Downfall of the mainframe? Still alive and computing.

The demise of the mainframe is over rated. With the advent of mini computers, client servers and mid range computers and their associated software, technologists back in the end of the 80's predicted that mainframe systems would soon be obsolete. Along with this also came the prediction that mainframe technicians would no longer be needed. Their skills would become obsolete. In fact, what has happened was that the mainframe technician is going by the way of the dinosaur and no replacements are being trained. Oh, by the way, the mainframe is not getting obsolete. The skills of the mainframe progammer are still in demand. More importantly, these skills need to be passed on to a new team of players that can continue to maintain mainframe systems and applications.

While the new technology solutions of the 21st century have given way to numerous new aspects in information technology, large Fortune 500 companies in general and financial industry companies in particular still posses the need for a sizeable and reliable computing capacity that these systems cannot provide. When someone looks up a single piece of financial information, that piece of information is most likely the result of millions of transactions that are posted, processed and warehoused. This heavily task-oriented process can only be completed by what the senior members of the industry refer to as the IBM mainframe, System 370 and the like (also referred to as the monsters of technology,) With the continued use of these 'monsters of technology,' the need to be able to maintain, develop, analyze and expand the applications and data on these machines will be present for the foreseeable future.

The primary tools used on mainframe systems are still COBOL, DB2, CICS and VSAM. In addition, numerous tools geared towards quality assurance exist as well. Developers familiar with these tools are aging out of the workforce and few resources are available to replenish that pool of talent. In the 1970's, outside of commercial and fashion trends such as bell bottom pants, disco clubs, televisions shows such as the Sonny and Cher Comedy hour and movies such as Star Wars, there were schools such as The Chubb Institute and Electronic Computer Progamming Institute that taught courses in COBOL, Assembler and OS/JCL. These institutes, although still around have abandoned the mainframe curriculum in favor of a mixed curriculum emphasizing Web Design, Java, .Net and other software tools that most mainframe veterans are unfamiliar with.

In addition, as large financial corporations continue to cut back on expenses, many of the more experienced mainframe developers and analysts are being eliminated, creating a niche market that can only be served by IT consulting companies. In the beginning, this repositioning of the industry has provided IT consulting companies with a fairly stable revenue stream and a small but highly experienced pool of talent. The cadre of individuals in this talent pool has been and continues to be comprised of a dwindling pool of analysts that still have both the business experience and the technical skills to oversee the design, developing and testing of mainframe applications. Some of these individuals are at retirement age and still want to continue to work at their profession, while others are nearing the end of their active career life looking for a few more years of work.

As this pool continues to diminish however, IT consulting companies are now faced with the task of finding a new pool of talented developers and experts to help maintain these systems and if necessary, develop new code. Going off-shore to countries located in the Asia-Pacific region is becoming a popular alternative to accomplish this task. Among the sheer numbers of available off-shore talent, there are developers that are still motivated to learn how to use mainframe tools. The problem however is that these developers lack the business knowledge that has been acquired through many years of experience by an aging population. These skilled but relatively inexperienced developers can code but can not pro-actively identify any potential deficiencies in the design of an application or faults in data output. Along with the lack of knowledge, another problem with this solution is the major time difference between businesses in the United States and the offshore consulting staff in Asia. This time difference causes frustration in dealing with design problems, status updates and day to day management of even the simplest of projects.

In order to solve the problems with off-shore solutions, a combination of off-shore and on-shore (US based) personnel can be used to fulfill the client's needs. This model is commonly referred to as a Hybrid solution and is part of a broader organizational competency specifically meant to help expand the life and capabilities of a mainframe system. In this model a small, but key, group of on-shore resources are utilized, usually consisting of veteran program and technical managers who are familiar with the application and/or mainframe system and possess the right combination of technical and business experience. This group of on-shore personnel works with off-shore personnel to guide the process of maintaining, updating or developing for a mainframe system from beginning to end, continuously documenting and transferring knowledge and experience throughout the development and maintenance lifecycles.

This simple yet effective structured project management-based approach to maintaining and extending the life of mainframe systems has several benefits to both the client and the IT consulting company. First, this approach ensures that a client has complete access to a local staff (on-shore) that they can communicate problems to. The on-shore staff can then turnaround and communicate with designated off-shore resources at convenient times and guide them through the development or problem-solving process. This process alleviates any client frustration with regards to communications and time differences. Another benefit of the hybrid solution is the cost savings being realized by clients in general and large financial organizations in particular. Differences in cost-of-living between geographies have resulted in cost-savings that IT consulting companies have been able to pass on to the client.

The opportunity to establish the groundwork for continuing education also exists. As the senior group of mainframe professionals winds down their involvement in application design and development, they can help develop an educational strategy for all resources, whether on-shore or off-shore so that mainframe competencies can be passed down to the next generation. In this case, IT consulting companies can take a front seat by working with experienced mainframe personnel to develop in-house curriculums, create a mainframe competency knowledgebase and ultimately usher in a new generation of mainframe experts ready to take on the tasks involved in developing and maintaining mainframe systems.

The development of a customized knowledge retention system consisting of a portal services system and a project server is the core of mainframe competency. Such a solution will facilitate the retention of business intelligence and technical skills. This approach consists not only of the use of a knowledge repository but the conduction of training sessions using web based meeting sites so that those resources, even in remote areas can also benefit from this teaching. It's important to realize that much of this knowledge was gained over many years if not decades; therefore it will take some time to replenish the diminishing pool of talent. In the mean time, management must take the responsibility to encourage the sharing, distribution and documentation of the past knowledge and lessons gained. Some of this exercise may be viewed as just knowledge harvesting by an organization. However, a more enlightened approach delineates that this process should be viewed as virtually passing the torch from the old guard to the new recruits.

The other part of this process is to implement a management style centered around mentorship so that the new recruits can learn how to properly manage and deliver a successful project. This endeavor is only successful if there is a robust project management methodology in place where documentation can be made available to all levels of the project team. Each member of the project team must feel that his contribution is important. Constructive criticism must be given when necessary. This way, the right knowledge and encouragement can be effectively passed on.

This approach to mainframe competency makes sure that the skills needed for application design, development and maintenance will be available for the foreseeable future. As some of the more senior employees retire and move on to less strenuous activities, like the golf course, the IT industry must make sure that those talented younger and eager workers have the necessary opportunities for learning and expanding their skill-set, providing the next generation with the knowledge needed to keep the mainframes going for a long time to come.

Jim Serton is project manager at DATA Inc.

www.datainc.biz 

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