Mainframes continue to proliferate and to power data centers even 40 years after their introduction. According to one recent magazine report: "Mainframes may be 1960s technology, but they still manage a huge portion of the world’s data.” In particular, it said that economic uncertainty makes it more difficult for large-scale upgrade projects to be approved unless they use stable technology. At the same time, mainframes are hosting new cloud applications. It is not a platform for all organizations, but it will continue to be a bastion for highly critical workloads.

This assessment is quite accurate based on my years of experience in corporate IT organizations. Large mainframes are still the workhorse servers that process heavy and voluminous amounts of data in most corporations. Their strength remains in the ability to handle huge transactions and to update recurring business changes very accurately and quickly. U.S. government agencies such as Medicare and the IRS, as well as large banks and other financial institutions, depend on mainframes to process annual plan changes and to handle large numbers of subscribers.

Likewise, large insurance companies are mainframe-dependent to process updates and changes to their annual benefits programs, including eligibility for employee prescriptions and medical coverage. These systems are not going to be replaced anytime soon.

I would add that for organizations with month-end processing needs of 1 million transactions or more, and for customer statements that require very accurate, fast and massive processing, the legacy applications and databases that perform these tasks are most stable on mainframes. Moreover, the software must be fully tested before the systems can be released into full production mode. The only company I know of in the last 20 years that comes close to rivaling this transaction-processing scale is Google, which uses cloud technology with massive Linux server farms running IBM’s Multiple Virtual Storage (MVS).

Addressing Workforce Challenges

At the same time, I recognize that mainframes face significant challenges, especially the availability of a skilled workforce, in the face of other platforms such as virtual machines and cloud services.

The transformation of computing environments has created a skills gap. To meet the need, some universities and IT training institutes offer Quality Certification programs in JCL and COBOL, for instance, to increase the supply and meet the demand for these specific skill sets. Large mainframes need to co-exist along with other servers as business needs change. But where will they find staff?

Many prominent universities, such as Columbia and Rutgers, are jumping into the fray. These two colleges offer four-semester advanced courses for mainframe program certification, as well as Quality Testing training and certification, for a diverse set of students—from high schoolers to recently returned veterans. At the professional level, Columbia’s Executive Master of Science Program is also addressing the need to provide a skilled mainframe workforce. Other university programs around the country –and globally—are adding these courses as well.

Other creative solutions, such Workforce Opportunity Services, are qualifying and enrolling high school students from inner cities, as well as military veterans, to participate in this certification program. The nonprofit organization, founded six years ago by Columbia professor Arthur Langer, has helped place 200 graduates in jobs to date, many with large IT organizations in the public and private sectors. It is looking to expand around the U.S., as well as globally. Technology corporations are also offering solutions. For example, CA Technologies has a Mainframe Academy with classes and training programs geared specifically for these skills.

As these programs and others catch on, they will prove to be a win-win: helping to ease the employment crunch and also keeping mainframes — and businesses — humming for a long time to come.

********

Guillermo Merino has held many executive IT positions for the past 30 years most recently as IBM Commercial General/Program Manager at AT&T, and Senior Infrastructure Consultant to JP Morgan-Chase. He also was Global Management Director, Business Services Consulting, for Lucent Technologies, and Director of Information Technology for a leading drug wholesaler.

Guillermo is currently a mentor and coach at Columbia University’s Executive MS Technology Management Program for IT professionals aspiring to be future IT Leaders. He holds an MBA in finance from NYU, and an MBA in operations research from Bernard M. Baruch College, CUNY.