Influential Mainframers
Bridging Worlds: How Anshul Agrawal Is Bringing AI to the Heart of IMS
Anshul Agrawal Senior Manager, Product DevelopmentBMC Software Pune, Maharashtra, IndiaThis piece is part of the 2026 Planet Mainframe Influential Mainframers series.The mainframe has always been built on trust. Decades of reliability, scale, and performance have made...
Influential Mainframer Trivia: Bob Evans
At Planet Mainframe, April is dedicated to honoring influential mainframers past and present. This week’s quiz dives into the life and times of Bob Evans (1927–2004), who played a central role in shaping modern enterprise computing during his career at IBM. ...
Influential Mainframer – Gareth Copplestone-Jones
Today, meet a man who is engineering mainframe resilience. Gareth Copplestone-Jones Head of Infrastructure Services, Triton Consulting Ltd England, United Kingdom Connect with Gareth on LinkedIn: View the entire 2025 Influential Mainframers group here. With nearly...
Influential Mainframer – Javier Estrada Benavides
Today, we celebrate someone who is shaping the future of the mainframe workforce—one hire and one automation project at a time. Javier Estrada Benavides Senior Lead, Systems Administration, Kyndryl Prague, Czechia (Czech Republic) Connect with Javier on: View the...
Influential Mainframer – Uwe Graf
Uwe Graf: Champion of the Mainframe’s Past, Present, and Future Uwe Graf Lead Modernization Architect, EasiRun Europa GmbH Saxony, Germany Connect with Uwe on: View the entire 2025 Influential Mainframers group here. IBM Champion, software architect, writer, and...
Influential Mainframer – Venkatauday (Venkat) Balabhadrapatruni
Back again in 2025, we celebrate a mainframe leader turning GenAI and DevOps into real-world progress. Venkatauday (Venkat) Balabhadrapatruni Distinguished Engineer, Broadcom Inc. Frisco, Texas USA Connect with Venkat on: View the entire 2025 Influential Mainframers...
Influential Mainframer – Dusty Rivers
Today, we celebrate a mainframe icon whose five-decade impact spans the globe and generations. Dusty Rivers Senior Director, US Systems Z, Mainline Information Systems Birmingham, Alabama, USA Connect with Dusty on: View the entire 2025 Influential Mainframers group...
Influential Mainframer – Gatien Dupre
Today, we celebrate someone who redefines mainframe modernization by leading with vision, building with purpose, and inspiring pride in the platform. Gatien Dupre Chief Product & Technical Officer, Virtel Villecresnes, France Connect with Gatien on: View the...
Latest
The Top Four Infrastructure Capabilities for Enterprise Security and Compliance
Rising Stakes of Data Protection As our modern world becomes increasingly digital, data’s value has never been higher—and the challenge of protecting it has never been so great. While the global average cost of a data breach dipped 9% in the past year due to advances...
Australia Gains First Real-Time Mainframe Ransomware Defense with Vertali APAC and MainTegrity CSF
Australian organizations running IBM z/OS systems can now access a new defense for mainframes in the Asia-Pacific(APAC) region. In news welcomed by all enterprises battling cybersecurity threats – which is all of them – MainTegrity Inc. appointed Vertali APAC as its...
A Breakthrough in Mainframe Storage Efficiency
Broadcom has delivered a first in mainframe storage with the Virtual Storage Adapter (VSA) enhancement to CA 1™ Flexible Storage™. This new feature lets you have your cake and eat it too – achieve high-performance virtual tape storage without the traditionally higher...
Mainframe Security Isn’t What It Used to Be – How CICS and LE Are Fighting Back
This article updates a 2022 piece in Cheryl Watson’s Tuning Letter, “LE Non-Executable HEAPS and CICS User Experiences” by Mario Bezzi. Current Tuning Letter subscribers can read the original article online. Think your mainframe is immune to modern cyber threats?...
Time to Rethink Db2 Disaster Recovery
For a long time, disaster recovery (DR) in Db2 z/OS environments was mostly about getting systems back online after a major outage. Whether it was a hardware failure, a data center problem, or a natural disaster, the focus was on full system recovery, bringing the...
You May Know More About Security and IAM on the Mainframe Than You Think
For many, the mainframe can be a daunting subject – with misguided initial reactions of the platform as "legacy” technology that may be replaced by the cloud. Part of this angst and dismissiveness is because not everyone fully understands the true value of the...
From Poolside Code to Mainframe Maven – Influential Mainframer Felix Scott
Felix Scott, a trainee in the New to Z (NTZ) program at Vertali in the UK, doesn’t fit the usual mental picture of a mainframer. At 27, he’s a younger voice in a field dominated by veterans. But Felix isn’t afraid to admit what he doesn’t know. "Being publicly wrong...
Strengthening Enterprise Security with IBM Multi-Factor Authentication
Why MFA is Crucial in Today’s Security Landscape Traditionally, user authentication has relied heavily on passwords or passphrases. However, passwords alone have become a weak point in cybersecurity. They are often easy to guess, reused across systems, or written...
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Upcoming Events
Events
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Virtual IMS User Group | April 14, 2026
Zoom - Virtual Meeting -
European Mainframe Technical Exchange – Prague – April 21-23
Prague, Czech Republic Prague, Czech RepublicRegistration is open for the 2026 European Broadcom Mainframe Technical Exchange! This year’s event will take place in Prague, Czech Republic, from April 21 - 23. Register today to reserve […]
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Virtual CICS User Group | May 12, 2026
Zoom - Virtual Meeting -
Virtual Db2 User Group | May 19, 2026
Zoom - Virtual Meeting
2026 X-Force Threat Index, Expanded Data Integrity Suite, and more
IBM 2026 X-Force Threat Index: AI-Driven Attacks are Escalating as Basic Security Gaps Leave Enterprises Exposed Precisely Expands Data Integrity Suite with New AI Agents for Enhanced Data Quality, Data Enrichment, and Location Intelligence BMC Signs Five-Year...
Hybrid by Design: The Next-Gen Mainframe Quiz
If you’ve been in the mainframe ecosystem for any time at all, you’ll know that the mainframe has long been associated with stability and staying power. But today’s conversation increasingly centers on the evolution of the next-gen mainframe, and how it fits into...
New Survey Findings, New FlashSystem Portfolio, and more
New Rocket Software Survey Finds 69% of IT Leaders Report Data Security Keeps Them Up at Night Kyndryl Named a Leader in 2025–2026 IDC MarketScape for Mainframe Modernization IBM Introduces Autonomous Storage with New FlashSystem Portfolio Powered by Agentic AI...
2026 Arcati Survey Results Trivia
Welcome to this week’s Planet Mainframe trivia quiz! On the heels of the 2026 Arcati Survey Results release, this round of trivia focuses on changes underway. Workforce demographics are shifting, new generations are entering mainframe computing fields (and through...
Business-Driven Automation, AI Confidence Outpaces Readiness, and more
BMC Advances Business-Driven Automation and Mainframe Transformation with AI-Powered Innovations Precisely’s State of Data Integrity and AI Readiness Study: AI Confidence Outpaces Readiness Rocket Software to Acquire Vertica Analytics Database Platform from OpenText...
❓Python Programming Trivia
We often describe Python as a “modern” language, but its story spans decades of technological change, cultural shifts, and unexpected platforms. What began as a small side project in the Netherlands evolved into one of the most widely used programming languages in the...