Mainframe Skills Council

Fostering a diverse global community to build and support mainframe talent

Mission

The Mainframe Skills Council brings together global organizations spanning clients, partners, academia, user groups, non-profits, open communities, and IBM to share practices, co-create, and progress ideas to foster a skilled, diverse, sustainable workforce for the mainframe platform

The council encourages insights, collaboration, and solutions to inspire, connect, train, and grow talent

The community collaborates to implement solutions either through council meetings, working groups or within member organizations to be shared with the council

• Showcase a vibrant mainframe talent pool

• Align on common industry competency frameworks

• Share ideas and practices to enhance talent development

• Share education, training tools, and related resources to optimize overall mainframe career experience for professionals and leaders

• Increase mainframe employer adoption of proven skill initiatives and practices

Council Members

Press Release

March 6, 2024

IBM Launches Mainframe Skills Council with SHARE and Other Key Organizations to Support New Generations of Mainframe Talent

IBM introduced the Mainframe Skills Council during this week's SHARE conference in Orlando, to provide a forum where global organizations will foster a skilled, diverse, sustainable workforce for the mainframe platform. In addition to IBM, the council includes organizations spanning IBM clients, IBM partners, academia, user groups, non-profits, and open communities that will collaborate to implement mainframe skills development solutions. Initial members include Academic Mainframe Consortium, Albany State University, Broadcom, DNB Bank, HOGENT, M&T Bank, Northern Illinois University, Rocket Software, SHARE, and 21CS.

Member Quotes

"We are enthusiastic about the idea of being an inaugural member of the Mainframe Skills Council and look forward to a lively and fruitful exchange of information. To be able to operate mainframes efficiently and securely in the future, well-trained personnel are the most important prerequisite. The non-profit Academic Mainframe Consortium supports universities and other academic institutions with infrastructure, know-how, and lecturers."
Wolfram Greis, President Academic Mainframe Consortium, Germany

"The University System of Georgia (USG), with Albany State University as a leading institution, has partnered with IBM to offer students COBOL and other Mainframe skills to drive new talent. We at ASU aim to foster diverse talent by providing opportunities for students to obtain certifications to achieve dreams of becoming Mainframers."
Dr. Robert Owor, Executive Director of Center of Innovation and Emerging Technologies/Professor of Computer Science, Albany State University

"As the mainframe continues to evolve to meet the challenges of a constantly changing digital landscape, the training of new and future generations of mainframe stewards is vitally important. BMC is proud to be part of this effort not only to empower new talent, but to encourage a passion for the mainframe that will keep the platform at the forefront of digital innovation."
Priya Doty, Vice President, Solutions Marketing, BMC

"As organizations continue to seek avenues to attract and develop the next generation of mainframe experts, the introduction of the Mainframe Skills Council is a pivotal step forward in making mainframe education and talent programs more accessible. This initiative is positioned to ignite future advancements and ongoing innovation with the platform."
Lauren Valenti, Director, Mainframe Education and Customer Engagement, Broadcom Mainframe Software

"We are thrilled to join the Mainframe Skills Council, demonstrating our strategic commitment to fostering a skilled workforce proficient in the hybrid cloud ecosystem. This collaboration is essential for cultivating the expertise required to support the mission-critical systems relied upon by our financial services customers. By collaborating, we can focus on skills, foster innovation, and facilitate the modernization and transformation needed to seamlessly integrate emerging technologies. Capgemini is committed to building a strong talent pipeline that will bolster and fortify the resilience of our industry for the future."
Dhinakar Selwyn, Global Head - Core Technologies Revitalization, Capgemini Financial Services

"I am honored to have the opportunity to take part in the Mainframe Skills Council on behalf of DNB. This is a unique opportunity for us to share experiences, influence and get tips on how to inspire job seekers and students to explore the mainframe. We see that the platform has a major challenge as many of our talented employees and partners are approaching retirement age."
Janette Skoga, Mainframe Infrastructure Architect, DNB

"The Mainframe Skills Council is a fantastic new initiative and yet another piece of the jigsaw as our industry comes together to build new capacity and capability around its most important resource, our people. The council dovetails brilliantly with the GSE UK collaborative approach of 'give and take' knowledge sharing that extends across working group meetings, conference sessions, engaging with the student community as well as its NexGen activities."
Mark Wilson, GSE UK Region Manager and Conference Manager

"The establishment of Mainframe Skills Council will be hailed as a pivotal moment, reshaping the landscape of the mainframe education and cultivating a vibrant ecosystem of learning and advancement. Mainframe in higher education, an international university curriculum with integrated work-based learning opportunities becomes the vibrant thread that connects classroom knowledge to real-world experience."
Leendert Blondeel, Lecturer Mainframe Technologies, HOGENT University of Applied Sciences and Arts

"We had a business challenge of a tenured mainframe workforce. We partnered with IBM and Franklin Apprenticeships to develop a mainframe skills program at M&T. By about six months into the program, our apprentices were coding on COBOL and installing new products on the IBM Z platform."
Gary Fusco, Engineering Director, M&T Bank

"Northern Illinois University's Department of Computer Science is proud to be a founding member of the Mainframe Skills Council. In addition to educational and research opportunities in leading edge Computer and Data Science, NIU's Department of Computer Science continues its 42-year history as a leader in mainframe education."
Geoffrey Decker, Instructor, Northern Illinois University

"As businesses accelerate digital transformation, advancing the mainframe ecosystem is more critical than ever. Open Mainframe Project supports the mainframe ecosystem in many ways through our programs like Mentorship, COBOL Programming Course, and Mainframe Open Education. We’re thrilled to join the Mainframe Skills Council to collaborate and contribute our expertise in offering the tools and resources needed to empower the next generation of mainframers."
John Mertic, Executive Director of Open Mainframe Project

"ProTech is honored to be a founding member of the Mainframe Skills Council. For over 30 years our company has specialized in mainframe education and new-hire programs all the while continuing to grow and expand our curriculum of new or emerging technologies for incumbent workers. The council provides a much needed hub in the industry for talent development professionals, academia, and employers to come together to collectively evangelize the critical importance of the platform and address the mainframe skills shortage."
Scott McFall, VP Business Development & Strategy, ProTech Training

"The Mainframe Skills Council is critical to ensuring there is an active and engaged pool of mainframe talent for years to come. At Rocket Software, we have decades of experience in core systems and helping our customers modernize without disruption, and we look forward to joining the Council to help further close the skills gap and foster the next generation of talent."
Phil Buckellew, President, Infrastructure Modernization Business Unit, Rocket Software

"Strategic Consulting Partnerships (SCP) is proud to join the Mainframe Skills Council as the first member from Australia and New Zealand and share in the common goal of continuing the growth and success of the mainframe. We look forward to sharing best practices we’ve learned through the development of our mentorship programs, challenging coursework, and success in placing course graduates in permanent roles, as we work closely with our fellow council members to co-create the next generation of talent solutions."
Paul Matthews, Managing Director, Strategic Consulting Partnerships

"For nearly 70 years, SHARE has led the industry as the first enterprise IT user group dedicated to providing education and networking opportunities designed to be a catalyst to help advance our members' careers. We are proud to partner with IBM and the others as a founding member of the Mainframe Skills Council, as we continue to seek new and innovative ways to bring additional resources as well as value to our membership while driving the industry forward."
Scott Fagen, President, SHARE Association

"The growth and success of our industry depends on having the right people, yet the persistent skills shortage affects organizations across an array of sectors, from finance to critical national infrastructure. Vertali, a longstanding advocate for talent development, demonstrated through our work with SHARE and Guide Share Europe, is proud to join the Mainframe Skills Council, where we know together we can achieve more, faster."
Gary Dulon, Services Delivery Director, Vertali

"Westpac is proud to be the first Australian bank to join the Mainframe Skills Council, underscoring our belief in our people's potential. We're committed to developing talent within Westpac, equipping our team with the mainframe skills crucial for our digital future. Our approach nurtures our diverse and inclusive workforce, supporting flexible career paths, and fostering innovation. By participating in the Council, we're investing in our people, contributing to industry-wide competency standards, sharing best practices and helping to shape a resilient, forward-thinking financial sector."
Ruth Bonser, Infrastructure Services Manager, Westpac

"We are glad that The Mainframe Skills Council initiative has been introduced at a much needed time. Mainframe remains mission critical and the Council gives the right platform for the industry to collaborate, sustain and grow the mainframe talent pool."
Isha Bhatia / Sujith Kochaniyan, Mainframe Practice Leaders, Wipro Ltd.

"As a company committed to building a diverse workforce to support the mainframe platform, 21CS is proud to be a founding member of the Mainframe Skills Council. The Mainframe Skills Council will help attract and grow the next generation of talented professionals and 21CS looks forward to being an active member participant."
Nicholas Pachnos, CEO, 21CS

"IBM is well-positioned to address today’s technology skills challenges, something that every organization is grappling with as new innovation is unveiled. The mainframe community has been working to close the mainframe generational skills gap and we’ve seen substantial progress. The Mainframe Skills Council represents an exciting opportunity to build on these advancements and ignite the community to share experiences and create mainframe talent solutions that can grow with the platform."
Meredith Stowell, Vice President, IBM Z Ecosystem, IBM

FAQs