This programming interface is consistent across various computer environments, including (but not limited to) IBM mainframes, IBM midrange e.g. systems in PC´s, Unix and VMS machines.
The main purpose of VCOM is to provide a service for program-to-program communication in distributed application systems. A distributed application system, in this context, is a system consisting of at least two programs co-operating in order to perform a function. Normally, the co-operating programs are geographically separated, i.e. they run in different computers or environments. However, they may also run in the same computer, using VCOM as a tool for data transfer.