20 March 2019
Mainframe Trainee Program taking a vital industry into the future
A collaboration between the University of Canberra and Column 72, the Mainframe Trainee Program is creating a new generation of mainframe experts for the platform crucial to the world’s transactions, and rejuvenating the whole industry.
“Fresh blood and new ideas are always beneficial to any organisation, and are crucial to driving the industry,” said Scott Thomson, Senior Director Data Centre Services at the Northern Territory Government’s Department of Corporate & Information Services (DCIS).
DCIS is one of the partner employers of the Mainframe Trainee Program, which sees successful trainees graduate with a Bachelor of Information and Mainframe Technology.
The three-year program helps trainees to learn both the technical and programming aspects of IBM Z®, the world’s most advanced and entrenched mainframe platform system.
In recognition of the initiative, Column 72 directors Paul Matthews and Dr Murray Woods were recently named on the IBM Champions 2019 list, joining an exclusive list of only 40 IBM Champions for Z globally.
Because of mainframes’ speed, security capabilities and ability to scale, everyday transactions around the world, from government to the banking industry happen seamlessly.
“I’d say about 95% of the world’s transactions go through a mainframe,” Mr Thomson said.
In spite of this, a vacuum has opened up in the industry, as IT professionals skilled in working with mainframes becoming part of an ageing population.
“Mainframes have been around for over 50 years, and they’re only going to be increasingly used,” Mr Thomson said. “So it is vital that we grow our specialised mainframe skills resources, especially internally.”
The paid program embeds trainees in workplaces from the very start. They learn about the platform and technology, and integrate with company philosophy and core values as well.
“We are better able to build relationships with them – the work force in our industry is very mobile nowadays, so this is particularly important in terms of retention,” Mr Thomson said.
Wazid Ali Khan Pathan is an MTP trainee systems programmer and mainframer with DCIS, and he’s finding the experience invaluable.
“I get to work with experts in so many areas, which gives me a great overview of the big picture and allows me to develop multiple skills,” he said.
For fellow trainee and colleague Elina Woolley, the program has helped to build her confidence in an industry still dominated by men – and allowed her to tap into a niche in a highly specialised area.
“The more I’ve learned about mainframes, the more I have realised how relevant they are to our everyday lives,” she said. “If mainframes stopped working, the world as we know it would also cease to function.”
The industry is constantly evolving, Mr Pathan says. IBM has consistently worked on compatibility, pervasive encryption, cloud computing and data analytics, among others.
Click here for more information on the University of Canberra and Column 72 Mainframe Trainee Program.
Contact the University of Canberra media team:
Suzanne Lazaroo
0409 140 415
Suzanne.Lazaroo@canberra.edu.au
Canberra Uni's mainframe scholarships off to a crunchy start
Founders inducted as IBM Z champions.
“If mainframes stopped working, the world as we know it would also cease to function.”
That’s the takeaway from Elina Woolley, a trainee at the University of Canberra’s tuition-free course delivering mainframe skills to the next generation of aspiring computer professionals.
The three-year program, delivered with education partner Column 72, exposes trainees to the technical and programming aspects of IBM Z (nee zSeries, nee System 360).
When the revival of the Mainframe Trainee Program (MTP) was announced in July last year, federal government agencies and banks breathed big sighs of relief at the prospect of a bigger talent pool to keep the machines that refuse to die running.
Although students only began the MTP in December, Column 72 directors Paul Matthews and Murray Woods were recognised for the initiative by being named on the IBM Champions 2019 list, a select group of 40 international promoters of IBM Z.
One of the employers working with students undertaking the program is the Northern Territory’s Department of Corporate and Information Systems (DCIS).
Senior director of Data Centre Services, Scott Thomson, said MTP is crucial to bringing “fresh blood and new ideas” into the field, which are “always beneficial to any organisation, and are crucial to driving the industry”.
“Mainframes have been around for over 50 years, and they’re only going to be increasingly used.”
That’s backed up by IBM’s earnings reports, where it was revealed mainframe sales doubled in the quarter to July last year, part of a continued upward trend.
“So it is vital that we grow our specialised mainframe skills resources, especially internally,” Thomson said.
“We are better able to build relationships with them – the work force in our industry is very mobile nowadays, so this is particularly important in terms of retention.”
Aiding retention is the promise of a job with an “attractive” salary to MTP members once they graduate with a Bachelor of Information and Mainframe Technology.
Woolley added that that the more she’s learnt about mainframes, the more she realised they underpin vital aspects of everyday life.
For instance, some of the federal government’s biggest IBM mainframe users include Centrelink, Medicare, Home Affairs, Defence and the Australian Taxation Office which often need to obtain security clearances for computing staff working on their systems.
Outside of the public sector, banks like Westpac have stuck with IBM through various ups and downs over the year.
When the revived MTP was announced in July, it was understood Human Services and Westpac would be two of the initial destinations for the mainframe grads.
UC-Column 72 program taking a vital industry into the future
Suzanne Lazaroo
21 March 2019: A collaboration between the University of Canberra and Column 72, the Mainframe Trainee Program is creating a new generation of mainframe experts, while also rejuvenating the entire industry.
“Fresh blood and new ideas are always beneficial to any organisation, and are crucial to driving the industry,” said Scott Thomson, Senior Director Data Centre Services at the Northern Territory Government’s Department of Corporate & Information Services (DCIS).
DCIS is one of the partner employers of the Mainframe Trainee Program, which sees successful trainees graduate with a Bachelor of Information and Mainframe Technology.
The three-year program helps trainees to learn both the technical and programming aspects of IBM Z ® the world’s most advanced and entrenched mainframe platform system.
Directors of the innovative program, Paul Matthews and Dr Murray Woods from Column 72 were recently named on the IBM Champions 2019 list, in recognition of the initiative, joining an exclusive list of only 40 IBM Champions for Z globally.
Elina Woolley, Scott Thomson and Wazid Ali Khan Pathan, at the DCIS office. Photo: supplied
It’s these invisible systems that keep the transactional world, as we know it, moving. Because of mainframes’ speed, security capabilities and ability to scale, everyday transactions around the world, from government to the banking industry happen seamlessly.
“I’d say about 95% of the world’s transactions go through a mainframe,” Mr Thomson said.
In spite of this, a vacuum has opened up in the industry. IT professionals skilled in working with mainframes have become part of an ageing population, with few successors ready to carry on the work. Until now.
“There has been a lack of universities supporting such mainframe programs, because they’re seen as dinosaurs. That couldn’t be further from the truth – mainframes have been around for about 50 years now, and they’re only going to be increasingly used,” Mr Thomson said.
“So it is vital that we grow our specialised mainframe skills resources, especially internally,” Thomson said.
The paid program embeds trainees in workplaces from the very start, a win-win arrangement for both employers and trainees.
Mr Thomson interviewed all the applicants himself. “We were able to select those that shared the values of the company, and get them onboard before they were really far into the program,” he said.
“This way, the trainees are supported and mentored from the start, throughout their journey.”
They are able to learn about not just the platform and technology, but integrate with company philosophy and core values as well.
“And we are better able to build relationships with them – the work force in our industry is very mobile nowadays, so this is particularly important in terms of retention,” Mr Thomson said.
Wazid Ali Khan Pathan is an MTP trainee systems programmer and mainframer with DCIS.
At 34, he’s the youngest in his department, and is finding the opportunity to learn from senior professionals to be quite invaluable. “When I first joined the company, the senior programmer mentioned that there was over 100 years of experience around the table,” he said.
“I get to work with experts in so many areas, which gives me a great overview of the big picture and allow me to develop multiple skills.”
For fellow trainee and colleague Elina Woolley, the program has helped to build her confidence in an industry still dominated by men – and allowed her to tap into a niche in this highly specialised area.
“The more I’ve learned about mainframes, the more I have realised how relevant they are to our everyday lives,” she said.
“It’s constantly surprising to me that there are people who think they’re not going to be around much longer. If mainframes stopped working, the world as we know it would also cease to function,” she said.
At the same time, the industry is constantly evolving, says Mr Pathan. IBM has consistently worked on compatibility, pervasive encryption, cloud computing and data analytics, among others.
Mainframes aren’t just our present. They’re also our future.
Click here for more information on the University of Canberra and Column 72 Mainframe Trainee Program.
