Hi all!

I'm a mainframe developer with 7+ years of experience in JCL, COBOL, DB2, CICS, IMS and a little bit of REXX. I'm at a loss to find how I should get started with IBM Z and other great automation methods in Mainframe. I'm also very interested to know how I could equip myself with learning and being able to work on application modernization roles for mainframe. 
It would be of tremendous help and I'd appreciate it a lot if someone can guide me through any free resources to start learning these things.
Thanks.

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Regards,
Shyamala
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There are a few paths you can take, and others should certainly chime in here!

I'm primarily focused on open source, so I would recommend getting started with this video by Kyle Charlet: https://developer.ibm.com/videos/cloud-native-developer-experience-for-zos/

He covers the ecosystem of cloud-native development (including automation) on z/OS, and this will give you a nice starting point for what you may want focus on.

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Elizabeth K. Joseph
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Hi Shyamala,

     Here are some resources for COBOL that we recently worked on: A COBOL Course : https://learn.ibm.com/course/view.php?id=7552
There are additional COBOL resources on our Hub page here: https://developer.ibm.com/technologies/cobol/
Here is resource hub for Cloud Native Development on IBM Z: https://developer.ibm.com/components/cloud-native-dev-tools-ibmz/

Hope these are good resources to give you sense of some content we have to help you get started.

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SUDHARSANA SRINIVASAN
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SWAPNIL BANERJEE
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In addition to the other great resources already shared by my colleagues, check out these links:

https://www.ibm.com/it-infrastructure/z/education

You can sign up and work directly with the mainframe with the Master the Mainframe Learning System:

• Register for the learning system
• Access the challenges

Also, check out our Cultivating Talent page for a ton of great resources, including Free IBM Z software trials

Finally, join our New to Z user group, which is filled with mainframers with all levels of experience who can help guide you!

Hopefully these resources will get you on your way!

Hello Shyamala,
Welcome Back to resume your learning process with Mainframe :) . 

Adding on the suggestions which has been given by friends you can also read through the below study page which will explain about how to expose an API using Zos Connect and this will help you to learn how to expose an API from Mainframe system which is very key for digitization era. 

https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/SS4SVW_beta/overview/concepts.html

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Sudharsan Murali
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Sounds like you already have a good traditional z/OS background, I would suggest working on the USS side of z/OS to get more familiar with the additional capabilities.  In addition learning Git as the source code manager, working with python and groovy as two very common automation tools, in addition to Ansible.  The Z trials offer a way to learn new things running on Z as well https://www.ibm.com/it-infrastructure/z/software-trials.   If you take a look at the open development on you can work on some of the new tools.  All these tools are common on the distributed side, so you can look at any of the existing open source sites to learn more about them as well.  Gitlab as a full open source stack you can download and try, using Gitlab for the SCM as well as it's work items system, and it's Gitlab CI capabilities.  You can also try Jenkins as it is also full open source connecting to Gitlab.  There are lots of choices.   One of the best things about the new tools for Z, is they are not just Z, but common tools you use across the industry.

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Rosalind Radcliffe
Distinguished Engineer| Chief Architect for DevOps and CLM
IBM
Durham NC
919-543-4229
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I've seen lots of great answers.
​Just for you to know the 15th of September there will be the IBM Z Day. It is a free 1-day virtual conference for anyone and everyone! 

https://ibmzday.bemyapp.com/2020


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Regards
Chiara Baldan
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