Reg Harbeck
Contributor
Reg Harbeck is a mainframe enthusiast who has been working in IT and mainframes for over three decades. During that time, he has worked with operating systems, networks, computing security, middleware, applications and platforms ranging from Apple II Plus and MS-DOS PCs to leading edge IBM Z Mainframes. Reg has written, presented and consulted on mainframe-related matters around the world, visiting every continent but Antarctica (so far…), and is very involved in the mainframe culture and ecosystem, especially including SHARE and numerous articles and podcasts about the mainframe (such as zTalk). Reg is the chief strategist at Mainframe Analytics ltd.
A note from Reg:
“Two of my favorite things to do are reading and being with my kids—so I especially love reading to them. I read the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy among many other things to my two oldest kids as they grew up, and I now have a grandson and son who are both under five years old, to whom I can start reading more and more complex literature as they grow up. That truly makes me happy.”
Ray Mullins on Assembler, COBOL and PL/1
October 1, 2019
Reg Harbeck: Hi, this is Reg Harbeck and today I'm here with Ray Mullins who is a friend of mine and fellow mainframer who I've known from SHARE and various other parts of the mainframe ecosystem for quite some time. It turns out we have a lot of common interests, including languages and of course […]
Podcasts‘Captain COBOL’ Tom Ross on the Evolution of COBOL on Z
September 3, 2019
Reg Harbeck: Hi, this is Reg Harbeck and today I'm here with Tom Ross whose nickname is Captain COBOL and he has been working at IBM on COBOL since the early 1980s. Well Tom before I describe you to the world, why don’t you tell us, how did you end up working at IBM on […]
ArticlesLuisa Martinez on zNextGen and SHARE
August 1, 2019
Reg Harbeck: Hi, this is Reg Harbeck and today I'm here with Luisa Martinez who is the IBM rep to the zNextGen project at SHARE. Luisa, maybe if you can start by just telling us, how did you end up on the mainframe? Luisa Martinez: All right. Well thank you for having me and […]
ArticlesMisty Decker on Communicating the IBM Z Story
July 1, 2019
Reg Harbeck: Hi, I'm Reg Harbeck and today I'm here with Misty Decker. Misty is in charge of the IBM Academic Initiative, which is really key to the future of the mainframe. Misty, welcome. Can you tell us, how did you end up on the mainframe? Misty Decker: It was an accident. I went to college; […]
ArticlesCOBOL Turns 60
May 1, 2019
On April 8, 1959, a team led by Grace Hopper met for the first time to begin developing the specifications for the COBOL programming language. A day short of five years later, on April 7, 1964, the computer platform that would come to be most closely associated with this great programming language was announced: the […]
ArticlesBarry Merrill on SAS, MXG and His Button Collection
May 1, 2019
Reg Harbeck: Hi. This is Reg Harbeck and I’m here with Barry Merrill who is somebody who has worked with all kinds of interesting data on the mainframe. Barry, maybe you could start by telling us, how did you end up on the mainframe? Barry Merrill: Well what happened was, my brief career started actually […]
ArticlesTom Harper on Why Mainframe Careers Are Dynamic
May 1, 2019
Reg Harbeck: Hi. I'm Reg Harbeck and today I'm here with Tom Harper who is somebody I consider to be mainframe royalty because he and his family have just had such an amazing deep long involvement with mainframe. His daughter Kristine is one of the cofounders of zNextGen and she is also married to the […]
ArticlesMartin Packer on His Mainframe Performance Journey
April 1, 2019
Reg Harbeck: Hi, this is Reg Harbeck and I’m here today with Martin Packer who is a mainframer based in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and among many other things works on performance, works with Marna Walle in a mainframe performance podcast and has been quite active in mainframe in a lot of different ways. Well […]
ArticlesJim Erdahl on Connecting at SHARE
March 1, 2019
Reg Harbeck: My name is Reg Harbeck and I'm here today with Jim Erdahl who is a person who has been very involved with the mainframe and with SHARE, and in fact somebody that I've known for a number of years and worked with at SHARE. Jim, tell us about yourself. How did you end […]
ArticlesMartha McConaghy on SHARE and Women in Technology
February 1, 2019
Reg Harbeck: Hi, this is Reg Harbeck and I'm here today with Martha McConaghy who is a vice president at SHARE and has been a very active mainframer for quite some time and is involved in some really new exciting initiatives as well. Martha, welcome. Maybe if you can tell us, how did you end […]