Workforce & Training
Missing Mainframe and IT Skills: How Enterprises Can Respond
Attendees at GS UK 2025 noticed a new track, WAVEZ 101, dedicated to early-career and undergraduate mainframers. I was delighted to be invited to speak on mainframe skills and what I see for the industry’s future employees. A Gloomy Skills Outlook The IT skills topic...
Mainframe Careers Rarely Follow a Script – featuring Chris Muncan
Mainframe careers rarely follow a script. Rather, they grow through curiosity, mentorship, and a willingness to keep learning. This trifecta is especially necessary as tools, platforms, and expectations evolve. Planet Mainframe caught up with Chris Muncan, Lead DB2...
What’s Really Happening in Mainframe Workforce and Training Right Now?
After perusing blogs, surveys, and insights - and attending SHARE- DC, it’s clear that several big trends are emerging about what’s shaping mainframe careers and training. Here's what’s standing out—and why it matters right now. 1. Hands-On Learning Is the New...
Accelerating the role of women in IT
For International Women’s Day, Vertali’s Linda McGrath reflects on the changing fortunes of women in the sector When I started in this industry almost three decades ago, the world was a very different place in terms of perceptions of gender, and gender balance in the...
Don’t Miss This at SHARE DC, from expert Frank Kyne
The 2025 Winter SHARE conference will be held in the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, starting Sunday, February 23. This is a 4-day conference, with the last day (Thursday) being a full day. If you are attending, check out the...
The “Experience Required” Paradox: Companies Can’t Fill Roles, Workers Shut Out
This article originally appeared in Forbes on February 5, 2025. Reposted with permission. Breaking into a cybersecurity career has never been easy and today it’s more competitive than ever. At the same time, there is a well-documented cybersecurity talent shortage,...
New To Z: Year One as a Mainframe Trainee
What’s it like to enter the mainframe world with no previous experience on the platform? In early 2024, Vertali recruited Felix Scott to join its ground-breaking New To Z (NTZ) program as a trainee. Below, Felix reflects on what it’s like. As I write, it’s been...
Do You Need a Trainer, a Coach, or a Mentor?
Anyone, whether working on mainframes or not, can reflect on where in their career they are and what kind of help—i.e., training, mentoring, or coaching—will move them forward their career (and their work-life balance) successfully. But first, consider the differences...
Latest
The “Experience Required” Paradox: Companies Can’t Fill Roles, Workers Shut Out
This article originally appeared in Forbes on February 5, 2025. Reposted with permission. Breaking into a cybersecurity career has never been easy and today it’s more competitive than ever. At the same time, there is a well-documented cybersecurity talent shortage,...
The good, the bad and the ugly: generative AI and cybersecurity
Putting the AI into mAInframe security Artificial intelligence can be as much a help as a threat: a powerful tool in the hands of either the good, the bad or the ugly. Today’s threat landscape and cybersecurity requirements are more complex and challenging than ever....
Mainframes: Silent Giants of the Digital Era
In the whirlwind of technological advancements, it's easy to overlook the foundational pillars that support our digital world. Mainframes, often perceived as relics of a bygone era, continue to play a pivotal role in orchestrating the symphony of modern data. These...
Thoughts from a Mainframe on Halloween
It was a dark and stormy night in the data center. 🌩️ The fans hummed softly, and the LEDs blinked like little ghosts in the darkness. I had experienced many Halloween nights as a mainframe, but this one was different. There was an eerie presence in the air — and it...
Defense against the dark arts — mainframe security
Mainframers who thought the mainframe was too difficult a platform to hack are few and far between these days. However, mainframes can be hacked, and they are being hacked.In terms of security, what spells, incantations, and practices should organizations employ to...
Advancing Mainframe Security with Ethical Mainframe Hacking
Written by: David Bruce Put on your hoodie and head for a darkened room! Oh. Wait. Sorry, that’s just the movie version. Despite the stereotype, hackers are real, and they’re dangerous! It’s now their full-time job and they are doing it well. In July, ransomware...
Security has no boundaries
In today's complex cybersecurity landscape, staying current with software updates is just one piece of the puzzle. To truly protect your organization, it's essential to prioritize comprehensive security measures beyond routine patching. How CrowdStrike Changed...
All Things Cyber Security
October may be the month of falling leaves and pumpkin spice, but it is also the time when we turn our attention to all things cybersecurity. And, in the context of mainframe cybersecurity, observability is an essential piece of the puzzle. By maintaining...
Sign up to receive the latest mainframe information
Upcoming Events
Events
-
-
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 […]
-
-
Virtual CICS User Group | March 17, 2026
Zoom - Virtual Meeting -
Virtual Db2 User Group | March 24, 2026
Zoom - Virtual Meeting
What 2025 Taught Us About Mainframes: A Trivia Quiz
As the year closes, and the year-end reflections roll in, we’re taking a closer look at key findings from the latest BMC, Kyndryl, and Planet Mainframe Arcati surveys. The results point to a platform that is evolving in response to cost pressures, skills gaps,...
Real-Time Data Replication, Quantum Safe Assessment Service, and More
Precisely Accelerates Mainframe Modernization with Real-Time Data Replication to Amazon S3 Kyndryl Unveils Quantum Safe Assessment Service to Enable Enterprise Readiness for the Quantum Era IBM Turbonomic and IBM Kubecost unite to optimize Kubernetes performance and...
Mainframe Miscellaneous Trivia!
As the year draws to a close (whether your days are growing shorter and darker or longer and brighter), December tends to invite a little reflection. Over the past year, Planet Mainframe Trivia has dished out a veritable smorgasbord of topics, from the early days of...
More Mainframe Lingo Trivia
Mainframe environments come with their own vocabulary, much of it precise, legacy-rich, and completely opaque to anyone who hasn’t spent time in the ecosystem. And there really is no end to the alphabet soup. Even seasoned professionals pick up new terms over the...
📰Agentic AI framework, and an AI Assistant and Data Catalog Agent
Kyndryl launches agentic AI framework and services for the mainframe Precisely Announces Gio™ AI Assistant and Data Catalog Agent in the Data Integrity SuiteKyndryl launches agentic AI framework and services for the mainframe Kyndryl has introduced a new set of...
📰 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...