SHARE Member Benefits

Education and Training

SHARE is renowned for its technical conferences that deliver expertise, hands on instruction, new product information, access to developers, and more user experiences than any other training event in its class.

We host two major conferences annually, collectively drawing more than 4,500 participants. Each technical conference provides more than 700 hours of leading-edge technical education. Our wide range of programming makes SHARE events worthwhile for a variety of professional technical disciplines including: System Administrators, Programmers, Application Developers, IT Managers, Database Administrators, System Architects, IT Strategists and Project Managers.

Among the hot topics currently addressed in-depth at SHARE events today are:

• Applications development and deployment
• z/OS systems programming
• Database administration
• Linux implementation and administration
• Security
• Storage
• Enterprise network management
• Integration infrastructure development and implementation

Other Educational Resources

System z Certificate Program at Marist College

Affiliated with Marist College, of Poughkeepsie, NY, the Institute for Data Center Professionals (IDCP) provides a variety of credit-bearing and non-credit classes geared toward individuals currently working in data centers or looking to increase their knowledge of data center technology.

The System z On-Demand with Enterprise Systems certificate program was jointly developed by IDCP and IBM. The certificate program is a non-credit, three-year sequence of training modules resulting in three System z IDCP certificates: Associate, Professional, and Expert.

All courses offered through IDCP are Marist College computer science and information technology courses and are taught by Marist faculty. IDCP courses are 100% on-line and embrace an active learning model - much like you would find in a face-to-face course at your local college.

As a special offer, SHARE members are afforded a 15% discount on all Marist College courses. For more information on the System z On-Demand certificate program, visit the Marist College Web site.

Professional Networking

SHARE is the gateway to a vast network of technical specialists and industry experts who provide insights, tips and tricks, and advice gleaned from personal experience. Ask anyone who participates in SHARE events - the information exchanged in the hallways, over meals, and after a SHARE conference is often just as valuable as the knowledge provided in technical sessions.

SHARE is also embracing new technologies to ensure this same level of peer support exists outside of conferences, through the SHARE Web site and other electronic media. SHARE is consistently recognized for the generous nature of our members who openly share experiences and help solve technical problems of, and with, peers. Hence, our tagline, "SHARE: It's not an acronym. It's what we do."

Industry Influence

From our inception, SHARE has placed a tremendous emphasis on influencing the Information Technology industry on behalf of the user community. As quoted in a 1999 Computerworld article, Morton Bernstein of Rand Corporation, an original SHARE member, offered "SHARE turned out to be, by accident or design, the first standards-setting organization in the industry."

Over the years, SHARE has played a key role in influencing IBM and the direction of the IT industry. Some key successes which SHARE and our members have helped achieve include:

• The development of the FORTRAN IV standard
• Convergence of ISO/IEC 10646 and Unicode to a single Universal Multibyte Character Set
• Establishing JTC 1 Policies on Conformity Assessment and Interoperability
• JTC 1 document on Collaborative Computing in Standards Development
• Development of the software License Use Management XSLM standard and direction and support for the IBM License Manager component.

Today SHARE continues to positively effect product development and help SHARE members – and the industry at large – meet the current and evolving needs of IT professionals.

Two vivid examples of SHARE's contributions to can be found in our annual Strategic Concerns Survey, wherein executive-level staff of member installations identify and rank the most significant technology concerns facing their organizations. In addition to SHARE members, the survey results are shared with IBM, other vendors, and consulting organizations to identify industry trends and influence research and development. Another major influence channel is SHARE Requirements 4.0, SHARE's online product enhancement dialogue and voting mechanism available exclusively to our membership.

Member Directory

As a SHARE member, you have access to a secure network of colleagues through the Member Directory.