ibm innovate 2012 mastering the mainframe - the next generation of mainframe developers is available...

IBM Innovate 2012Mastering the Mainframe - The NEXT Generation of Mainframe Developers Is Available NOW

Jay Thomas, Pace University / TDS TelecomPhilip Yeo, Dalhousie UniversityJon Sayles, IBM/Rational Software

Session 1447

© 2012 IBM Corporation2

The Premier Event for Software and Systems Innovation

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Speakers Introduction

Philip developed an interest for mainframe when he competed in Master the Mainframe Challenge in 2010 and emerged as a winner. His IDE of choice throughout the contest is naturally, RDz. As a graduate research student at Dalhousie University, he works as a software architect in a research team, to develop a knowledge management portal for oceanographic scientist across the globe. Prior to that, he was with IBM as a Tech-line Specialist providing pre-sales technical support for WebSphere and Rational brand of products to Business Partners and IBM sales team.

Jay has been interested in IBM mainframes since they were recommendedby a Dr. Lixin Tao at Pace University suggested he complete in Masterthe Mainframe. He was a 2010 Master the Mainframe winner and anhonourable mention in 2011. In his professional life Jay spends a lotof time with DB2 as an network operations analyst for TDS Telecom inMadison, WI. He is also a graduate student at Pace University studyingInformation Assurance.

Jon is a technical specialist at IBM Rational Software, where he conducts presentations, seminars and training courses, and produces educational materials. His more than 30 years in the IT education and computer industries encompasses work within both academic and corporate organizations. He has also been engaged as a software developer/designer/consultant, educator, and author, with a focus on relational database, IDE, and object technologies.



About this panel session

We want to share some success stories in IBM’s effort to grow mainframe skills

For many of the topics we discuss today, we don’t have the answers, but are here to offer our perspectives and generate a constructive discussion

We want it to be informative and interactive, so please chime in any time and join the conversation



Agenda

Part 1 – The Master the Mainframe contest & RDz (~15 minutes)

Part 2 – A discussion on modern tooling for mainframe and the zEnterprise (~20 minutes)

Part 3 – A mainframe career for…. your kids? (~20 minutes)



Agenda

Part 1 – The Master the Mainframe contest & RDz

Part 2 – A discussion on modern tooling for mainframe and the zEnterprise

Part 3 – A mainframe career for…. your kids?



Master the Mainframe Contest overview

Hands-on contest for university students (no experience necessary)

– (Norh America)2011: 3969 students from over 500 participating schools, 7 straight years of growth

– (World wide) 2011: 43,825 students from 32 countries

Run by the IBM Academic Initiative (System z)

Increasing difficulty, increasing prize levels– Part 1: 1-2 hours to complete, win a T-shirt

– Part 2: 10-20 hours to complete, win $100

– Part 3: Weeks to months to complete, win a tablet and a trip to POK

• 2010 challenge: Credit transaction processing in batch

• 2011challenge: Write Bank ATM and Customer Services Application

Rational Developer for System z (RDz) in the contest– Students were given a choice to use RDz in Part 3

– We provided 1) A 1-page download / setup instruction, 2) Some RDz-specific instructions, and 3) email/facebook support

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/university/students/contests/mainframe/index.html

https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/university/systemz/

https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/university/systemz/



System z Academic Initiative Program

School Enablement - global55 courses / modules, z/OS Mastery Exams, Coupons, Professor Seminars, Ambassadors, Funding and support worldwide, Job Board, Faculty Awards

• SystemzJobs.com – Job Board - global to connect students with employers

• Skills Help Desk to assist clients and [email protected]

Student Mainframe Contests

Awareness – academic and industry

Roundtables, conferences, and seminars

Expanding worldwide

Access to mainframesworldwide for teaching(no fee)

Marist College, NY

U of Arkansas

Illinois State U

Syracuse U

NC A&T U

SC IT-ology

Brazil

Germany

France

China

mailto:[email protected]



Lake Brantley High School: 142 Mainframe Masters



What is Rational Developer for System z (RDz)?

• A single integrated development environment for cross-enterprise code development, modernization, and deployment

• Rational is actively partnering with the IBM Academic Initiative team to help schools adopt RDz in their curriculum



Contest Success Students hired as a result of the experience acquired during the contest IBM customers have a needed pipeline of young people to be mentored by older near

retirement associates Significant number of students world wide now familiar with System z and z/OS without any

previous classes or exposure

2010 Winners

• Patricio Reynaga (West Texas A&M University)• Jay Thomas (Pace University)• Calvin MacKenzie (Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts)• Philip Yeo (Dalhousie University)• Sibo Niu (Syracuse University)



Master the Mainframe contest

Philip & Jay –

• How did you learn about the contest?• Why did you choose to participate in the contest?• And why RDz?



Philip’s thought on the Master the Mainframe contest

How did you learn about the contest?

• Email circulated by the dean• Found out from the announcement that a Dalhousie University student was a winner for 2009 and 2008




Why did you choose to participate in the contest?

• Desire to be expose to Enterprise computing on the mainframe • Wanted to be able to dabble with real life mainframe system development which the contest provided• Love the challenge




And why RDz?

• Familiarity with eclipse framework • Increased efficiency with faster navigational capabilities

through additional productivity boosters that eclipse provides• Picture says a thousand words…



Jay’s thought on Master the Mainframe contest

How did you learn about the contest?

• I heard about it through school • Pace University is a DestinationZ Campus• Contest was recommended by Dr. Lixin Tao




Why did you choose to participate in the contest?

• I have always been interested in Enterprise computing, because it’s able to mix new application with core Enterprise Applications (Billing, Accounting, CICS)

• I was interested in getting experience with Mainframes, and the contest seemed like a great way to learn about a new software platform.




And why RDz?

• RDz seemed like an interesting alternative to development on the green screen

• Switching between SDSF and the text editor when I was working with a large number of source files, and Rdz offered an easier system of management and syncing local and remote resources.

• Since it was based on eclipse I thought that there would be almost no learning curve because I had used eclipse to develop for Java



Agenda






RDz and other modern tooling for mainframe and zEnterprise

Q1. Perception of mainframe

Many people think "outdated“, "big“, "COBOL is sooooo yesterday“ when they think of the mainframe. What was your perception when you signed up for the contest, and what is it now that you've completed the contest?




Q2. RDz and ISPF

In your opinion, what are the areas that RDz is superior to ISPF, and what are the areas where ISPF is superior to RDz?




Q3. Future of development tools

An integrated development environment (IDE) like RDz is currently a state of the art development tool, but technology is always changing. Do you see mainframers eventually doing their development, testing, debugging – or at least some forms of these activities – on the web, in the cloud or perhaps… on mobile devices like tablets?



Agenda






A mainframe career for.. your kids?

Q1. Why mainframe?

Why are you interested in a career on mainframe development (vs. being a developer for iPhone apps, social web site, etc)? In other words, what attracts you to working on the mainframe?




Q2. Career growth on the mainframe

As your career grows, do you see yourself doing strictly COBOL, PL/I, C development, or do you envision doing cross languages/cross-platform development?




Q3. Unique skill set

What unique skill sets do students like yourself offer enterprise shops in building tomorrow's applications on enterprise systems?




Q4. Advice?

What advice do you have for the audience in recruiting talented future mainframers?




Q5. Energizing the mainframe !

What can we all do collectively as a community to

energize the mainframe? Is what's being done by the industry effective? What more shall we do?



www.ibm.com/software/rational

http://www.ibm.com/software/rational



More questions (if we have time)

One of the challenges that the RDz team faces is whether they should optimize their design (of RDz) for experienced Green screeners, or should they optimize the design for newcomers. What's your take? Before you answer, let’s see what the audience think.

What’s your curriculum like. Now that both of you are working professionals, can you look back and comment on whether the curriculum prepares you well for a career in enterprise computing? What would you improve on it?

Testing - we've heard from mainframe customers that testing is huge pain point (5-6 weeks to complete z/OS application testing), and a test cycle typically takes a minimum of 12 weeks. Do you have any experience in this area to comment on this?



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Acknowledgements and disclaimers

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© Copyright IBM Corporation 2012. All rights reserved. The information contained in these materials is provided for informational purposes only, and is provided AS IS without warranty of any kind, express or implied. IBM shall not be responsible for any damages arising out of the use of, or otherwise related to, these materials. Nothing contained in these materials is intended to, nor shall have the effect of, creating any warranties or representations from IBM or its suppliers or licensors, or altering the terms and conditions of the applicable license agreement governing the use of IBM software. References in these materials to IBM products, programs, or services do not imply that they will be available in all countries in which IBM operates. Product release dates and/or capabilities referenced in these materials may change at any time at IBM’s sole discretion based on market opportunities or other factors, and are not intended to be a commitment to future product or feature availability in any way. IBM, the IBM logo, Rational, the Rational logo, Telelogic, the Telelogic logo, and other IBM products and services are trademarks of the International Business Machines Corporation, in the United States, other countries or both. Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

www.ibm.com/software/rational

http://www.ibm.com/software/rational

ibm innovate 2012 mastering the mainframe - the next generation of mainframe developers is available...

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