A Midsummer Mainframe Reflections

Dear fellow mainframer,

Is the mainframe destined to become just another platform? While this might seem advantageous, as it could eliminate the skills gap, I wonder if it would ultimately spell the end of the mainframe as we know it today.

Midsummer nights are perfect for pondering such complex questions.

Fireside chat with Frank van der Wal

I called Frank van der Wahl to help me with those contemplations. He recently became a LinkedIn celebrity running mainframe codeathons all over Europe and engaging with young students and experienced mainframers.

I had mixed feelings about using open-source tools on the mainframe. Despite their obvious advantages, I worried they might bring havoc in an otherwise well-structured environment (hopefully, you keep your mainframe tidy). Frank really helped me put things in the right place, explaining that we need both traditional and open-source tools, and that the future is hybrid.

Listen to whole conversation here or by clicking the image.

How to break a monolith?

In today’s fast-paced business environment, staying ahead of the competition is crucial. Implementing an API layer is essential as it enhances flexibility, agility, and cost-effectiveness, making IT systems easier to integrate. While many companies still rely on mainframes as their core systems due to their reliability and capacity to handle significant workloads, these systems are often monolithic. Modernizing these mainframe systems by implementing an API layer based on z/OS Connect, using the Strangler pattern, and applying CQRS can facilitate a smooth transition to a modular architecture, enhancing both integration and scalability. Read Ivo Stampalija’s blog here.

For those of you interested in diving deeper into the topic, you should listen to Ivo Stampalija’s and Miroslav Cerkez’s talk from this year’s Mighty Mainframe conference.

Industry insights

I recently stumbled upon another great source of information for the mainframe community. Curated by Andy McCandless, the bi-weekly Mainframerz newsletter offers a wealth of useful information and links. Sometimes it’s difficult to find well-hidden information, and Mainframerz excels at uncovering it. It perfectly complements Mighty Mainframe, which tends to cover fewer topics in more depth. Therefore, you should read both!

The newsletter also functions as a meetup through which passionate mainframerz can engage and network with like-minded folks, make sure to check them out on LinkedIn!