After graduation from college, I was trained as a mainframe developer with the skills COBOL, JCL, VSMA, DB2, EASYTRIVE and fortunately got the opportunity to work for banking client. While working after few years came to know that my decision of choosing mainframe developer is right decision in my life.
Why I choose Mainframe?
Despite their traditional ‘legacy’ label, mainframes are still the foundations of much of modern IT. The technology’s reliability, security, and power to process huge quantities of data makes mainframes ideally suited to running mission-critical applications, from bank transactions to insurance records. Little wonder then that 67 of the Fortune 100 companies look to mainframe to run their IT environment. Mainframes currently handle an estimated 30 billion business transactions every day, with 92 of the top 100 banks, 4 of the top 5 airlines, and 7 of the top 10 global retailers all relying on the technology.
Many organizations are going through a process of modernization and integration of their mainframe estate. But the direction of travel is not towards mainframes being phased out. It is toward hybrid IT, bringing together the best of cloud and mainframe in a modernized IT infrastructure. Individuals with mainframe skills will continue to be in high demand to help guide this future.
A mainframe career is something that opens so many doors for someone in the tech industry although it can be daunting to those looking to enter.
Mainframe skills create opportunities to be integral to a business’s technology strategy. The number of roles available (and in high demand) range far and wide, from product development to capacity management, operations to compliance. The modernization and integration pathway for mainframe is also creating lots of opportunities for individuals with mainframe skills to help an organization bridge the gap between its technology ambitions and the previous limitations imposed by its IT estate.
Given the importance of mainframe, it is imperative that businesses take steps to create a new generation of mainframe professionals to replenish the staffing gap and meet the new support requirements as the platform evolves.
Businesses need to act now to build a pathway in a mainframe career for workers that emphasizes flexibility and diversity, providing them with a journey from learning skills through to opportunities in the workplace.
It is this vision that sits at the heart of Ensono’s Mainframe Academy. We are passionate about identifying, training, and retaining mainframe experts that have the ambition and skills to excel in a career in mainframe. Our program is tightly integrated into our company, with buy-in from global leadership, financial investment, dedicated leaders, participation from technical experts, and a training program that covers a range of mainframe disciplines in virtual and in-person settings.
The key to a successful mainframe academy program is to cast the net wide. Whatever skill level a prospective employee has, they should be able to join the program, be immediately challenged, and enter the workforce ready to tackle the world of mainframe and all the opportunities it has to offer.
Together, this end-to-end approach to building mainframe skills helps both prepare candidates for the demands of the working environment and feel the value of working in such a rewarding sector.
A Bright Future for Mainframe
Looking ahead, there are many new opportunities for mainframe. The process of integration and modernization is bringing mainframe in line with the needs of modern businesses; modern programming languages are, for example, increasingly able to be used on mainframe. Meanwhile, as businesses move workloads from mainframe to cloud, we will start to see mainframe becoming a platform for the deployment of next-generation technologies. There is set to be concerted work to improve efficiencies in the running of mainframes, driven by DevOps and self-service approaches.
All this will mean the opportunities for growth and carving a career path are only set to grow. Companies that provide training, mentorship and rewards every step of the way will ensure they prepare for the future of mainframe and reduce the impact of the mainframe talent shortage.
Why the Mainframe Remains Relevant
Many of the world’s largest companies are still running their most critical business applications on mainframe computers. Leading enterprises in banking and finance, insurance, retail, and logistics rely on mainframes for their security, reliability, and scalability. Federal, state, and local governments, likewise, depend on these workhorse systems to deliver day in and day out.
There are widespread misconceptions about the decline of mainframe computing. In fact, the number of transactions processed on mainframe systems continues to increase every year. Today, mainframes process 90 percent of all credit card transactions. They handle 68 percent of the world’s production IT workloads, yet contrary to popular conceptions, they account for only 6 percent of IT costs. 71% of Fortune 500 companies are using mainframe systems to handle their most critical transaction processing workloads.
Even as digital transformation prompts many organizations to migrate to the cloud, mainframes are evolving to handle AI and machine learning, integration to mobile applications and edge systems, and increased agility. They are also evolving to address new cybersecurity threats. Systems that once operated in relative isolation are now integrating with mobile devices, web services, and distributed applications running in the cloud.
Current situation of mainframe.
Recent times especially post covid19 observed the mainframes professional’s requirement is high and there is a shortage of mainframes trained professionals and companies started training the people and onboarding to the projects for the clients.