADON (Open Mergecat) MVS utility for moving BCS entries between ICF catalogs via MERGECAT functionality. Can perform catalog consolidation while datasets remain OPEN using mirroring routines, with throttle capability to minimize disruption to other catalog users. Targeted at z/OS storage and operations teams executing catalog consolidation or migration.
• RealTime Defrag (RTD) Automatic z/OS DASD volume maintenance and defragmentation solution for 24x7 environments. Uses multiple address space architecture to deliver high throughput without production disruption, and supports VTOC integrity checks and free extent release on extent space efficient volumes. Targeted at z/OS storage teams running continuous-availability environments.
• XTINCT Permanent data erasure tool for DASD and tape that exceeds NIST guidelines and meets the US Department of Defense 5220.22-M standard, as well as regulatory requirements including Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, and SOX for secure data sanitization. Targeted at mainframe customers with regulated data retirement obligations.

Quantifiable outcome

• VSAM batch processing time reduced 60-90%
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• IBM: IBM is the maker of z/OS itself and offers native DFSMShsm, ICF catalog, and DFSMSdss tools. As Dino-Software's primary platform owner and the 'Big 3' incumbent referenced in Dino's marketing, IBM provides overlapping capabilities as part of the broader z/OS ecosystem, but Dino specializes in automation and ease-of-use layers on top of IBM's stack.
• Broadcom (CA Technologies mainframe division): Broadcom acquired CA Technologies and now sells mainframe storage, catalog, and database management tools (e.g., CA-Datacom, CA-Disk) that directly overlap with T-REX, UDM, and HSA. As one of the 'Big 3' incumbents, Broadcom competes with Dino on the same Fortune 500 mainframe customer base but as part of a much broader enterprise software portfolio.
• BMC Software: BMC's mainframe management suite (BMC AMI Storage, BMC AMI Catalog Manager) competes head-to-head with Dino's T-REX and UDM products on ICF catalog management, VSAM, and storage optimization. BMC is the third member of the 'Big 3' incumbents and offers broader workload automation beyond Dino's storage/catalog focus.
• Precisely (Syncsort): Precisely (formerly Syncsort) provides mainframe data management, replication, and integrity tools that overlap with Dino's data protection and HSM administration capabilities. It is a relevant comparable in the mainframe data infrastructure niche.
• OpenText (mainframe division, formerly Micro Focus): OpenText (which acquired Micro Focus in 2023) maintains a mainframe software portfolio including file and data management utilities. Its broader enterprise content management focus makes it an adjacent incumbent rather than a direct specialist competitor.

Direct peers

• Rocket Software: Rocket Software is a direct peer in the z/OS infrastructure tooling space, offering products for mainframe data, storage, and operations management. Rocket's focus on IBM i and z/OS makes it one of the closest comparables in terms of platform specialization and Fortune 500 customer base.
• IRI (Innovative Routines International): IRI provides CoSort and other mainframe data manipulation and ETL tools that overlap with Dino's VSAM optimization and data movement use cases. It is a smaller direct specialist peer serving similar mainframe data management customers.
• BMC AMI Storage: BMC AMI Storage and AMI Catalog Manager products specifically compete with Dino's T-REX ICF catalog and UDM enterprise storage management offerings for the same z/OS sysplex management use cases.

Emerging players

• ASG Technologies (now part of Rocket Software): ASG (acquired by Rocket Software in 2021) offered mainframe data and content management solutions that compete with Dino's storage and catalog management products, particularly in regulated industries.
• Skytap (IBM Cloud): While Skytap focuses on cloud-hosted mainframe workloads (an adjacent platform), it represents the cloud migration direction that could either threaten or extend Dino's TAM as enterprises modernize z/OS environments.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/dinosoftwarecorp
• Xx.com/dino_software
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dino-software

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Dino-Software