I have decided to post the content of my Publisher’s Page column that will appear in the June/July 2009 issue of z/Journal that is now at the printer. I am putting it my blog today because the topic is gaining traction and exposing some eroneous thinking and a few nuts. For example, the most recent issue of Mainframe Executive (May/June 2009) featured a terrific article on North Carolina State University titled “A New Generation of Mainframe Skills.” Yet one of the first comments I received via email had this to say about that article: “Any young person dumb enough to waste their time training for a career in the mainframe environment is making a huge mistake.” Not so according to NCCU’s Dr. Cameron Seay.
Again this past week I have heard of several instances where IT organizations were contemplating getting rid of their IBM mainframe because of the perceived lack of qualified mainframe support personnel. All of the instances I am referring to are government agencies, but I have no doubt that this tactic of creating FUD is prevalent in all industries. This seems to be the current battle cry of distributed systems aficionados and I think it is a crock.
For one thing, there are scores of highly qualified mainframe folks who have been laid off due to the lousy economy and who are having trouble finding jobs. In addition, thanks to the efforts of IBM’s mainframe skills program and its Academic Initiative, more than 50,000 potential mainframers are being taught in 550 universities worldwide.
As an example, North Carolina Central University (NCCU) has a vibrant program that is producing terrific young mainframers and they are landing jobs nearby at Fortune 500-type companies, primarily in banking and insurance. Started in 2006, the first mainframe class was taught by two full-time IBM programmers. Under the enthusiastic leadership of Professor Cameron Seay, the students are eager to learn the necessary mainframe skills that will enable them to go right to work upon graduation.
Dr. Seay said although the students’ background was mainly in the PC world, once they became aware of the power of the mainframe and its modern architecture (along with the fact that 70 percent of the world’s mission-critical business applications run on IBM mainframes), they quickly wanted to be part of that culture. They quickly learned that today’s System z10 mainframe is not their grandfather’s mainframe. It doesn’t hurt that entry-level mainframe jobs are fetching $55,000 to $65,000.
So next time you hear mainframe staffing as a reason for ditching the industry’s most reliable and modern computing platform chalk it up to fear-mongering. Stand down Mr. Bogeyman, you have been found out!
PS I just came accross a very interesting article in the SDTimes titled, “Mainframes Stage Recession-Driven Comeback” — amen!
