Demand for mainframe specialists is at an all-time high, according to IBM Canada. While IT staffing firm Sapphire Canada hasn't noticed an increase in demand, the need for mainframe specialists never really decreased either, says Sergio Mateus.
Demand for mainframe specialists is at an all-time high, according to IBM Corp., due to an increase in mainframe investments.
The market share for IBM's System z mainframe platform has grown 17 to 30 per cent over the last decade on a rolling four-quarter basis of the high-end segment priced over US $250,000, according to International Data Group's high-end server quarterly tracker.,""
The increase is also reflected in the growth of IBM's Academic Initiative for System z, which provides resources to colleges and universities for mainframe skills education. More than 600 schools around the world are now involved in the program, which launched with only 24 colleges in 2004.
A recent IDC survey of 300 mainframe-knowledgeable IT experts and decision-makers using IBM mainframes also reports that "nearly one-half of respondents indicated they plan to increase annual spending on mainframe hardware and software."
"The mainframe is still seen by respondents as a key element of centrally managed corporate data and high-value computing workloads by providing them with a layer of highly controllable enterprise management software," states IDC.
Mainframe skills started becoming a recognized requirement about three to five years ago, said Robert Bird, IBM Systems z platform leader for Canada.
"Our customers were asking us what we could do to assist them within their own skills programs and HR recruiting for that area of their business and that was fundamentally what drove this IBM Academic Initiative for Systems z program," he said.READ MOREWild tales of AS/400 survival
Not only are customers continuing to add and extend existing applications and services, but IBM is attracting new customers who are attracted to the economics of scale that the mainframe platform provides to an organization, said Bird.
"We do have customers that are incorporating for the first time mainframes within their organizations, so we have incremental requirements there and some of our customers are on a very large growth curve where over time they are hiring additional staff to address that growth," he said.
Mainframe specialists are also on the IT "it" list due to upcoming demographics trends.
According to Bird, those currently managing and maintaining the mainframe environment have spent the majority of their careers in this area and are looking forward to retirement. "We've identified a skills bubble and our clients that have mainframe investments today are looking for ways to effectively train and introduce new blood into their organization," he said.
The way IT managers with mainframe skills approach the ability to provision and maintain a key business service determines their value, according to Bird. "Mainframe thinking is all about a robust computing environment," he said.
People who understand the mainframe architecture tend to bring more to the table in terms of systems discipline, system architecture and being able to maintain the service levels and critical business applications for that organization, said Bird.
Individuals working in the IT discipline that display what Bird refers to as "large systems thinking" might be moved from an Intel or UNIX architecture into the mainframe role. "That's how they typically develop skills in house," he said.
"Most organizations that run mainframes today take individuals that show promise," said Bird.
But organizations need to find other avenues as the demographics bubble grows, such as hiring someone with IT skills who doesn't have a mainframe background, someone who took evening courses through continuing education or hiring new trainees that have mainframe background from college or university, he said.
Ryerson University in Toronto provides certification courses on the mainframe for IT professionals who want to enhance their resume or business skills. French speakers can turn to Cégep de Thetford in Thetford Mines, QC, which is preparing to launch an online program focused specifically on IBM's mainframe. The first course is scheduled to run in the spring of 2010.
What makes
Post new comment