What’s New in the IBM MQ 9.4.3 Release — and How Infrared360 Helps You Maximize It

The IBM MQ 9.4.3 release is the third Continuous Delivery (CD) release in the 9.4 Long Term Support (LTS) stream, continues to evolve to meet the needs of modern, hybrid messaging environments. Officially announced on June 10 and generally available as of June 17, this release delivers enhancements including powerful updates for organizations running IBM MQ in containers, on-prem, or across cloud regions.

While the release includes updates that enhance security, productivity, and resilience, many organizations are still looking for broader visibility, streamlined administration, and centralized control across their diverse middleware landscape.

That’s where Avada Software’s infrared360 comes in.

Highlights of the IBM MQ 9.4.3 Release

IBM MQ 9.4.3 delivers several new capabilities that support modernization efforts, particularly in containerized and hybrid deployments:

Add-On Licensing for Native HA and Cross-Region Replication (CRR): This gives container-based MQ deployments on Kubernetes and OpenShift access to disaster recovery capabilities—without requiring full MQ Advanced licensing
OpenTelemetry Support for MQ Appliance: Enables deeper tracing of message flows across applications—already available in MQ Distributed
Kafka Connect Framework Integration: MQ Advanced now includes support for the Kafka Connect framework, simplifying MQ-to-Kafka integration and reducing licensing complexityIBM MQ 9.4.3
Simplified JWT Authentication for Java Clients: Java-based applications can now automatically retrieve JSON Web Tokens for MQ connections, reducing the need for custom logic and enhancing secure integration
Expanded Audit Logging for Containers: Configurable audit logs help support federal compliance, enabling more granular tracking of successful and failed authentication events
IPv6 Dual Stack Support: Dual stack support (IPv4 and IPv6) in containers simplifies testing, transition, and compliance in modern networks

How Infrared360 Enhances the Value of IBM MQ 9.4.3

Infrared360 is designed to empower MQ administrators, developers, and operations teams with full-stack visibility and control across even the most complex MQ landscapes. Whether you’re running MQ in containers, on Linux, Windows, AIX, IBM i, or z/OS, infrared360 can help you simplify operations while leveraging the new features of MQ 9.4.3.

✔ Cross-Platform Management

Support for MQ across Linux, Windows, HP Nonstop (NSK), z/OS, and IBM i—as well as Kubernetes and OpenShift—means your teams can monitor and manage everything from a single, secure interface, regardless of platform or location.

✔ Automation and Proactive Alerts

Infrared360 enables intelligent automation and alerting tied to queue depth, application errors, system health, and more. It works alongside IBM MQ’s native event generation to help users take proactive action before an issue becomes a problem—no scripting required.

✔ Unified Visibility and Management for Kafka and MQ

With IBM MQ 9.4.3 now including Kafka Connect framework support, many organizations are expanding their use of both MQ and Kafka in their messaging architectures. Infrared360 gives you full visibility and control over both—from the same single interface.

Administrators can monitor Kafka brokers, topics, partitions, producers, and consumers alongside their MQ infrastructure. This unified view allows teams to quickly trace message flows across platforms, identify bottlenecks, and manage integration points more effectively—without context switching or additional tools.

✔ Security and Compliance Support

Infrared360 enhances IBM MQ’s secure architecture with role-based access control, audit trail dashboards, and detailed user activity logs—helping you demonstrate compliance with internal and external policies, especially in regulated industries.

Bring it All Together

The IBM MQ 9.4.3 release brings important innovations to help businesses scale securely, integrate flexibly, and operate with greater resilience—especially in cloud-native environments. Pairing those enhancements with infrared360 helps teams go even further: simplifying management, improving responsiveness, and ensuring secure, compliant operations across the entire middleware estate.