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Ask HN: How to get started on IBM z/OS in 2023?

4 points by hestefisk ↗ HN
Hi all. I’m a long time HN reader. Today I work in consulting (mainly enterprise architecture). I am quite interested in the meeting world of IBM mainframes / z Series and how they work, especially in the banking sector. Have any of you successfully changed careers into a being a mainframe architect at a more “mature” stage (I’m 38)?

Whilst I like my job, I’m curious about the platform and I’m wondering if it could be an avenue for sustainable, secure and well paid employment (I could be wrong).

2 comments

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kohlschuetter
I've recently looked again into the strange world of IBM operating systems (z/OS, IBM i, AIX), primarily because they all run Java, and my open source library junixsocket (https://github.com/kohlschutter/junixsocket) needed a corresponding JNI (C code) implementation on these platforms for the native part of supporting UNIX domain sockets in Java. Of these IBM OSes, I found that z/OS was the weirdest one.

Since you're an enterprise consultant already, you probably already know that there's always an opportunity to cut down expenses/technical debt, while providing justification for past decisions made by the company (after all, they've probably invested quite a lot in that infrastructure, so these decisions couldn't have been wrong...)

Depending on how deep down the rabbit hole you dare to go, there may be a pot of gold waiting for you or a black hole that sucks the livelihood out of your body. After all, it's mostly a legacy system. Don't expect entirely new systems being written for those niche operating systems. But maybe you find your very own niche in there.

I know a company that I worked with in the past has their main business powered by IBM mainframes, and they may well keep that system going for the foreseeable future. A lot of code may already be running on zSystems Linux or be converted to run on it. At that point, you largely only have a different processor architecture to deal with, and some minor, yet annoying incompatibilities and restrictions that you will encounter soon enough.

A good starting point to learn about IBM z may be "IBM Z Xplore" (https://ibmzxplore.influitive.com/), which gives, apart from an online tutorial with challenges, some free access to IBM z systems. Also check out IBM ZD&T for Learners Edition (https://ibm.github.io/zdt-learners-edition-about/).

Don't expect that IBM responds to any of your inquiries unless you already are a paying customer.

brudgers
Not meant as snarky.

I Googled "IBM zOS certificiation" because I figured that IBM offers training and because getting certification is antithetical to HN's zeitgeist.

I got this, https://www.ibm.com/training/certification/C0005400 so though this might not be what you want, it is a breadcrumb.

Good luck.