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The Mainframe Skills Shortage - train your way out

Article by William Hoffman, mainframe-upgrade.com
Published February 2006, Copyright © 2006 mainframe-upgrade.com

Mainframe Skills Shortage

	Your mainframe technicians, programmers and specialists are getting old. Large numbers of them will be drawing their pensions soon. Are they the respected elders of your mainframe tribe ? or the grey haired fuddy duddies that the youth want nothing to do with ? The answer is likely to be the latter, as far as computing skill sets go mainframe is not near the top for new IT entrants, they want to be in the rock'n'roll world of Web, Java, Linux and the like. Two important facts: Recent figures show that 80% of the people who work in mainframe support are 50 years of age or older. The Universities and Technical colleges are on the whole, providing IT courses with little or no mainframe content. All of this is happening at a time when the mainframe is making a big comeback as a key component in the new Enterprise architectures - Business Integration, Service Orientated Architecture, Virtualization etc. You need a strategy, you cannot rely on expensive mainframe contractors. They are going greyer too and they'll get more expensive. Outsourcing could be the answer: but do you really want the heartbeat of your Enterprise in the hands of a third party who behind the scenes are probably a shifting workforce of technicians and programmers moving from one project and company to the next, without giving you the ability to leverage any build up of core knowledge and expertise ? Here at Mainframe-Upgrade.com we are convinced that for many Companies the answer will be to train up the next generation of Mainframe technicians themselves. Back in the 80s and early 90s many Enterprises trained properly but this is by no means prevalent today. For many, gone are the days of the 5 week COBOL course with CICS, DB2, TSO and JCL on top. But the clever among us are going to realise that we cannot sit around and watch our mainframe staff disappear while the recruits to replace them are becoming so thin on the ground. Reinstitute solid training for new recruits - develop strong relationships with your chosen training firm or firms in the Mainframe Skills arena (see links at the bottom for starters). Remember its been shown time and again that your recruits DO NOT HAVE TO BE GRADUATES - setting them a tough crafted aptitude test before interview will be more of an indicator of talent. Next, give your chosen new mainframers at least 5 weeks training in the skill sets you need e.g. COBOL, CICS, DB2 and the rest. Work closely with the trainers to tailor the courses to your needs - include distributed computing and e-business where appropriate to 'sex' up the syllabus. When the recruits have done with all that training, set in place 'quality' proactive mentoring and handholding in the mainframe workplace. Use the invaluable skills and experience of todays aging mainframe workforce to educate and inspire the next generation. Pay? Its going to have to be good. It's right to be scared of the 'TRAIN BRAIN DRAIN' scenario - if you do not want your newly trained mainframe whiz kids to promptly leave for someone else then PAY WELL. You have control of this and it is worth it. The firms with competitive edge will have secured the continuity of their mainframe workforce and will be best placed to maximise returns from the rapidly evolving dynamic mainframe based architectures that will be ever more prevalent and compelling in the next few years. Build a culture of dynamic mainframe problem solving, encourage discussion of architectural options and mainframe strategy. Let your Mainframe technicians know that you value their skills and that they are at the heart of your IT strategy. Conclusions 1. You cannot rely on anyone else to get you out of this real problem. Everyone is going to be scrabbling for the dwindling numbers of technicians with mainframe skills. You cannot rely on IBM to solve the University and Technical College problem - its just a drop in the ocean. See http://www.ibm.com/news/za/en/2005/09/za_en_news5_20050919.html for an idea of the good efforts they are making, but also how seriously they take this problem. 2. Recruit, Train, Enthuse ! Build up your next generation of mainframe developers, systems programmers, DBAs etc. pay them well, retain them and build a dynamic team who can help you maximise profits by intelligent use of the mainframe. For a lot of large companies, we believe this will be cheaper in the medium to long term. A sample of some other articles on this subject: http://www.computerworld.com/hardwaretopics/hardware/story/0,10801,103596,00.html http://technology.monster.com/articles/mainframeexperts/ http://news.com.com/Plugging+the+mainframe+brain+drain/2010-1010_3-5735569.html Some Training links: http://www.rsm.co.uk/ http://www.ibm.com/products/finder/us/finders?pg=trfinder http://www.eno.com/catalog/mainframe_training.html http://www.dkl.com/education/mainframe_training/ http://www.maintectraining.com/ http://www.themisinc.com/ http://www.hindujatmt.com/en/tech/serv/soft_main.html http://www.learnmainframe.com/ http://aimtechtraining.com/computertraining/course_mainframe.htm http://www.infogoal.com/cbd/cbdtrn.htm http://www.verhoef.com/uk http://www.thefillmoregroup.com/pubclasses.cfm
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