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.”
Laticia Carrow on Community and Completing the Master the Mainframe Contest
February 3, 2020
Reg Harbeck: Hi this is Reg Harbeck and today I’m here with Laticia Carrow who is a brand new mainframer who has basically had an amazing journey getting to the mainframe, doing the Master the Mainframe, doing an apprenticeship. Well before I tell you all about her, Laticia tell us about yourself. How did you […]
ArticlesMarlaina Chirdon on Assembler, IBM Z User Groups and zNextGen
January 2, 2020
Reg Harbeck: Hi, this is Reg Harbeck and I'm here today with my friend Marlaina Chirdon who is somebody I've known for quite a while which considering that she is still a relatively new mainframer but we've worked at the same employer. We've had a shared mentor but before I spend too much time introducing […]
PodcastsDusty Rivers on IMS, CICS, Db2 and IBM Z
December 5, 2019
Reg Harbeck: Hi, this is Reg Harbeck and today I'm here with Dusty Rivers, an experienced IBM mainframe expert, an IMS person who has been working all across the mainframe ecosystem especially in areas that has gotten enough attention that he has been able to be an IBM Champion for the past 10 years as […]
ArticlesMichelle Yeager and Hayley Owens on COBOL Programming
November 4, 2019
Reg Harbeck: I'm Reg Harbeck and today I'm here with Michelle Yeager and Hayley Owens. They are both new COBOL programmers whom I met at SHARE. So maybe let's start; Michelle if you could begin by telling us how did you end up working on the mainframe and being a COBOL programmer? Michelle Yeager: […]
ArticlesRay 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 […]