IT Skills Shortage Could Play Out in Favor of Mainframes
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Which makes more sense: fighting for the experienced programmers and managers with deep experience in Windows, Linux, and Unix platforms, or building up a modest staff of mainframers to support a set of applications? The costs of experienced IT people on mainframes has, according to Vince Re, chief architect at software maker CA, has remained remarkably stable over a long period of time. This cannot be said of other platforms, where turnover is higher and compensation is forced upwards through competition. READ MORE >

Top Mainframe Stories from Around the Web

(ComputerWorld) Hierarchical storage management (HSM) has been a part of mainframe computing for years. Some say the concept of file virtualization will soon become mainstream. HSM manages data across multiple storage tiers by allowing administrators to set policies that control what data is stored, where it is stored, and how long it is stored there. READ MORE >

(Enterprise Systems) A lot of people seem surprised by the surge in mainframe sales growth--it just recorded its fifth consecutive quarter of increasing sales. Much of the credit has to do with security-related challenges overwhelming distributed systems, says one IBM insider, who just happens to be a Systems z security initiative leader at Big Blue. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Sirius Computer Solutions, IBM's largest solution provider in the United States, has acquired Strategic Computer Solutions, a major reseller in the Middle Atlantic and New England areas. Sirius, which is based in Texas and has the bulk of its business in the western U.S., gains a stronger presence in the northeast. READ MORE >

(ACI) Many financial institutions are experiencing a growing volume of electronic payments plus a host of regulatory changes that are putting pressure on their IT departments to modernize. One way to automate back office functions and take advantage of the mainframe's virtualization capabilities to lower operating costs involves the latest technology from ACI that can help systems become integrated, open, flexible, scalable, and secure. READ MORE >

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

See our full calendar of events at
http://www.itjungle.com/big/big-calendar.html

September 17-19 -- Las Vegas, Nevada - The Gartner Portals, Content & Collaboration Summit puts the focus on building, implementing, and managing portals; leveraging social networking for collaboration; and the challenges and pitfalls of enterprise content management projects. There will be 30 sessions within four separate tracks, peer networking, product demonstrations, and distinguished keynote speakers. LEARN MORE >

September 17-21 San Antonio, Texas - The IBM System z Conference and Expo presents sessions on topics such as virtualization, security, resiliency, workload management, and integration. More than 350 in-depth elective sessions will highlight IBM System z9 and zSeries and Systems Storage. The sessions are divided into the following focus areas: General Interest and Management, z/OS, z/VM, z/VSE and Linux. LEARN MORE >

October 8-11 -- Orlando, Florida - The IBM WebSphere Portal Technical Conference will feature the latest product upgrades and platform extensions for the popular middleware. Among the highlights will be an emphasis on faster deployment of composite applications, enhanced Web 2.0 support, simplified portal-based solutions, and increased integration with business processes. IBM product architects and developers, business partners, and customers will provide training, case studies, and best practices information. Certification testing will be available and a vendor expo will be included. LEARN MORE >

October 15-18 -- Dallas, Texas - More than 140 educational sessions, plus networking opportunities with IT managers, storage architects, and infrastructure professionals, and a vendor expo are combined at Storage Networking World, an event hosted by ComputerWorld. Guest speakers include Frank Abagnale, fraud and identity theft expert; James Onalfo, CIO of the New York City Police Department; Steve Fastook, Vice President of Technical and Commercial Operations at CNBC; Brian Cobb, Senior Vice President of Enterprise Systems Management at Fannie Mae, Parker Mabry, Senior Vice President and Manager of Network Systems Engineering at Morgan Keegan; and Joe Lacik, Senior Vice President, of Information Services at Aviall Services. LEARN MORE >

December 2-7 -- San Diego, California - The 33rd annual Computer Measurement Group conference, CMG2007, brings together data processing professionals interested in system evaluation to maximize performance measured in terms of response time, throughput, and through capacity management. Sessions are geared toward making enhancements to existing systems or designing new systems with the aim of providing adequate performance at a reasonable cost. The courses are divided into two groups. One group consists of platform agnostic sessions and provides attendees with basic knowledge that is independent of any specific hardware or operating system. The second group is platform specific specializing in operating systems such as z/OS, Windows, Unix and Linux. LEARN MORE >