Workforce & Training
Your biggest continuity risk isn’t technology, it’s talent
What if your biggest business continuity risk isn’t tied to technology at all, but to talent? That’s the premise behind the Mainframe Talent Succession Playbook, a research-backed guide from CCS Insight. Based on direct interviews with Broadcom customers and education...
Four Campuses, One Week: Meet Your Future Mainframe Employees
Across the country, organizations are feeling the squeeze of a shrinking mainframe skills pipeline. Last year, I shared how Illinois universities were stepping up to teach mainframe skills and how employers could tap into that pipeline. The story continues, starting...
Join CICS Training Courses
CICS is used on 80% of Mainframe Systems across the world. It is known as CICS Transaction Server. Application Programmers can write their programs using CICS Command Level interface. System programmers install CICS, and engage in Performance Tuning, and Debugging....
Our industry needs to stop hitting the snooze button
Vertali launches New to Mainframes (NTM) program The results of a survey by RSH Consulting, Inc. made sobering reading this January. Far from being a wake-up call concerning the worrying lack of trained mainframers, particularly in security, it appears the industry...
Mainframe Vs Cloud Computing: Know the Similarities and Differences
High computing power and computing resources in a centralized architecture and distributed computing resources in the cloud are the two major variations that today’s IT businesses use. But concerning selecting one, should you choose between mainframe systems and cloud...
Nurturing new mainframe talent: five key lessons
The tide is definitely turning: organizations are replacing the outdated narrative that the mainframe is ‘old’ tech with a more objective view focusing on how IBM Z can support their business over the long term, while also contributing to digital transformation. At...
Boost your mainframe skills for free
Have you been lost in the massive IBM Z learning materials and don't know where to start? Are you struggling to find easy-to-consume IBM Z learning courses? Do you want simple but well-organized IBM Z learning plans? It's time to start your IBM Z learning journey and...
Open Source, Mainframe and Mentorship
Looking to start your open-source contribution journey? The Open Mainframe Project's Mentorship Program is announcing it's 2022 Summer Mentorship, which will start in June until August of 2022. So far, they have 11 mentorships for projects ranging from COBOL...
Latest
Securing CICS with RACF
Implementing CICS Security with RACF can be a complex and demanding process. In order to do it to a level that creates a good balance can take time and requires good knowledge and understanding of both CICS and RACF. So I will explain the various steps in securing...
Why you need to protect your business with IBM Z Cyber Vault
It seems like every week there is a new story of a major company or organization being affected by a cyber-attack. It might be a ransomware attack, stolen user data, or other disruption to services, and may be initiated either by an external attack or internal...
Best Practices for Closing the Mainframe Security Gap
You could argue – as some folks have – that mainframes are inherently more secure than commodity servers because there are fewer variables at play on mainframe systems, making them easier to secure in some ways. The fact that mainframes account for a relatively small...
Fix the roof when the sun is shining: Data Loss Prevention
It’s high time we acknowledged that mainframe data loss is far more than a security problem. It’s fundamentally a business problem. As the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure. This applies to data loss and cyber attacks as much as anything else in life. If...
Db2 for z/OS: SEPARATE_SECURITY and SECADM
In the Db2 for z/OS module called DSNZPARM (ZPARM, for short), which provides the configuration settings for a Db2 subsystem, there is a parameter named SEPARATE_SECURITY. This ZPARM was introduced with Db2 10, and its purpose is to enable a Db2 for z/OS-using...
Quantum Safe Cryptography Overview
Quantum Safe Cryptography The Problem – Current Cryptography is Vulnerable to Quantum Computing Cryptography experts believe that by 2030 quantum computers will be advanced enough to cut the strength of symmetric key algorithms (such as AES, 3DES and RC4) by half, and...
Hide your privates
My mac had turned into a bit of a mess. I had ssh private keys (that use Passphrases of course!) in a variety of places and I wasn’t very happy about it. I have several different servers that I connect to. There are a few GitHub systems, a Linux system, and of course...
Recover Quickly With Surgical Precision
Resiliency is an integral part of the IBM Z platform. The IBM Z Cyber Vault solution is a concept for addressing data corruption whether through malicious intent, human error or failure of hardware or software. It provides an air gapped backup of the operating...
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Upcoming Events
Events
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Virtual IMS User Group | February 10, 2026
Zoom - Virtual Meeting -
SHARE Orlando 2026
SHARE Orlando is where mainframe superheroes come together for five days of deep technical learning, collaboration, and networking. It’s the only industry conference dedicated entirely to delivering expert insight and […]
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Virtual CICS User Group | March 17, 2026
Zoom - Virtual Meeting -
Virtual Db2 User Group | March 24, 2026
Zoom - Virtual Meeting
📰 Top 100 Most Loved Workplace, Workload Automation in Industry Report, and more
Kyndryl Cloud Readiness Report: Hybrid Cloud Shapes the Future of AI and Enterprise Agility BMC Selected as Overall Leader for Workload Automation in Industry Report Kyndryl Named a Top 100 Most Loved Workplace® by the Wall Street Journal IBM and Groq Partner to...
❓ History of Artificial Intelligence Trivia
November at Planet Mainframe is all about AI, and you don’t need us to tell you that artificial intelligence has now been integrated into many of our daily routines. But long before AI became a household term, IBM was shaping the foundations of this increasingly...
IBM’s decision to discontinue support for the zPDT standalone offering threatens the mid-tier ISV market
IBM’s zPDT Decision Risks Mid-Tier ISVs and Mainframe Innovation I’ve been a passionate mainframe (System z) advocate for over 45 years and a staunch supporter of IBM and most of their decisions. However, when I received an email from IBM on 30 September 2025...
Data Integrity Award Winners, Workload Automation in Industry Report, and more
IBM Announces New Platform for Financial Institutions and Regulated Enterprises Entering the Digital Asset Economy Precisely Announces 2025 Data Integrity Award Winners Driving AI Innovation, Business Impact, and Societal Good BMC Selected as Overall Leader for...
Mainframe Artificial Intelligence Quiz
At Planet Mainframe, we’re spending the month of November focusing on AI and the mainframe. Once viewed as separate worlds, AI and IBM Z now work hand in hand to deliver real-time insights, predictive analytics, and intelligent automation across enterprise-scale...
NEWS – Granite 4.0, Free Cybersecurity Labs, and more
IBM Announces Granite 4.0 Free (Cybersecurity) Labs! Upcoming IBM Z Day Chase Card Decommissioning All Mainframe Code, with AI Assistance IBM z/OS Core Collection v1.15.0 GA ReleasedIBM Announces Granite 4.0 IBM has introduced Granite 4.0, initiating a new era for its...