Yes, mainframes are now on autopilot, not unlike Tesla automobiles! While everyone is chasing the next big, disruptive unicorn like Uber or Airbnb, bright mainframe engineers are quietly disrupting the industry with new customer-driven innovations. If you are into...
Performance management is a key consideration on any platform. A system may have several resources (CPU, I/O, storage, network etc.) that collectively work together to process a workload. To assess overall health of the system, mainframe system reports can be...
Do you know that mainframe systems have several kinds of engines (i.e., processors) not just a Central Processor (CP)? Early mainframes had only one processor – the Central Processing Unit (CPU). As the mainframe industry evolved over the decades, today’s systems...
Yes, we have smartphone apps related to the mainframe. Don’t be surprised. Mainframes are not the old dusty computers that some folks go on about – you know; the ages-old dinosaurs that occupy entire rooms, use card punch input, and require bits and bytes...
Is it a misconception that mainframe professionals find it hard to get help? When we talk about non-mainframe technology, there seems to be a myriad of platforms with impressive worldwide community support, actively helping each other on a daily basis. In other...
So you are now working on the mainframe platform. You wanted to keep up with the latest and greatest or you just wanted to get to know a topic or feature associated with the mainframe. Either you just started your job in a mainframe shop or you are an experienced...
IBM has done a great job of continually re-inventing the mainframe over the years to help it stay abreast of the evolving technology landscape. The z13 mainframe, for example, is the product of over $1m in R&D spend, including a host of enhancements to elevate its...
The traditional 3270 mainframe development environment deserves respect. It has enabled developers to create and support some of the world’s most enduring business-critical software applications running on ‘Big Iron’ boxes around the word. Many of these core systems...
IT security crises are forever making business headlines. In 2017 it was the high profile ransomware attacks and huge data breaches such as Equifax. Barely a week into 2018 and we had the revelations surrounding the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities affecting...
In my last article I outlined why, for a number of reasons, mainframe shops are growing increasingly aware of the importance of bolstering security on their ‘Big Iron’ box. Despite that, in this piece I want to discuss why some organizations are procrastinating over...
