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The Mainframe is Back
Bob Weinstein is a journalist who covers technology, project management, the workplace and career development.
Remember the mainframe computer? A lot of folks thought it was going the way of the dinosaur. But as one reviewer put it, “After years of being marginalized, the mainframe is more popular than ever before.”
The evidence is that IBM zSeries sales have taken off, irrefutable proof that the big machines are more attractive for multiple operations. IBM recently reported that the mainframe has achieved three consecutive quarters of growth. New customers are choosing the platform for the first time, and existing customers areadding new applications.
The proverbial bottom line: There is a strong demand for mainframe developers and project managers, especially to direct large infrastructure programs in the technology operations areas such as e-mail migration from one application to another (Outlook Exchange to Lotus Notes, for example).
Meanwhile, IBM is making its own efforts to mobilize new talent. In 2000, Big Blue made a commitment to train 20,000 college students on the mainframe as part of its Academic Initiative on System z. The company already has exceeded that number, with 23,000 students trained and nearly 300 colleges involved in the initiative.
IBM plans to spend $100 million over a five-year period to make the mainframe easier to use. The company announced a series of software enhancements that are designed to enable …
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