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May 2010 - Posts

The invisible Mainframe?

Published: May 25 2010, 11:18 AM | no comments
by Marcel den Hartog

Is Mainframe overlooked in your organization because it's NOT a problem? Are you overlooked?  World renowned speaker Randall Munson shows you how to represent in, "It's Not a Dinosaur: Promoting the Mainframe Within Your Organization." Register FREE at ca.com/mmm

I am NOT a Marketer! I am a Mainframer!!

Well, as it happens, I am a Marketer AND a Mainframer.  And in the past years, I have spoken and presented to many people about the problem of the "Invisible Mainframe" and what they should/could do about it. And a lot of this has to do with internal PR. But I have also seen in many organizations that the Mainframe suffers from the problem that it's not visible enough... In certain places... Especially in places where invoices are approved.  So often, from the procurement people or the CIO's I hear that the "Expensive Mainframe" is something he/she "is working on"... because surely, whatever runs on that Mainframe can run on cheaper boxes!!!

This Mainframe myth is probably as hard to kill as the myth that there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. But it's just as wrong! To solve a problem, it's very important to realize how it this myth started in the first place. In the beginning, many analysts started writing about how powerful Intel based computers were and how cheap they could run an application.

This soon lead to them saying that it was 10 times cheaper to run the same application on a distributed system than it was running it on a Mainframe. One thing lead to another and before we realized it, people "knew" that a Mainframe was expensive, slow, old fashioned and it would soon be replaced by a few dozen servers. Giving us flexibility, better responsiveness and very sexy applications.

But how many of us ever went back and said: "Hey, we are 5 years up the road now, am I really running things cheaper than before?" IT People often don't like to look back. Ok, so maybe we did need not a few dozen, but a few thousand servers. And due to the complexity, this quick VB program that delivered us the sexy application in two months, soon changed into an application that took weeks/months to implement important changes.

And in the meantime, Mainframers did what they do best. Keep a system running, and moan about "these guys who were reinventing the wheel again and again, we did THAT 20 years ago already!!!" Admit it, we ALL did/do it. But the time has come to stand up and DO something. Show value. Ignore people who think they simply know better just because they are "distributed".. Forget the clan-wars.. Your company is fighting to stay competitive and only an efficient use of all IT components can deliver that. Mainframe as well as distributed. Can you become a Mainframe marketer? Maybe.

And for some really good lessons, register for CA's May Mainframe Madness (www.ca.com/mainframe/may) and listen to Randall Munson for some solid advice.. I know that even I can still learn something...
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By: Marcel den Hartog
Marcel den Hartog is Principal Product Marketing EMEA for CA Technologies Mainframe solutions. In this role, he is a frequent speaker on both internal (customer) and external events where he talks about CA Technologies mainframe strategy, vision and market trends. Marcel joined CA Technologies in...
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Maybe I am naive?

Published: May 25 2010, 11:12 AM | no comments
by Marcel den Hartog

zLinux & Change Management

Consider an ideal environment. Development, Acceptation, QA and Production stages. I know, only four... We mainframers like even more. It's pretty much under control, we take it for granted, our company takes it for granted, and all is well..

Well, is it? I visited a number of large companies lately, really large companies. And I asked them about their most important concerns. No surprise, issues caused by a failing Change Management regime are quite high on the list (the world doesn't really change THAT much!!). But these do not occur on the mainframe, but in the distributed environment. And for a simple reason: nobody has 12,000 identical servers running identical OS versions that are patched identically. So creating an application (or just installing one), moving it from Development/Test to QA to Production, something will suffer and more importantly, you are never 100% sure that things will behave as expected/planned. There are no guarantees that OS, motherboard, network card, and patches are the same across these different environments. One of the ways to overcome this is to run everything as a VMware session (hardware independent), but this is not often done, and probably for good reasons.

When I started talking about reducing this problem (not solving, but reducing), I always found a willing audience. So I asked them why they would not consider moving part of the workload to zLinux.. Because most companies use simple cloning to create Linux instances on the mainframe, there are no differences in the hard- or software (OS) environment therefore eliminating most of the problems they currently experience on their distributed systems.  In one occasion, their Service manager could even tell me that this would probably take care of something like 17% of his Service Desk issues!!

Like I said, I am not trying to resolve the complete problem. But just moving "infrastructure" like services like file- and print servers, database servers and Web servers to a Linux running on the Mainframe can get you to an almost "Internal Cloud like" service for these functions. Guaranteeing rapid fulfillment of requests, and an almost watertight Change Management System. Not just because it RUNS on a mainframe, but also because often it will be run BY mainframers...

Do you have the same experience as I do and do you think doing this can solve one of the many problems we have? Let me know.....

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By: Marcel den Hartog
Marcel den Hartog is Principal Product Marketing EMEA for CA Technologies Mainframe solutions. In this role, he is a frequent speaker on both internal (customer) and external events where he talks about CA Technologies mainframe strategy, vision and market trends. Marcel joined CA Technologies in...
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Hello CA World!

Published: May 18 2010, 09:04 AM | 2 Comment(s)
by Reg Harbeck

Greetings from CA World in Las Vegas! Over the past few months, I have been among many people at CA sprinting to the finish line to get everything ready for our great sesquiannual user conference, and now it's here!

To make matters even more interesting, we are concurrently running May Mainframe Madness, and even simulcasting some of our CA World sessions there.

So, for example, when Dayton Semerjian, head of CA's Mainframe Business Unit, gave yesterday's mainframe keynote (along with excellent support from Scott Fagen, our chief mainframe architect), it was simulcasted on http://ca.com/mmm (I encourage you to go there and register for free to see).

Another great session yesterday was about showing the value of the mainframe to your organization, by Randall Munson, world-class speaker and the first person to receive a Distinguished Speaker award from SHARE. And, having recorded it, we are planning to rebroadcast it on MMM towards the end of the month in the virtual auditorium.

As an extra bonus, many of the presentations that show in the virtual auditorium become available for replay on demand, in case you missed them. (Just scroll to the bottom of the session agenda in the auditorium to see them.)

Back to CA World, we've had some great keynotes from CA CEO Bill McCracken, head of development Dr. Ajei Gopal, and director James Cameron.

Later this morning (Las Vegas time), I'll be hosting a live chat in the MMM Networking Lounge on the topic of new mainframers; it's scheduled for 10:30am PDT/1:30pm EDT.

And tomorrow at 1:15pm PDT (4:15pm EDT), we'll be simulcasting a panel discussion with three new CA mainframers about why they chose the mainframe and CA for their careers.

I hope you'll be there, either in person (room Islander G) or on MMM!

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By: Reg Harbeck
Reg Harbeck is CA's Product Management Director for Mainframe Strategy. In the more than two decades since he received his Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science he has worked with operating systems, networks, security and applications on mainframes, UNIX, Linux, Windows and other platforms. Reg...
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Mars Attacks! Is your organization prepared for the worst: an attack on your systems?

Published: May 06 2010, 09:08 AM | no comments
by Marcel den Hartog

A simulated cyber-attack on your type of financial institution just occurred! Hear FS-ISAC's Bill Nelson report on their cyber attack drill and the results at May Mainframe Madness.  Register FREE at ca.com/mmm

So you thought you were safe?

Have you ever experienced something like this: You have developed a system or application, tested it, and it runs fine. Stable and safe. Then suddenly a new colleague or employee comes in who uses your system and does something you never thought of. I've experienced it, and still remember thinking: "What on earth just happened?" He or she just did the unthinkable, or better said, did something you never envisioned a sane person would ever do...

Creating a full-proof (or fool-proof) system is impossible with today's complex & connected systems. I remember hacking my first system by entering an SQL code on a web-form instead of my name and getting access to the SQL-Server database it was running on. I reported it and all the person in question could say was: "But you were supposed to type your name there. Why would you enter something that complex?". Well, because I COULD... IT Staff, like any other human being,  is often ignorant. WE would not do that, so why would anybody else?

Many of today's hackers are not nice people. They are criminals, just like bank robbers and the people who steal handbags from old ladies. And the smart IT savvy criminals will sell their skills to the highest bidder; it's as simple as that. Just like the first guy who knew how to use a thermo lance to break into a vault was for hire by anybody with cash, a hacker with criminal intend will soon be known in that world. And believe me, these guys are good!! They will use methods you cannot even dream off, and probably some you dreamt about and want to forget.

The things you do in normal life (lock your doors, don't go into dark alleys, keep your wallet in your breast pocket instead of in the back of your pants), you do because you not only heard that these are the right thing to do, but also because you CAN actually think like a criminal. Now let's go back to IT. How many of the systems you built have a built in safety net in them? Have you ever even thought about doing that? We can all use some smart advice, and we can all use someone telling us to NOT leave a ladder outside the house that Can help a burglar to get in easier...

On May 10th, we have someone like that for you. During CA's May Mainframe Madness, FS-ISIC's Bill Nelson will explain a cyber attack and the results. You'll definitely learn something new. Register now at www.ca.com/mainframe/may and get the most of the experience of a real expert.
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By: Marcel den Hartog
Marcel den Hartog is Principal Product Marketing EMEA for CA Technologies Mainframe solutions. In this role, he is a frequent speaker on both internal (customer) and external events where he talks about CA Technologies mainframe strategy, vision and market trends. Marcel joined CA Technologies in...
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People Managing IT - GenerationX Part 3

Published: May 03 2010, 09:47 AM | no comments
by Marcel den Hartog

A while ago, I had a long chat with my 18 year old son. And as a result I wrote two blogs on "GenerationX". And I am not done yet....

Last week, I was in a large bank, presenting about Mainframe. And I heard the same story I've heard from many of you. "Management wanted to get rid of the Mainframe, but at the moment, we are reconsidering because we've come to realize...." You fill in the reasons.... Good things were happening: zLinux, opening up to the Distributed world, etc. But when I changed to the staffing issue, the discussion changed. "Nobody wants to work on the Mainframe, we can't get young people interested etc." And again, I sensed that "tone"...  Let me explain...

There are two reasons for the IBM Mainframe being the reliable platform it is, the hardware and the people managing it. We know that managing a Mainframe is tedious, needs policies & procedures and so needs serious people who can and are willing to work in this way. These characteristics mean that "Mainframers" errm... are sometimes more introvert people than average...  For most of us, when we are amongst each other, we have fun, make jokes, chat and discuss. But when we are in the company of people from  the management or e.g. people managing the distributed environments many of us often switch to "defense mode", become quiet and you can almost see the "we have done/solved/invented that 20 years ago...." expression.

Now look at young kids... Even BETA folks (like my son) are socially more interactive than we were at that age. Not face-to-face, but over the Internet, gaming, chatting and teaming up for Real Time Strategy, figuring out a strategy with 4 complete strangers to beat 5 other strangers. To make these people interested in managing probably the most powerful computer system ever, not only the hardware needs to change, but the way we teach them and approach them needs to change as well.

We have a wider generation gap than any other profession, in many cases, the youngest Mainframer is 45. And this causes the communication problems I just described.  In many other professions, the mix of ages is much more spread! And for good reasons! The best teams are often a good combination of experienced and inexperienced, eager and serious, young and old. I hear many "old" mainframers complain that even though everybody is complaining about the "grey" issue, they can't find a job. As hard as it sounds, Mainframe customers want to SOLVE the problem (by bringing in young people) instead of DELAYING the problem (hiring experienced Mainframers aged 50 and above). I realize this may sound harsh, and to those without a job, it must feel devastating.

But I am convinced that many HR managers will soon realize that they will still need experienced Mainframers, if only because the problems are simply getting too big. But we also need to sell ourselves differently. We HAVE something, young people (here and in India) do not have. It's called "experience".

So, with new products and solutions (have a look at what CA will be presenting at http://bit.ly/dCZ2X5) AND the experience of the current generation of Mainframers, I am sure we can keep the most powerful computer ever built running for the next decades.

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By: Marcel den Hartog
Marcel den Hartog is Principal Product Marketing EMEA for CA Technologies Mainframe solutions. In this role, he is a frequent speaker on both internal (customer) and external events where he talks about CA Technologies mainframe strategy, vision and market trends. Marcel joined CA Technologies in...
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