Mainframe Systems and
Career Opportunities
Chris Barber
Mainframe Platform Architect
February 14, 2013
Agenda
• My Background
• What is a Mainframe?
• Allstate and the Mainframe
• Mainframe Career Opportunities
• Why the Mainframe?
My Background
• Education
– 2004 – BS – Applied Computer Science
– 2007 – MS – Computer Science
– 2010 – MBA
• Work Experience
– 2003 – 2004 – Undergraduate Fellow
• CSCI 360 - Computer Programming in Assembler Language
• CSCI 463 - Computer Systems Organization
– 2004 – 2010 – Systems Programming
• 2007 – TDY through the entire mainframe support organization
– 2010 – 2012 – Performance Tuning and Capacity Planning
– 2012 – Today – Mainframe Platform Architect
• Associations
– SHARE
– Computer Measurement Group
– zBLC
What is a Mainframe?
What is a mainframe?
•
Large Scale Computing Platform
–
–
–
•
Highly reliable
–
–
–
•
•
Batch
Transaction Processing
Database
Security
Hardware Redundancy
Operating System Stability
The Original Virtual Server
Who uses them?
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–
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99% of top 500 banks worldwide
5 top insurers in the United States
Local to national governments worldwide
50 years
Allstate and the Mainframe
•
1970’s
– Allstate ran mainframe environments in 16 locations across the country
•
1980’s
– Allstate continues to rely on mainframe computing, consolidating to 9 Regional
operating centers.
•
1990’s
– Allstate consolidates mainframe environment to 4 locations
– Allstate partners with IBM development to create and install the 1st Parallel
Sysplex
•
2000’s
– Consolidated mainframe systems from 4 datacenters to 2
– Management changes caused lack of focus on mainframe platform
•
Today
– The mainframe environment and applications are critical to Allstate’s strategy
– Revitalization effort underway to optimize Availability, Performance, and
Environmental management
Mainframe Career
Opportunities
Infrastructure
Engineering
System
Programming
Performance
and Capacity
Planning
Operations
System
Administration
Production
Control
Systems Programming
– Software Installation
• Operating System
• Subsystems (CICS, MQ)
• 3rd Party Software
– Problem Analysis
• IPCS
– Modernization Opportunities
•
•
•
•
z/OSMF
Linux on z
Hybrid Systems
DB2 Analytics Accelerator for z/OS
Performance Tuning and Capacity Planning
•
System Level Analysis
– SMF Data
– Real-time Monitoring
•
Hardware Research
– Workload Characteristics
– Exploitations of Chip, Peripherals, Memory, and Coupling Technology
•
Modernization Opportunities
– Scripting of Manual Reporting
– Development of Custom Charts/Graphs
Generation Capacity Ratios
1.7
1.6
Low
1.5
Avg-Low
1.4
Avg
1.3
Avg-High
1.2
High
1.1
Predicted
1
z9
z10
z196
zEC12
Operations/System Administration
– Intimate knowledge of company processing
– Close relationship with application teams to address problems
and fulfill requests
•
•
•
•
IPL’s
Workload Management
Front-line monitoring
Alert Management
Production Control
– Job Scheduling
• Schedule Definitions
• Job Execution Monitoring
– Event Monitoring
• Abend Resolution
• System Error Messages
• Incident Escalation
– 24X7 shift work
Why the Mainframe?
Why the Mainframe?
• Fewer staff to support more processing
– More opportunities for advancement
– More opportunities to move throughout the organization
• Mainframe systems skills not found off-shore
– Mainframe systems outsourcing rate – 0%
– Unix systems outsourcing rate – 50%
– Windows systems outsourcing rate – 42%
• Aging & Retiring (finally) workforce
– Companies lulled into complacency – lost focus on filling mainframe
talent
– Improved Economy accelerating departure
• Fewer servers to support more processing
– 1:500 compared to other server environments
– Less lifecycle activity combined with years of experience allow
technicians to understand inner workings of the system.
Why the Mainframe?
•
Exciting new developments
– New hardware
• Faster, more scalable machines
• Hybrid computing
• Appliances and Accelerators
– Operating system redesign
• Enhanced usability for future mainframe professionals
• Enhanced insights into performance
– New workloads gaining traction
• Linux on z
– Data serving
– Transaction processing
• Java
– Cloud computing
• Mainframe virtualization technology made it the cloud before there was a “cloud”
– The Bottom Line
• The cost of mainframe computing has been on the decline over the past 5 years, as
businesses have also begun to realize other platforms are not as inexpensive as once
thought.
What you can do next?
• IBM’s Master the Mainframe Contest
– Not just about prizes
• www.systemzjobs.com
– Job board for only mainframe employment opportunities
• NIU Internship and Career Fairs
• Read
– http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/portals/systemz - ABCs of System
programming
• Connect
– System z official Twitter handle:
• @ibm_system_z
– Top Facebook pages related to System z:
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•
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Systemz Mainframe
IBM System z on Campus
IBM Mainframe Professionals
Millennial Mainframer
Questions