The Open Mainframe

In today's episode, hosts Alan Shimel and John Mertic are joined by Zowe ZAC and TSC leaders Billie Jean Simmons (IBM), Jakub Balhar (Broadcom) and Leanid Astrakou (Rocket Software) to discuss the Open Mainframe Project Zowe and its recent release of LongTerm Support V3. It offers users the ability to execute on modernization initiatives with stability, security, interoperability, as well as easy...

Mentorship programs serve as a valuable tool in narrowing the technology talent gap by equipping individuals with the skills, knowledge, and support needed to thrive in technology careers. They foster a culture of learning, collaboration and professional development that benefits both mentees and the industry as a whole. Since its launch, Open Mainframe Project's Mentorship Program has helped prov...

Amidst the rapid evolution and adoption of generative AI, highlighted by tools such as ChatGPT and advanced visual AI generators, the mainframe industry stands at a pivotal juncture, poised to harness AI to revolutionize its capabilities. As mainframe decision-makers face mounting pressures from the surge in demand for faster and more innovative digital services, AI offers promising solutions to e...

Mainframes still form the foundation of many critical industries today: Banking, finance, travel and government, to name just a few. There are billions of lines code currently running on mainframes that, in one way or another, need to be maintained or modernized as the pool of developers skilled in mainframe technology shrinks. But how can you foster a culture of learning and innovation and ensure...

The Open Mainframe Project’s Zowe is marking a major milestone next month: The fifth anniversary of its launch. Zowe is an integrated and extensible open source framework for z/OS that combines the past and present to build the future of mainframes. Zowe offers modern interfaces to interact with z/OS and allows you to work with z/OS in a way that is similar to what you experience on cloud platform...

Open Mainframe Summit aims to connect and inform all those interested in growing the use of mainframes and related technology in dynamic technical and educational sessions. It is open to students, developers, corporate leaders, users and contributors of projects from around the globe looking to learn, network and collaborate. It will feature content tracks that tackle both business and technical s...

What does it take to develop successful, scalable and sustainable open source project? John Mertic, executive directop ar of The Open Mainframe Project, Linux Foundation, joins as an author and guest rather than in his regular co-host role with Alan. John shares how his journey in open source led him to write his book, Open Source Projects - Beyond Code. In the book, John explores what it takes to...

The financial services industry has been a long-time consumer of open source software, using it to power innovation and deliver seamless, delightful customer experiences on the front end. Behind the scenes, the mainframe has been the traditional workhorse, providing the processing power necessary to handle workloads for the world’s largest banks and Fortune 500 organizations. As financial institut...

During the pandemic, there was an increase in contributors and momentum across almost all open source communities. But with that, challenges also increased including risks and vulnerabilities with third-party software, tools and processes. These challenges have many people asking the same question - can open source be secure? Hosts Alan Shimel and John Mertic are joined by panelists Kate Stewart (...

While you might think of the mainframe as a relic from an earlier computing era, these mega machines still play a role inside large institutions running intensive workloads. The Linux Foundation's Open Mainframe project currently has more than 20 projects and working groups, and over the last few years has successfully built many open source tools and technologies for Linux mainframes. The communi...

COBOL has a long and illustrious history; after all, not many other languages have been in use since 1959 and are still going strong! But far from being a relic, COBOL continues to evolve and is finally getting the credit it deserves. The Open Mainframe Project’s COBOL Working Group, which launched in 2020 as a response to increasing interest in COBOL (and misinformation about it), aims to promote...

What do AlmaLinux, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, Red Hat, Rocky Linux, SUSE and Ubuntu have in common? They are all Linux distributions, sure, but wait–there’s more! Now, thanks to Open Mainframe Project’s Linux Distributions Working Group, they all work closely together toward a common goal: To oversee the health and maintenance of the s390x port of various Linux distributions to ensure that the s390...

Last month at Open Mainframe Summit, Open Mainframe Project announced the availability of a z15 Mainframe system dedicated for training next-generation talent and developing new open software technologies to further strengthen the integration of mainframe and cloud. Donated by Broadcom Mainframe Software Division, the z15 will be available for use by all Open Mainframe Projects and the open source...

The term “modernization” is being used to mean different things causing confusion in the market. Some define “modernization” as moving away from mainframes and COBOL and others define “modernization” as updating existing systems in place. Modernization, especially application and process modernization, is absolutely essential to the future of the mainframe ecosystem. Open Mainframe Project wants t...

Diversity in the workplace is essential – even more so in the technology sector – but Workforce Management estimates that 68% of business leaders still report a lack of diversity in their tech workforce. An inclusive work environment offers opportunity for growth and achievement to a broader range of works. This is an important step towards creating more resilient communities and a more equitable...

On Sept. 21-22, Philadelphia will be overrun with mainframers from all walks of life – students, hobbyists, seasoned professionals, new engineers, developers and even educators. They’ll be meeting up at Convene (Commerce Square) for the first-ever in-person Open Mainframe Summit. This year, Open Mainframe Summit will highlight security as it relates to all aspects of mainframes and beyond. The eve...

“Let’s talk Zowe LTS V2!” Despite the massive migration to the cloud, development on mainframe systems continues to power many of today’s mission-critical systems. Zowe offers modern interfaces through which developers can interact with IBM z/OS in a way that is similar to what they’d experience on cloud platforms–from securely managing, controlling, scripting and developing on the mainframe. LTS....

Today, Alan Shimel and John Mertic are joined by Len Santalucia (Open Mainframe Project Governing Board Chair) and we will get an overview of Mentorship and speak with two mentee graduates Hartanto Ario Widjaya and Divya Goswami who are still involved with their projects.

To celebrate Women’s History Month, TechStrong TV and Open Mainframe Project are highlighting several powerful women who help lead the project. In fact, currently more than 35% of women hold leadership positions in Open Mainframe Project. These influential women are exceptional at their job and lead their teams, projects and communities firmly and with grace. Do they feel as though they’ve hit a g...

Open Mainframe Project’s Zowe is an integrated and extensible open source framework for z/OS. Zowe offers modern interfaces to interact with z/OS and allows you to work with z/OS in a way that is similar to what you experience on cloud platforms today. In fact, Zowe recently won the “Best DevOps for Mainframe Solution” category in the DevOps Dozen awards. In this episode, Alan Shimel and John Mert...

With more than 20 projects and working groups, the Open Mainframe Project, has a track record of being the focal point for mainframe and IT innovation for a more flexible, scalable and secure enterprise solution. In today’s panel discussion, Alan Shimel and John Mertic to discuss 2022 predictions with leaders for three of Open Mainframe’s most mature and popular projects, Kip Twitchell (IBM), Pete...

Continuous delivery is about reducing the risk and transaction cost of taking changes from version control to production. To achieve this, developers need to implement a series of patterns and practices to create fast feedback loops and work in small batches. This leads to more stable and higher-quality products and services at lower costs. In this panel, John Mertic and Alan Shimmel will discuss...

Joining hosts John Mertic and Alan Shimel for this segment will be Alan Clark, CTO of Emerging Technologies at SUSE, and Coreen Wilson, Product Marketing Lead for Z Systems at Rocket Software, to discuss why they are Platinum sponsors of the event, what sessions they’re excited for and what they hope to achieve.

Why did we stop teaching mainframe skills? In this session, hosts Alan Shimel and John Mertic discuss mainframe education with Dr. Cameron Seay, Professor at East Carolina University, Lauren Valenti, Head of Mainframe Education and Customer Engagement at  Broadcom , and Tye Glenz, 2021 Open Mainframe Project Mainframe Open Education Mentee. We’ll learn more about why mainframe skills are important...

Join our hosts Alan Shimel and John Mertic (Linux Foundation), for a roundtable discussion about the importance of  Zowe , its Conformance Program and what the future looks like for the project. Speakers include Zowe community and Conformance Program members: Alex Kim, Vicom Infinity – Rose Sakach, Broadcom – Ulf Heinrich, Software Engineering – Ed Jaffe, Phoenix Software.