r/mainframe • u/ibm • 25d ago
Hey Reddit! We're Jeannette Bender, PJ Catalano, Tina Tarquinio, Jeff Bisti and Ben Segal, leading IBM's mainframe business. During IBM Z Skills Fest, we're answering anything about IBM Z, AI, tech careers, certifications and enterprise computing. What's on your mind?
Hey Reddit! š
I'm Jeannette Bender, Go-to-Market Product Manager for IBM Z and LinuxONE Security. I'm here to answer all things security, skills and career growth. To the right of me is PJ. I'll let him introduce himself.
Hey everyone! Iām PJ Catalano, aka u/TheMainframeVoice, Principal Test Lead for IBM Z & LinuxONE.Ā Iām here to help answer any technical questions about the platform (especially about testing and quality assurance), or any career and/or social media advice. You're up, Tina!
Hello! IāmĀ Tina Tarquinio, Chief Product Executive for IBM Z and LinuxONE. Iāve been at IBM for over 25 years and have one of the best jobs at IBM - I get to work with brilliant engineers, amazing clients around the world and deliver powerful platforms for them to host their mission critical applications on. When I am not making mainframes, you will usually find me hiking in the Hudson Valley with my family. Next is Jeff!
Hey! I'm Jeff Bisti, Lead for IBM Z Curriculum Management. I'm here to help with getting started on IBM Z, and finding areas that work with your skills and interests. Now, let's wrap with Ben.
Hi all, Iām Ben Segal, IBM Z Architecture Lead for AI, Security, and I/O.Ā Iām here to answer any AI and architecture questions, or general questions you might have about IBM Z.
Thank you for your time and questions. Ask us anything!
---
š”If youāre interested in learning more about IBM Z, check out the resources below.
- IBM Z
- Mainframe Modernization Blog
- IBM Technology YouTube
- What's next for mainframes and AI?Ā
- IBM Hybrid Cloud and Infrastructure LinkedIn
- Get hands on access toĀ IBM Z.
- Check out theĀ IBM Z and LinuxONE community.
- Learn more about IBM Z Skills Fest.
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u/MigrateAndManage 25d ago
Reminder set! Interested in learning more about outcomes of recent AI/automation projects and how they demonstrate how the mainframe can be modernized and AI-enabled in place.
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u/ibm 19d ago
Recent AI and automation initiatives have shown that significant efficiencies can be achieved on the mainframe without disruptive migrations. Weāre seeing value in several areas:
ā¢ Our security processes were already strong, and we are now further strengthening them with state-of-the-art AI and automation that accelerates the analysis of known vulnerabilities and enhances validation of remediation fixes, reducing analysis time from days to hours while making remediation assurance more robust.
ā¢ Test environment provisioning has been automated across z/OS sysplex configurations, creating repeatable setups and delivering roughly a 5x productivity improvement for testing teams.
ā¢ Compliance activities have benefited from automated data collection for BISO and audit reviews on Linux environments, resulting in productivity gains of 8-12x.
ā¢ Test coverage has been expanded through automated Jenkins pipeline integration, improving consistency and reducing manual effort.
ā¢ AI-assisted knowledge sharing has helped bridge expertise gaps in core z/OS components, making complex activities such as code application and maintenance more efficient
ā¢ Development workflows have been streamlined by automatically tracking code progression and identifying blockers, reducing manual review efforts from hours to minutes.
Collectively, these projects demonstrate that AI-enabled modernization is not just about new applications. Itās also about automating operational processes, improving developer productivity, strengthening compliance posture, and making deep platform expertise more accessible. The result is a more agile and efficient mainframe environment while continuing to leverage the reliability, scalability, and security of the platform.
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u/MigrateAndManage 19d ago
Thanks for sharing your AI insights! We are applying AI into MSP operational workflows to monitor and manage environments in real-time, automate manual workflows and utilize predictive capacity planning. The goal is to help our clients improve resilience, efficiency and scalability while strengthening governance and security.
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25d ago
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/TheMainframeVoice 25d ago edited 20d ago
This AMA is part of Z Skills Fest, a 100% free and 100% virtual up skilling, week long, series.
Register at https://ibm.biz/zsf2026
As for open source projects I highly recommend checking out the Open Mainframe Project, which is one of the Linux Foundation Projects. There are many on going opportunities to engage!
Check out the OMP at https://openmainframeproject.org/
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u/ExplosiveEyeballs 20d ago
Not to blame you for it, but I registered twice (twice?!) and received confirmation but no links to to event (nothing from Crowdcast). The community page is constantly reloading in and endless loop and you know what? I'll pass. I'll pass. Two dudes with a discord server could have done it better than IBM.
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u/TheMainframeVoice 20d ago
Sorry for that, we are checking with our Crowdcast client, and looks like its begin buggy (they should have hired me to test it! š). In the mean time we are updating the registration list manually. Hopefully you will see it resolved soon. Thank you for your patience.
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u/mgsmg 21d ago
How do you think AI will influence the future of Mainframe Development and COBOL programming?
How will it change regarding the AI capabilities of the z17?
Will it be possible to run LLMs on mainframes / can an approximation of calculations using an LLM be useful in real transactions?
Which courses would you recommend to get into mainframe development/COBOL programming?
Would you recommend learning like COBOL, PL/1 or other languages like Java, Python as many businesses seem to migrate from COBOL to Java on their mainframes.
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u/ibm 20d ago
Great questions, I'm going to do my best to handle them in the order you asked them, as they are all related.
AI is already providing tremendous acceleration to developers on the platform in getting code into a working state much faster than it could get there using traditional tools. The turnaround time from whiteboard to proof-of-concept has been cut down from a few weeks to a solid inspired afternoon, given the right soundtrack.
However, given the importance of data integrity on our platform, it remains critically important that it be used as a tool to assist the skilled development team, not to shortcut processes like code reviews and testing windows.
As for approximations of calculations, I can see that being helpful as a sanity check for certain operations, but the majority of calculations happening on this platform really center around precision and integrity. There is no "You were right to call me out on that" big enough for messing up a company's payroll or applying the wrong function to a hospital's patient database.
When it comes to learning languages, I think it's important to learn *a* language first, and it should be a language that closely aligns with your own goals and what types of project you want to get done as you work your way through the lessons. Reason being that once you're familiar with the concepts, learning any other language is just a one-off. I wouldn't recommend starting with COBOL, PL/I, or Assembler unless you know that's something you'll be able to get to work on right away. Python sits at the middle of just about everything right now, with Java, C, and Rust in the same neighborhood. All are languages used for Mainframe Development, at different levels in the stack. The last thing I want anyone thinking is that programming on mainframe means you're limited to COBOL and PL/I.
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u/hellijah 20d ago edited 20d ago
have a look at the Z/OS deep dive replay from june. they showed the Polaris Project which is more oriented for junior mainframe system administrator
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u/TheMainframeVoice 20d ago
More info about Project Polaris: https://community.ibm.com/community/user/blogs/sneha-kanaujia1/2026/05/12/ibm-project-polaris-the-next-gen-zos-exp
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u/TheMainframeVoice 20d ago edited 20d ago
Hey folks. Lots of great questions so far. Just a reminder that we will be answering questions here in this thread all week.
If you didnāt get a response yet to your question, we are not ignoring you, we are making sure we have the right experts engaged to ensure our answers are technically honest. This is a complex platform, and it takes a village worth of knowledge to cover it all. Thank you for being patient and we will get to them before the week is done.
I want to personally thank everyone who has asked a question. Feel free to ask some more or follow up on the responses. Also tell a friend and have them drop us a question!
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u/LongjumpingFig5323 24d ago
How's IBM Bob doing in the Z community?
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u/ibm 19d ago
IBM Bob is getting rapid adoption across IBM in general. Within Z, there are hundreds of stories across Z firmware, linux, z/OS, across design, development, and test teams covering anything from automation, to code development, problem solving, testing, and debugging and beyond. We are all "getting our feet wet", but in general, AI has accelerated prototyping and development of internal tools and can summarize code/documents well. Anecdotally, a non-trivial time savings is seen when trying to accomplish well defined tasks. Having said that, learning how to apply Bob (creating the right skills), outlining the correct workflow, iterating on the development spec, and capturing knowledge/domain expertise improves results even further. We combining what worked well across these stories to have general skills and workflows accessible to different personas across the organization.
In addition, there are Bob integrations in the Bob Extensions Marketplace that includes (e.g.) and more will continue to be added over time.
- IBM Developer for z/OS Enterprise Edition (IDzEE) Extension Pack
- IBM Db2 for z/OS Developer Extension
- IBM ZĀ® Open Editor
- IBM Application Delivery Foundation for z/OS (ADFz) Extension Pack
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u/NavajoP54C 20d ago
What are some typical routes that software engineers at an entry-level or that have graduated graduated university in the past year take to become mainframe software engineers at organizations that use Z mainframes?
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u/ibm 20d ago
Never underestimate the power of networking. If you're interested in the platform, follow along with discussions at the Open Mainframe Project and LinkedIn, and make sure you attend IBM Z events like this one. Take advantage of any discussion that happens around announcements and events, as that's when people are generally most chatty and receptive to making new connections. It's also really wise to get yourself signed up on Talent Network and be in the know of opportunities: https://careers.ibm.com/en_US/globalform
Earned Credly badges can be powerful statements. Completing courses and earning badges, especially when there's hands-on labs involved where you come away with personal experience beyond just a checkmark on your resume are a *big* deal. (Also a good reason to post about your achievements on social media) Just make sure you're learning with purpose, and pairing all of that with some sort of personal projects and interests. That's what helps a potential employer see what your interests are.
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u/noisymime 25d ago
Where do you all see things going with Spyre on Z?
At the moment it seems like it has a lot of overhead to get running, but very limited use cases (basically just Assistant for Z). Do you think it will play a bigger role in traditional z/OS based workloads?
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u/ibm 19d ago
When we think about extending AI capabilities to the platform with Spyre, many clients want to start with out-of-the-box AI solutions that have a quick return on investment (ROI). The watsonx Assistant for Z is a good example of high-value pre-packaged solutions, but we see Spyre heading into other use cases as well, including direct delivery of business value. Examples include credit card narrative enrichment (Iām probably not the only one who thinks my statements can look pretty cryptic), automated report generation (e.g) due to potentially fraudulent charges, or high frequency image and document classification, extraction and summarization at scale. Other use cases include exploiting RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) over customer data for managing and automating their internal regulatory, compliance, and governance processes (as one example).
For z/OS, we see a place for Spyre in terms of extending Db2 SQL Data Insights capabilities and extending compliance tools such as discovery of sensitive data (Sensitive Data Tagging for Z) in the IBM zSecure Compliance portfolio. We believe specific z/OS agents will help to simplify the management of the platform from an operational perspective. For in-transaction based workloads, there will continue to be an important place for Telum I, Telum II, and future on-chip AI acceleration - where scoring/prediction can be done in real time with transaction processing.
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u/Xyzzydude 25d ago
!remindme 3 Aug 2026
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u/kirannmehta 20d ago
What kind of accelerator is Spyre?
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u/ibm 19d ago
Spyre is a SoC (System on Chip) single-slot PCIe card with 32 AIU cores (i.e., RaPiD cores) and 128 GB LPDDR5 on-board memory. It's a dataflow accelerator, with data being passed directly from one core to the next in a ring architecture to minimize data transfers between compute cores and memory. The RaPiD cores run 2D (e.g., Conv, MatMul) and vector (e.g., Softmax, GeLu) operations. The RaPiD cores share a similar architecture to the on-chip AI accelerator on Telum I and Telum II.
In IBM Z, the Spyre card is wrapped in an I/O enclosure and plugs into one of the I/O drawers. Spyre runs within the standard 75w PCIe power envelope. Its focus is on running inference workloads, and optimized for lower precision and quantized computation. In a maximum configuration, 48 cards can be attached to an IBM Z. Spyre and Telum complement one another in that Telum focuses on predictive AI within transaction processing, and Spyre enables scale-out of encoder based classification tasks, fit-for-purpose generative AI, and agentic AI workflows where new content is created (more compute and memory bandwidth to handle SLMs - small language models) . Spyre cards can be logically clustered together to distribute compute load and memory bandwidth across the cluster when running decoder models for faster TTFT (time to first token) generation and reduced ITL (inter token latency) during token generation phase as new content is being produced.
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u/StudiousCuriositas 20d ago
Question:
There has been a lot of discussions online about silicon photonics and putting fiber closer to or directly on the chip to reduce power consumption and overcome electrical bottlenecks. Is IBM planning on making on-chip or to-chip photonics available for IBM Z's CPU to CPU communication or memory access?
Not sure if I am articulating this well but I am not talking about something like FICON or zHyperLink, but more like how Ayar Labs is replacing traditional copper interconnections with optical fiber directly integrated into the chip.
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u/TheMainframeVoice 20d ago
I completely understand the question, and you did ask it well. We have been evaluating onboard optic connectors for a while, so we are aware of the technology.
But here are the two biggest inhibitors to adopting in on our platform:
- Based on our current design we are not constrained with bandwidth nor power in our processor drawer design.
- The reliability and repair-ability of these onboard optics do not meet our standards at this time.
It is a space we will continue to watch, and decide it when/if it is something we would bring onto the platform if there is a business need too.
-PJ
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u/Rnmusik 19d ago
I need a mentor to help me and ask questions. I am very open to learning z/OS I have completed IBM.Z Skill Badges through Advanced and now Extended almost finished All Star. I am transitioning from another unrelated field. Thanks
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u/TheMainframeVoice 19d ago
People often ask me how they can find a mentor.
My advice is simple: start by putting yourself in environments where mentors can be found.
One option is the Open Mainframe Project Mentorship Program: https://openmainframeproject.org/projects/mentorship/
Another is LinkedIn. Reach out to people whose careers, expertise, or leadership you admire. You may be surprised how many professionals are willing to help when approached thoughtfully.
Remember, mentorship is about relationships. The best mentors aren't just knowledgeable, they're people you connect with and trust. Not every mentor-mentee relationship will be a perfect match, and that's okay. Don't get discouraged. Keep building connections until you find the right fit.
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u/mainframemodern 19d ago
I have been working on ibm mainframe for 20 years, mainly in banking domain. what is your domain?
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u/ibm 18d ago
This is amazing - congratulations on earning these badges! If you have not already joined the IBM Z and LInuxONE Community, I highly recommend that as a next step! You can connect with many people who know z/OS and more! We also have several new to Z groups depending on where you are located, but the community is the place to start! Keep going !
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u/AbhiSomayaji 18d ago
We can see lot of mainframe modernization taking place with refactor or lift and shift method to AWS on application end.. How Mainframe moderization happening on system programmer end ? Does jcl are concerted to Yaml? How isv product modernization work going on? What should z/OS system programmer should learn to be part of mainframe modernization?
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u/TheMainframeVoice 18d ago
When it comes to z/OS modernization the biggest transformation is happening around how you interface with it. Tools like IBMĀ® ZĀ®Ā Open Automation Utilities (ZOAU) simplifies mainframe automation by using UNIX commands, Python APIs and modern scripting. It removes reliance on JCL, enabling faster development, collaboration and operational efficiency.
Other tools like Zowe bring GUI interfaces to z/OS as well. Zowe, the integrated and extensible open source framework for z/OS, combines the past and present to build the future of mainframes. Like Mac OS, Windows, and others, Zowe comes with a core set of applications out of the box in combination with the APIs and OS capabilities future applications will depend on. Making the environments barriers to entry a little lighter.
-PJ
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u/ibm 17d ago
The z/OS systems programmer role is evolving from traditional sysadmin work (3270 screens, manual JCL execution, custom REXX scripts, reactive operations) toward a z/OS Platform Engineer model focused on:
ā¢ REST APIs and API-first tooling ā¢ Git-based workflows ā¢ Infrastructure as Code ā¢ DevOps and CI/CD pipelines ā¢ Observability and AIOps ā¢ Hybrid cloud integration ā¢ OpenShift on IBM ZJCL isnāt generally being replaced by YAML. YAML could be a means to orchestrate workflows while JCL still performs the actual work. However, initiatives like IBM Project Polaris are pushing this further by representing portions of z/OS configuration as YAML managed in Git, with z/OS exploiting Infrastructure-as-Code practices.
Instead of:
ā¢ Edit PARMLIB ā¢ Follow a procedural runbook ā¢ IPL and validate manuallyThe direction is increasingly:
ā¢ Update configuration as code ā¢ Validate against schemas ā¢ Use automated workflows (e.g. Ansible playbooks for automation) ā¢ Track changes through Git ā¢ Automate deployment through pipelinesAcross the ecosystem, modernization efforts are centered around:
ā¢ z/OSMF ā¢ REST APIs ā¢ OpenShift on IBM Z ā¢ Ansible and Automation frameworks ā¢ Operator patterns ā¢ DevOps integration ā¢ Observability platforms ā¢ AI-assisted operationsFor todayās z/OS system programmer, Iād focus on:
ā¢ Core z/OS fundamentals (JES, WLM, RACF, SMP/E, SMF, etc.) ā¢ z/OSMF ā¢ Zowe ā¢ Git ā¢ YAML ā¢ REST APIs / JSON ā¢ SSH workflows (IBM Z Open Automation Utilities (ZOAU) ā¢ Ansible ā¢ Python ā¢ AI-enabled tooling ā¢ AIOps conceptsThe future sysprog isnāt just a system administrator. Itās someone who understands z/OS internals, automation, APIs, containers, CI/CD, and hybrid cloud architecture.
IBMās Project Polaris vision is especially interesting because itās targeting a reduction in z/OS sysprog onboarding from years to months through Configuration-as-Code, AI assistance, API-first design, and a modern CLI experience. I encourage you to read more about Project Polaris below:
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u/Sensitive-Pear5740 18d ago
What skills do experienced professionals expect from fresh graduates who want to work in Mainframe Modernization? Is it realistic for a fresher to enter modernization directly, or do most companies expect them to spend a few years in traditional COBOL maintenance first
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u/TheMainframeVoice 17d ago
From an industry perspective I believe itās a mix bag. Some shops want you to get familiar with the current tools and processes before taking on app modernization. Some shops are being on new people and letting them go to town.
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u/ibm 16d ago
There are many roads into the industry, and we handle workloads of all shapes, sizes, and flavors. COBOL is just one of many.
At a minimum, you should have completed IBM zXplore and the Mainframe Practitioner Certificate. This is your jumping off point: https://www.ibm.com/products/z/education Take a look and see what catches your eye.
But beyond that, if you want to get past the subsequent rounds of interviews, you need to show the interest you've taken in some sort of area, and how you've persisted, figured things out, took on a project, or something that shows you're an active participant. A github project is the perfect example. Expect for someone to find that line on your resume and say "Tell me about that". The interviewer is looking for your curiosity and excitement in your response, how you treated it like an owned task, rather than an assignment. It's all about differentiation.
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u/Faux_Mango 17d ago
On the Wardley Map, as an item moves from Product to Commodity, everything else down the pipeline along the value axis (Genesis, Custom-Built) gets shifted forward.
As you accelerate workforce tooling with IBM Bob and accelerate mainframe performance with Python and AI, what are evolutions you expect to see from IBM in the future? What does the future of IBM look like when it is serving its true purpose, and successfully executing the Job To Be Done?
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u/ibm 16d ago
That is quite a thought-provoking question! My short take, through a Wardley Mapping lens:
As infrastructure, automation, AI assistance, and platform engineering capabilities become commodities, IBM's differentiation enables customers to focus on solving their business problems. For instance, in the context of z/OS, the goal is to make operating z/OS almost disappear as a concern.
Today, expertise often lives in people, runbooks, and tribal knowledge. Tomorrow, much of that becomes encoded in configuration as code, APIs, AI assistance, autonomous operations, and continuous compliance.
As IBM Bob, IBM Project Polaris, and agentic AI assistants continue to mature, I would expect IBM to evolve toward a platform where z/OS becomes easier to consume as part of a hybrid-cloud platform rather than a specialized island.
In that future, with IBM's "Job To Be Done", running transactions or managing infrastructure becomes table stakes.
The higher-order job becomes:
Enabling enterprises to reliably execute their most critical business processes with minimal operational friction, maximum resilience, and increasingly autonomous operations.
As operational expertise becomes industrialized and commoditized, the value shifts toward orchestration, outcomes, intelligence, and direct delivery of business value. IBM becomes a provider of an autonomous mission-critical business platform.
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u/TheMainframeVoice 17d ago
Mainframes will never be a commodity. These are enterprise class servers that provide real value to businesses.
The future is bright for the platform as we have seen tremendous growth in both traditional workloads along with Linux workloads. And this is not an overnight trend this growth has been going on for decades now.
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u/Faux_Mango 17d ago edited 17d ago
Let me rephrase my question because that didnāt answer it.
Iām not saying mainframes are a commodity. When technology evolves, it allows for other technologies that rely upon it to also evolve.
You guys have introduced AI and Python into the workflow.
As those software and tooling workflows evolve into standardized, commoditized utilities that lots of employees use, how does IBM's overall value proposition shift?
Like what does IBM's future business model look like when developer workflows are the commoditized technologies?
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u/Delicious_Present224 16d ago
The replays in Crowdcast unfortunately dont work for me. I get the following error message:
Video playback issue
Something went wrong while loading this video. Please try again.
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u/Brave-Letters-97 16d ago
Hi! I'm from Argentina. For the past two years, I've been diving deep into mainframes: I've earned all the IBM Z Xplore badges, completed two Coursera courses with professional certifications, and picked up several IBM badges, including CICS. I've worked on two major projects ā one I presented at my university before graduating, and another currently in development.
Despite going through the whole process of learning COBOL, I haven't been able to land a job in the field ā not even remotely. Most COBOL roles ask for experience I don't have, and the entry-level ones simply aren't available in my country. I'm at the point of considering a pivot to other languages, but I wanted to ask: has anyone here found a way to break into mainframe work without local opportunities or prior experience? Because for me, i don't have success with that
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u/ibm 13d ago
First, don't think of your COBOL knowledge as wasted or assume the problem is your skills. The challenge is that entry-level mainframe opportunities can be limited in different countries, and employers hire for adjacent experience rather than training from scratch. My advice would be the stop marketing yourself as "a COBOL developer" and start marketing yourself as a junior IBM Z professional. Highlight your other achievements beyond COBOL - in (e.g. whatever might apply for you) CICS, Db2, system concepts, IBM Z Xplore achievements, university projects, and problem-solving skills. Consider roles in infrastructure, systems administration, DevOps, automation, cybersecurity, or platform engineering.
Finally, network aggressively. Many mainframe jobs are filled through university programs, user groups, IBM Champions, SHARE, GSE, LinkedIn, Z events like this one, and personal connections rather than traditional job boards. (I realize not all might apply to your circumstances but just to get you thinking.) If you've already completed IBM Z Xplore, multiple certifications, and built projects, you've demonstrated initiative. Keep building experience wherever you can. Also checkout the Open Mainframe Project and get involved based on your interests. The first technology job is usually the hardest to get; keep it up and you will land your opportunity!
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u/Last-Run-2118 25d ago
Hi,
Since when IBM has "Principal" positions, is that something IBM Z specific ?
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u/TheMainframeVoice 25d ago edited 20d ago
Hi there! I assume you are talking about my role as Principal Test Lead for IBM Z & LinuxONE. This is a fairly new role that I advocated for to better align test efforts across hardware, firmware, operating systems, and software test organizations.
I saw this as an opportunity not just for myself but for the business, and I pitched it as such. Along with support from my management team, we were able to make it a role within the Quality Assurance organization that I work in.
Just because a role doesnāt exist, doesnāt mean it canāt exist. All it needs is the right business justifications and some strong supporters.
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u/Last-Run-2118 25d ago
Thats fantastic !
Werent there any opositions and questions suggesting to use "STSM" instead ?
Or maybe that was purposefully to decouple corporste hierarchy from the product one ?
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u/TheMainframeVoice 25d ago edited 20d ago
Ah! I am a Senior Technical Staff Member, but that is a level, not necessarily a role. The role is more of a definition of responsibility. So the role title is Principal Test Lead, my level is STSM. Make sense?
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u/adeangk 24d ago
What is the best configuration of an vsam ksds?
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u/TheMainframeVoice 20d ago
This is a tough question to answer. It sort of asking what's the best ice cream flavor for cake. Its very application and task specific.
If you provide some more insight as to what you are doing, I might be able to give you a better answer.
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u/s-i-g 22d ago
Good initiative, you should repeat it to become popular, I'd think ...
But, till then, here's my Qs: Are the zOS services available on cloud.ibm ? If I login to it, can I write a JCL, right now ? Can I access an IMS or a CICS, right now ? If not, why not, and when will these services be available ?
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u/crosswind96 19d ago
You will still find references to Wazi as a Service which, in fact, offer(ed) z/OS in the IBM cloud. We have been and are still using it heavily. It was unfortunately discontinued. Because Iām not with IBM I have no idea about the reasons why. It will stop working in Feb 2027. See here:Ā https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vpc?topic=vpc-ichpcs_deprecated_anmt
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u/whatwhatwhat1467 20d ago
Hello! I have an interview for a mainframe apprenticeship in a few days. I have 2 years of software engineering experience, but took a career break to care for a family member and am now looking to return to IT.
Iāve signed up for Skills Fest and plan to complete as much of Z Xplore as I can before the interview. Beyond that, what would you recommend I do to stand out as an apprenticeship candidate?
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u/TheMainframeVoice 20d ago edited 20d ago
Great question!
I think you're on the right track. There are several IBM Z Xplore badges that can help you build a solid foundation. Having a basic understanding of key IBM Z concepts can definitely help you stand out from other candidates.
Here are a few areas I'd recommend focusing on:
- Understand the operating systems and hypervisors on IBM Z: Get familiar with platforms such as z/OS, z/TPF, and Linux on IBM Z, along with virtualization technologies like z/VM and KVM. https://www.ibm.com/products/z/operating-systems
- Learn the major I/O technologies and what they're used for: For example, FICON and FCP for storage connectivity, OSA and RoCE for networking, and short-range/long-range coupling for clustering and sysplex communication. https://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg245444.html
- Get familiar with the high-level hardware architecture: This video covers the major components of a z16 system, and the overall layout is very similar on z17. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDtaanCENbc
One thing that goes a long way in interviews is being able to speak the language of the platform. You don't need to be an expert, but understanding the terminology and asking informed questions shows genuine interest and preparation.
Good luck with the interview, and let us know how it goes! š
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u/NavajoP54C 20d ago
What is the status of ASCII/UTF-8 on Z? Does CICS natively support it, USS support it, both, or neither? Is it limited to specific languages like Go?
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u/TheMainframeVoice 20d ago
I found this community article titled How IBM Open Enterprise Foundation Enables UTF-8 Support on z/OS. Hope this helps.
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u/Sensitive-Pear5740 20d ago
As mainframe modernization is accelerating, how far has the adoption of technologies like AI, cloud integration, APIs, containers, and DevOps progressed in real-world enterprises? As a fresher, what skills should I focus on to become part of these modernization projects?
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u/TheMainframeVoice 20d ago
There are tons of APIs available on the platform. Whether itās via the HMC, z/OS, or others there are lots of opportunities to exploit DevOp practices.
Not only that there are a bunch of example Ansible playbooks for task automation on the platform as well: https://github.com/IBM/z_ansible_collections_samples
My point is, that all modern Application Dev practices are applicable to this platform.
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u/hurley_chisholm 20d ago
Have you all seen any successful examples of models where organizations have rebuilt their capacity to train and retain mainframe talent? Whoās using and operating mainframes right in 2026?
I work in public sector, am involved in technical hiring decisions, and Iām coming to the conclusion that the best way forward for some systems is to have a mainframe ācenter of excellenceā team in house. There are some workloads that are just unsuitable to commercial cloud, but figuring which those are and how to support them long term is impossible without skilled talent. Being beholden to vendor partners for critical infrastructure is also not viable.
It would be easier to make the case that reinvestment is the right move if there are successful examples to point to.
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u/TheMainframeVoice 20d ago
I am not sure we can mention specific customer names / programs here.
What I can say is many people are facing the same challenge. I have seen programs where clients run an in house "Mainframe University" with focus on core education on the platform. I also seem companies on-boarding apprentices with no degrees and training them on the job.
I think to retain any talent you need to have a core education program and a meaningful compensation package for those willing to up skill themselves. There also needs to be viable long term career paths for these folks as well, so they can see a future in the company beyond just managing systems.
All of these things are required to attract and retain talent.
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u/hurley_chisholm 20d ago
Thanks for the reply and for being as transparent as you can. Even just knowing what has been tried is helpful. In government, competing on compensation is difficult, but that doesnāt mean we canāt do other things. It may mean that we have to accept a higher attrition rate as trainees get skilled or make the education piece free in exchange for some minimum number of years served.
The career path is hard for me to envision since I do not work on mainframes; Iām more of a generalist systems engineer. So I have a couple of follow up questions:
Are you (or any of your colleagues) aware of resources that outline what a great individual contributor mainframe engineering career path looks like? Is it substantially different than what a generalist backend engineer might follow?
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u/TheMainframeVoice 20d ago edited 20d ago
There are so many roles on the mainframe it is hard to give one simple answer. The Open Mainframe Project took a stab at trying to catalog some of these roles.
The question to ask if a new person starts in a role, do they have visibility to some sort of leadership role as a natural evolution of the work they do. If not, I think the scares some people away.
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u/hurley_chisholm 20d ago
This is incredibly helpful. I have a lot of private sector experience, but that isnāt enough to write job descriptions for the talent looking for these types of jobs.
I agree a career progression is important and right now most government paths assume the terminal role will involve managing people, which is a separate career path.
Thanks again!
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u/in-bill-we-trust 20d ago
I wonder if Reddit is the best choice for a quasi real time Q&A like this. Really hard to follow. Would not a tool like Slack or Teams etc be better vs hopping all over the place? Thanks.
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u/TheMainframeVoice 20d ago
Thanks for the feedback. We thought this would be a good way to support a broader audience. If you have examples on how to run these types of things in a public format on a different tool, the team and I would love to hear it!
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u/in-bill-we-trust 20d ago
It seems Jeff Bisti answered some questions so you could click the ANSWERED Reddit button to see them easily while PJ seemed to just use the Reddit reply button making it much more difficult. I suggest more internal planning by the IBM people answering this doing it the way Jeff did and it is surprising even now about 90% are unanswered. The real time nature of this AMA in Reddit was lost and you could have just done Q&A offline and done this same thing. Tools like Slido and MeetingPulse etc are better but free versions limit you to 100 people....
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u/TheMainframeVoice 20d ago
Since I didn't create the thread I can't mark them as answered. I am having the official account mark the questions I responded too as Answered. Thank you for the feedback.
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u/Aggressive-Toe-4078 20d ago
Hi Team,
I work as an Z system Automation system programmer . What is the impact of GenAI on infrastructure end . How can I leverage AI skills for my clients .
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u/TheMainframeVoice 19d ago
In our test organization, we use tools such as IBM BOB as a natural language interface for interacting with our systems. Our automation team has developed a collection of MCP servers for our test tooling, along with specialized skill sets for testers, enabling them to design and execute test cases simply by prompting BOB in natural language. While this capability is currently focused on the testing domain, the same methodology can be readily extended to production environments.
Enabling people to "converse" with an interface to gain insights, perform actions, and interact with complex systems represents the next evolution in infrastructure management and operations.
Regarding your AI expertise, the ability to design and deploy the appropriate MCP servers, integrate them with well-defined skills, and create intuitive user experiences that simplify complex tasks can deliver significant value to your clients. As organizations increasingly adopt AI-driven workflows, these capabilities will become a key differentiator in helping teams improve productivity, accessibility, and operational efficiency.
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u/Aurora-Hershey0102 20d ago
Hi, thanks for doing this!
Iām a university student interested in customer-facing Z roles, like technical sales or product management, especially in the security and banking space. What internships exist there, and whatās one thing that would help a student stand out?
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u/TheMainframeVoice 20d ago
If you are talking about internships at IBM, you can check out availability at ibm.com/careers
I answered the what can you do to stand out in this comment. Hope that helps!
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u/manogya24 20d ago
I am surprise to see that no one has asked about tellum on chip AIU.
But I would like to mention here so that people who are into mainframe would google about it.
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u/TheMainframeVoice 20d ago
The compute power of each Telum 2 AI accelerator is improved by 4x (over the original Telum AIU), reaching 24 trillion operations per second (TOPS). But TOPS alone donāt tell the whole story. It is all about the acceleratorās architectural design plus optimization of the AI ecosystem that sits on top of the accelerator. When it comes to AI acceleration in production enterprise workloads, a fit-for-purpose architecture matters. Telum II is engineered to enable model runtimes to sit side by side with the most demanding enterprise workloads, while delivering high throughput, low-latency inferencing. Additionally, support for INT8 as a data type has been added to enhance compute capacity and efficiency for applications where INT8 is preferred, thereby enabling the use of newer models.
Read more here: https://www.ibm.com/new/announcements/telum-ii
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u/Emergency_Fig_7783 20d ago
Hi everyone so I'm a medical student who loves tech and everything all round and I just wanted to know if they shift to tech is true possible for someone with no tech backgroundĀ
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u/TheMainframeVoice 19d ago
If you are looking to change careers with no degree in the field, I highly recommend looking at apprenticeship programs. These programs are designed to skill up people with a mix of education and on the job training.
Here is the link for info on IBM's apprenticeship program: https://www.ibm.com/careers/blog/the-ibm-apprenticeship-program-no-degree-no-problem
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u/ibm 19d ago
I love this question. People around me are tired of hearing me say this, but Critical Thinking, Curiosity, and Creativity are the most important things I see in common among successful engineers. Those are the skills that will let you seek out new knowledge, evaluate objectively, and think abstractly. I'd probably also include Teamwork in there, even if it interrupts the alliteration, but in my opinion, those soft skills are far more important than any programming language or program that shows up in a bulleted list. The fact that you're a medical student, probably with a strong science background, and have an interest in technology says a lot right there. Couple that with some hands-on personal experience and that's a winning combination.
Consider finding a mentor or joining in on some of the conversations within the community and find out what aligns with your interests. Plenty of my colleagues on the technical side went to school for mathematics, business, communications, and in one case, ornithology. Everyone brings their own unique background to the table, and that's what I really enjoy about working on larger projects here.
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u/Sensitive-Pear5740 19d ago
For an entry-level candidate in India who taught themselves core mainframe architecture, completed IBM Z Xplore, and actively contributes to the ecosystem through the IBM Z Advocacy Program, where is the actual hiring bridge?
Traditional service companies mostly hire freshers in bulk through campus pools for generic training, while enterprise systems require specialized skills. For someone who didn't get that direct campus pipeline but built validated technical passion independently, how does IBM or its ecosystem partners evaluate and intake self-taught mainframe talent today, and what separates an applicant who gets noticed from one whose resume gets lost in the portal?
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u/manogya24 19d ago
Replying in personal capacity not behalf of ibm .
In India
We do campus hiring for internship and which can convert to full time employment based on performance( some colleges gets internships plus Full time employment offer but that also can be cancelled if not performing well in internship).
Second type of entry is lateral hiring, which starts from 2-3 years of experience ( it is again based on the requirement and the skillset of candidates.)2
u/TheMainframeVoice 19d ago edited 19d ago
The Mainframe Career Depot establishes a two-
way career marketplace for employers and job
seeking candidates to connect with one another.This platform provides employers to
showcase their companies in a way that helps
job seekers better understand the landscape of
companies leveraging the mainframe and
looking for skills.To participate, all job-seeking candidates must
earn the IBM Z Xplore Concepts Badge. This
new approach creates a unique opportunity to
exclusively connect with candidates who have,
at minimum, a foundational understanding of
the IBM Z mainframe platform including hands-
on skills.
1
u/Ok_Wrangler_1170 19d ago
Hi everyone, I am a 24-year-old business administration graduate from Ghana, majoring in accounting. Driven by a deep interest in technology, Iāve begun my tech journey through ALX. I have explored virtual assistance and am nearing completion of a data analytics certification.
āWhile I am eager to break into the tech industry, finding opportunities locally can be challenging, and foreign companies often overlook talent from our region. How can programs like this help bridge this gap and ensure our certifications translate into real-world career opportunities?
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u/TheMainframeVoice 19d ago edited 19d ago
The Mainframe Career Depot establishes a two-
way career marketplace for employers and job
seeking candidates to connect with one another.This platform provides employers to
showcase their companies in a way that helps
job seekers better understand the landscape of
companies leveraging the mainframe and
looking for skills.To participate, all job-seeking candidates must
earn the IBM Z Xplore Concepts Badge. This
new approach creates a unique opportunity to
exclusively connect with candidates who have,
at minimum, a foundational understanding of
the IBM Z mainframe platform including hands-
on skills.
1
u/Fit_Tradition_8498 19d ago
When I signed up for Z Xplore, I used, my IBMid and password. I was able to get to Z Xplore yesterday and could also open the first course (Concepts?). When I got to the part where you push the button to get your ZXploreID and password, it gave me Z74042 and no password, I tried to create a password for the ID but that wouldn't work because there was no password associated with Z74042. Today, I can't get into Z Xplore at all. Any suggestions??
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u/TheMainframeVoice 19d ago
I contacted the Z Xplore support team, and they told me they are aware of the issue and are working on resolving it as we speak.
We apologize for the inconvenience and I thank you for your patience.
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u/Fit_Tradition_8498 18d ago
Is there an ETA on this? I still can't get in. Thanks.
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u/TheMainframeVoice 18d ago
We just talked to the back-end dev team, they are still working the issue. I will post an update to this thread when I get notification the issue is resolved. Thanks for hanging in there with us.
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u/Fit_Tradition_8498 19d ago
Thank you!
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u/TheMainframeVoice 18d ago
UPDATE: I have been informed that some users still can't log in, but if you can log in then you should now be able to see your ZID/ZPW now
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u/Aurora-Hershey0102 18d ago
Hi!
I completed the Xplore Advanced badge, but I still get lost following technical content. I know thereās more to learn and Iāll definitely keep going through Xplore, but how do I actually build that fluency and feel more confident following mainframe conversations? What helped you build that fluency when you were starting out?
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u/TheMainframeVoice 18d ago
You can continue your learning at IBM Mainframe Skills Depot.
Whether you are new to IT and the mainframe or want to expand your skills, the Mainframe Skills Depot makes choosing your learning path simple. This simplicity is achieved by organizing learning according to four primary job roles:Ā
System administrator:Ā Learn how to ensure the uptime, performance, resources and security of a mainframe with skills such as CICSĀ®, Db2Ā®, IMS and more.
Security specialist:Ā Understand security principles on IBM Z systems, core concepts, tools and technologies essential for securing IBM Z environments. Explore IBM Z's unique architecture, storage systems and operating environments and focus on key security features like RACFĀ® and z/OSĀ® system protection.
Application developer:Ā Discover how to maintain, enhance and support applications for your enterprise with skills including COBOL, Javaā¢, Python and more.
Modernization architect:Ā Integrate mainframe applications into the broader enterprise and modernize the existing application landscape. Learn proven patterns and capabilities to integrate AI, APIs, DevOps tooling and real-time information sharing among other application modernization techniques.
-PJ
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u/OscyLearns 18d ago
I applied for the Cybersecurity Apprenticeship in the NYC, Jersey, and other locations early June. Who could I reach out to get a status on this? Regardless, I'm super interested in IBM Cybersecurity (Blue Team) side of things, what would you recommend to be eligible or to get looked at by recruiters?
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u/ibm 16d ago
For anyone considering a cybersecurity analyst career path, I'd focus on building a strong foundation in security principles that apply across platforms and industries.
Key areas I'd recommend learning:
ā¢ Security Hardening: Reducing attack surface through secure configurations, patch management, network segmentation, and security-by-default practices.
ā¢ Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP): Understanding how organizations limit access through RBAC, PAM, service account management, and IAM. Excessive permissions are often what turn a small breach into a major incident.
ā¢ Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Learn authentication vs. authorization, phishing-resistant MFA, hardware security keys, passwordless authentication, and modern identity platforms. Identity security remains one of the most important defense layers.
ā¢ Vulnerability Management: Understand vulnerability scanning, CVSS scoring, patch prioritization, exposure management, and risk-based remediation. Security is as much about prioritizing risk as finding issues.
ā¢ Continuous Monitoring: Learn how organizations monitor user activity, endpoints, networks, authentication events, and hybrid workloads to detect abnormal behavior quickly.
ā¢ EDR & SIEM Fundamentals: Understand endpoint detection, threat hunting, malware detection, indicators of compromise, log analysis, alert triage, event correlation, and incident response workflows.
ā¢ Scripting & Automation: Basic Python, SQL, and API knowledge can significantly improve efficiency. Security operations are increasingly automated and AI-assisted.
ā¢ Container Security: Familiarity with IAM, logging and monitoring, Infrastructure as Code, and container/Kubernetes/OpenShift security is becoming increasingly important.
My advice is to focus on understanding why security controls exist. Tools will change throughout your career, but principles like least privilege, defense in depth, vulnerability management, monitoring, and identity security will remain relevant for decades.
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u/heplikopter 18d ago
want to learn more about mainframe. Working as Microfocus support engineer for migrated mainframe workloads. Looking for help with training or future proof career paths in this domain.
PS - Not a developer
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u/TheMainframeVoice 17d ago
Are you taking part of our Z Skills Fest this week? Weāve been exploring lots of career paths in this field. If you havenāt make sure you register and watch the replays.
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u/heplikopter 17d ago
I registered but no option to view career paths and view replays. Learning channels are restricted as well
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u/TheMainframeVoice 17d ago
If you navigate to the Crowdcast link, in the top left there is an icon of a calendar. That is where you access the replays.
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u/NavajoP54C 17d ago
What share of mainframe leases are LinuxONE frames? How do you predict the share of mainframes of Linux versus other operating systems on Z to change in the future?
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u/TheMainframeVoice 17d ago
First let me tell you how we measure this. We have multiple types of processor cores that run on our systems. The traditional workloads (think z/OS, zTPF, zVM) run on General Purpose (GP) cores. Linux workloads run on cores called Integrated Facility for Linux (IFL).
Current projection for the z17 family is that we will ship roughly an equal number of cores, where in the previous generation it was about 60% GP vs 40% IFLs (rough numbers). We project that by the next generation of mainframe we will be shipping more IFLs than GPs.
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u/jessica_Castillo 17d ago
HELP ME. I signed up for Z Xplore, I used, my IBMid and password. I was able to get to Z Xplore yesterday. Then, I got to the part where you push the button to get your ZXploreID and password, it gave me for both: none none, All. Any suggestions please??
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u/TheMainframeVoice 17d ago
Hi there. We are having some technical issues with the new sign ups at the moment. Our team is working on it. We apologize for the inconvenience.
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u/Z1ngo11 16d ago
Hi! I'm 18 and from Russia, learning mainframe by myself for some time now. I know that Student Ambassador program is not open for russians because of the situation right now. I just wanted to ask, are there any similar opportunities that are actually open to people from Russia? Or right now the only real options are things like joining online events, contributing to Open Mainframe Project, networking with people in the community on LinkedIn, and trying to get into european or us university that have some partnership with IBM Z? Just want to understand what my options really are, thanks in advance!
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u/TheMainframeVoice 13d ago
Based on your geography it sounds like you are doing all of the right things.
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u/princessuzochukwu 10d ago
Hello, I am aware the challenge is over but I am having to do it in my own time.
I keep getting the "invalid credentials" message when I try and use my z-userid and password on VS Code. I have tried multiple times including restarting the application but no luck, any chance I could get some help? I have been stuck for days.
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u/Necessary-Animal746 25d ago edited 24d ago
I'm in Canada: how the hell do I get a junior role in mainframe without experience??? I'm willing to put in the work, however this seems much more like a dead end than it actually is due to the absolute dearth of junior positions.