TechChannel E-book: From Bootcamps to Digital Badges: How to Effectively Develop Mainframe Skills
July 12, 2021
As the existing mainframe workforce gradually ages out of the industry, effective mainframe training has become top of mind for the IBM Z ecosystem. But what strategies seem to work best, and where is there room for improvement? When it comes to mainframe training, there’s not going to be a “one size fits all” answer. […]
ArticlesHow to Use JSON in Your z/OS Program
July 7, 2021
First created in 2001, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) has become the preferred way of creating structured data. Not limited to JavaScript applications, JSON formats can be found in web requests and responses and NoSQL databases. So, it makes sense that we will want our traditional z/OS programming languages (COBOL, PL/I, Assembler, C and REXX) to […]
PodcastsDerek Britton on the Language and Application of COBOL
July 1, 2021
Reg Harbeck: Hi, this is Reg Harbeck and today I'm here with my colleague Derek Britton who is a very active member of the enterprise computing community and especially the COBOL community. Derek, maybe if I can get you to start by tell us how did you end up being such an aficionado of both COBOL […]
ArticlesMainframe Connectivity: What’s Missing?
June 21, 2021
We can, perhaps, all remember a time when a simple 3270 terminal emulator was all we needed to access the mainframe without needing a directly-connected terminal. And we were really pleased that we could work from anywhere using this simple solution to our communication problem. It worked and our expectations were not very high. Next, […]
PodcastsNicole Fagen on SHARE and Women in IT
June 1, 2021
New: Subscribe to TechChannel podcasts on Apple. Reg Harbeck: Hi, this is Reg Harbeck and today I’m here with my colleague and friend Nicole Fagen, who is really deeply involved in the whole mainframe ecosystem including SHARE and including Women in IT. Well Nicole, tell us. How did you end on the mainframe, at SHARE and all […]
How to Defend Your Mainframe From Various Hacking Techniques and Insider Threats
May 26, 2021
Many people think that their mainframe is totally secure. After all, why wouldn’t it be? For a start, they’re running an external security manager (ESM) that limits what people can do and what they can access. There’s the system authorization facility (SAF), a z/OS interface providing infrastructure-security administration tools that help prevent unauthorized access to […]
ArticlesNode.js on z/OS: How Real Is It?
May 24, 2021
Node.js is a popular environment to allow JavaScript to run outside of a browser. A 2020 Stack Overflow survey saw 50% vote Node.js as the most popular framework, library or tool. Anyone working with the open-source mainframe framework Zowe will be familiar with Node.js: it’s needed for both the Zowe server and Zowe CLI. But […]
E-BooksTechChannel E-book: How to Combat Remote Work Security Risks
May 10, 2021
How remote work has influenced data security trends, and what you can do to keep your data locked down
ArticlesTony Perri on Marketing Mainframe and How Technology Is Changing
May 3, 2021
New: Subscribe to TechChannel podcasts on Apple. Reg Harbeck: Hi, this is Reg Harbeck and today I’m here with my friend and colleague Tony Perri who is the founder and CEO of Perri Marketing. They work very closely with mainframe organizations to really get the word out and keep the conversation going in the whole mainframe ecosystem. […]
ArticlesHow to Simplify the Lives of Non-Mainframe Trained IT Employees
April 23, 2021
Many people think that using a mainframe is hard. They have a picture in their minds of green screens and arcane subsystems that are incredibly hard to get to grips with. The trouble is that so many of the people who work on mainframes have been doing so for 40 years. And that means they […]