Technical sessions ranged from retrospectives of the 50-year history of the mainframe, updates in the world of DevOps, Data privacy, z/OS, cracking the glass ceiling and beyond. The expertise on display was broad, diverse and served as both entertaining content, and a vital industry update.
Jubilant's Stand pre-conference
Jubilant's grand prize award ceremony
A highlight of the conference was the round table discussion featuring various employers from the mainframe industry, with representatives from RSM Partners, IBM, and more. The issue of the mainframe skills gap has been a hot topic for 2018. With many older, experienced, developers retiring- leaving a necessity for a new generation to fill their positions. The round table discussion, held in front of a group of young aspiring mainframe workers, gave advice, tips and context to aid those applying to work with legacy systems. The importance of practical hands-on experience through industry placements, and the option of apprenticeships to help train recruits fresh out of school, were great take aways. Overall the discussion pointed to the green-shoots present in the mainframe industry, that just as a generation retires, a new generation of developers are eager and ready to take their place.
Elsewhere a keynote speech from Denise Mortimer from Fearless Enterprises brought some fun and levity to the event. Her talk on small ways we can improve our lives through mindfulness was a big hit, and was great advice not just for those working in the mainframe sphere- but for everyone.
Overall, the most important message every attendee will have walked away with is that 2019 points to a bright future for the mainframe.
