Micro Focus, IBM Team to Deliver Latest in Mainframe and COBOL Education Resources.--Joint program provides students and programmers with latest training resources for professional advancement in key enterprise-system IT initiatives-- ROCKVILLE, Md. & POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- Micro Focus (Micro Focus[R], LSE LSE - Language Sensitive Editor : MCRO.L), a leader in enterprise application management and modernization solutions, and IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) , today announces that they will team up to deliver together the latest training for mainframe systems and application programmers. Micro Focus and IBM will deliver a complete set of training and courseware materials, in joint academic programs implemented through partner colleges and universities. The joint programs will enable organizations and their staffs to easily obtain the latest basic and advanced training in business-critical mainframe and COBOL COBOL: see programming language. COBOL in full Common Business-Oriented Language. High-level computer programming language, one of the first widely used languages and for many years the most popular language in the business community. skills. IBM's Academic Initiative for System z includes more than 300 participating educational institutions that currently provide mainframe training to some 23,000 students worldwide. Micro Focus', recently announced Academic Connections (ACTION) program will support the IBM initiative by providing its leading mainframe development environment, Mainframe Express[R] Enterprise Edition, to students enrolled in IBM-supported courses. Students in these courses will have access and resources learn the intricacies of mainframe application programming, without needing a direct link to the resources of a remote mainframe system as they develop, debug and test Assembler, COBOL, CICS (Customer Information Control System) A TP monitor from IBM that was originally developed to provide transaction processing for IBM mainframes. It controls the interaction between applications and users and lets programmers develop screen displays without , IMS (1) See IP Multimedia Subsystem. (2) (Information Management System) An early IBM hierarchical DBMS for IBM mainframes. IMS was widely implemented throughout the 1970s under MVS and continues to be used under z/OS. , DB2, JCL (Job Control Language) A command language for mini and mainframe operating systems that launches applications. It specifies priority, program size and running sequence as well as the files and databases used. JCL - Job Control Language and SOA (1) (Start Of Authority) The first record in a DNS zone file. See DNS records. (2) (Service Oriented Architecture) The modularization of business functions for greater flexibility and reusability. applications on their PCs. "IBM and Micro Focus, working together, are continuing to provide what the industry demands in terms of enterprise system skills training," said Don Resnik, Program Manager, IBM Academic Initiative for System z. "Incorporating our courses with the latest tools for mainframe development from Micro Focus, will go a long way to ensure that a new generation of mainframe experts are able to tackle the business of IT for many years to come." According to a recent Gartner report, "one of the greatest growing risks for [mainframe] systems is not the applications themselves, but rather the skills necessary to continue to develop, maintain and operate them."1 With some 70 percent of current business applications written in COBOL and other "legacy" languages, the need for trained IT professionals in this specialty has never been greater. Today's announcement is a direct response to ensure that the industry continues to replenish and enhance the skills pool needed for enterprise application development. The New York City College of Technology New York City College of Technology (NYCCT), called New York City Technical College prior to 2002 and nicknamed City Tech, is the largest four-year technical school in the northeastern United States, and one of four colleges within the City University of New York (NYCCT NYCCT New York City College of Technology (City University of New York) ), part of the City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY; acronym: IPA pronunciation: [kjuni]), is the public university system of New York City. system, is leading the way in offering courseware designed to integrate mainframe technology into the latest computer science curriculum. "We have long associated with Micro Focus to deliver the latest COBOL training as part of our curriculum," said Harrison Simmons, professor of computer science at NYCCT. "By collaborating with the joint initiative and having direct access to IBM mainframe technology and courseware support, we will deliver seven courses on the specific skills needed for today's large-system, enterprise computing." "Our ACTION program is a key initiative to provide the latest in tools and training for future IT professionals," said Stephen Kelly, chief executive officer at Micro Focus. "Many of our joint customers have strategies to expand and modernize their mainframes and our increasing the skill pool is fundamental to their continued success." About Micro Focus Micro Focus, a member of the FTSE FTSE A company that specializes in index calculation. Although not part of a stock exchange, co-owners include the London Stock Exchange and the Financial Times. Notes: The FTSE is similar to Standard & Poor's in the United States. 250, provides innovative software that allows companies to dramatically improve the business value of their enterprise applications. Micro Focus Enterprise Application Modernization and Management software enables customers' business applications to respond rapidly to market changes and embrace modern architectures with reduced cost and risk. For additional information please visit www.microfocus.com. Micro Focus and Mainframe Express are registered trademarks of Micro Focus. All other products and companies mentioned in this announcement are trademarks of their respective organizations. 1 Vecchio, D. "Impact of Generational IT Skill Shift on Legacy Applications." March 14, 2007. Gartner, Inc. ID G14006492 |
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