This month's issue of Cutter Benchmark Review presents another great example of what we truly aim to do here -- identify and tackle emerging issues of interest to you and, using fresh data and expert contributions, develop actionable guidelines to manage them. As with most focused issues of CBR, I am not a firsthand expert on the topic. Be that as it may, I do read the press and a variety of publications and typically am familiar with emerging trends. I can say, though, that until we contacted our expert contributors for this issue, I had not thought or heard much about what is shaping up as an impending crisis in the availability of mainframe skills -- and it seems that many of our respondents hadn't grasped the potential of this problem either.
In this issue, we tackle the following question: how are we doing with the acquisition and retention of mainframe skills in the face of the looming mass retirement of baby boomers? I think that for many of our readers, this subject will be extremely relevant, and I predict much dissemination within and across organizations of this issue. (Spread the gospel, but remember copyright restrictions!!) This month's CBR is particularly important because what we have on our hands may be shaping up as a big crisis that, to be successfully addressed, requires joint efforts from different communities that seldom interact. I am not going to use cheesy terms such as "a perfect storm," but what we can see is, on the one hand, dropping enrollments in computer science degrees and increasingly limited number of mainframe skills being developed in universities; while on the other hand, mainframes continue to run many of the large mission-critical software applications of modern organizations. On the "third hand" (or the underhand as the famous blues song goes) is the lack of awareness and planning for the impending mass retirement of the baby boomers who hold the great majority of mainframe skills and knowledge today.
Given the potential relevance and problems related to these trends, we thought that an issue on "what to do with mainframe skills in the year 2007" would be very welcomed. As always, we selected two of the foremost experts on the topic -- one academic and one practitioner -- and posed the question to them aided by the gathering of fresh survey data. Our academic contributor this month is Kate Kaiser, Associate Professor of Information Technology at Marquette University (USA). Kate is one of the foremost academic researchers and commentators on future IT skill needs and the impact of offshore outsourcing, doing both academic research and applied work on the topic. She is also very active within the Society for Information Management (SIM), and many of you may already know her. Providing our view from the field is Phil Zwieg, currently a principal with Z-Sharp, LLC, and recently retired VP of the IS department at Northwestern Mutual, where he was responsible for all infrastructure and IT operations activities. Phil has a wealth of firsthand experience, having been deep in the trenches his whole career, as well as an ability to research and communicate his knowledge stemming from his activity as a consultant and university professor.
Kate articulates her contribution around the survey, identifying the scope of the mainframe issue and the focus of mainframe applications; she then identifies the roots of the impending mainframe skills crisis -- I found this section extremely interesting and eye-opening. With the background set, Kate wastes no time diving into solutions and provides nine steps you can take immediately to begin preparing your organization.
In his contribution, Phil does a great job of reporting and commenting on the survey results, weaving them into his considerable personal experience and providing a number of creative ways to manage your organization's need for mainframe skills going forward. While many ideas and solutions are discussed throughout his piece, Phil brings together his insight in a final set of four broad guidelines that are a must-read for anyone running mainframe applications today.
It appears that, much to the chagrin of young hotshot computer science majors that want to code only Ajax, mainframe skills are here to stay. It follows that you must be cognizant and realistic about your current and future needs for mainframe skills and knowledge, evaluating the many available options to deal with this issue. Like the windsurfer going out at Ho'okipa Beach Park, with gusty inside winds, strong currents, and mast-high wave sets coming in, you need to launch as the biggest waves in the set are breaking on the reef -- knowing that you will get there when the pause between sets occurs and you will make it to the outside unscathed and ready to ride the big waves back in. The biggest mistake is to take a wait-and-see attitude, to wait for a moment of calm waters and then launch; by the time you get to the impact zone, the new set will be just beginning to break, and you'll be given the "washing machine treatment" by the Pacific Ocean.
It is scary to launch when the big waves are pummeling the reef and the noise is deafening, but with the help of local sailors, you can often navigate the toughest (and most fun!) breaks. I think that what comes out in this installment of CBR is deep knowledge of the problem and some tangible guidelines you can immediately put to use. We hope that with the help of our "locals," Kate and Phil, this issue will give you the knowledge to hit the impact zone of mainframe skills in the new millennium.
