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New user-driven community aims to connect peers, facilitate shared experiences among emerging mainframe professionals.
NEW! Click here to read Kristine Harper, Justin Bastin, and Mike Todd's interview with COMPUTERWORLD - January 31, 2008
NEW! Click here to see a list of Walt Disney World Restaurants and Attractions for SHARE in Orlando
IBM and SHARE, the original IBM users group, are proud to sponsor a user-driven community for new and emerging IT professionals focused on mainframe computing: zNextGeneration. zNextGen is geared especially around the needs of two professional segments: students just embarking on their careers in enterprise technology, and established IT professionals expanding their responsibilities to include support and administration of mainframe systems. The expressed goal of the zNextGen community is to serve as the gateway for newcomers to leverage the experience of mainframe veterans and expedite their professional development in this crucial segment of the IT workforce.
Meet the zNextGen Team
Why participate?
Members of zNextGen will enjoy access to a unique set of resources and professional contacts that will embellish their technical skills and optimize their career development opportunities. Among the foreseen for zNextGen participants:
- Students will find the resources to help them find better jobs more quickly upon graduation
- Established IT professionals new to the mainframe will find connections to help them solve mainframe-related technical challenges more efficiently
- Experienced mainframe specialists will have a forum in which they can share their expertise
- Participants can influence, develop, and take advantage of the industry’s most relevant mainframe-focused training curricula as offered through SHARE
- zNextGen members will have access to incredible networking opportunities through SHARE at its twice-annual conferences and through its general membership that includes more than 20,000 enterprise IT professionals representing the world’s most sophisticated corporations, institutes of higher learning, government agencies and consultancies.
Joining zNextGen is free and carries no obligation. Learn more about signing up today!
At SHARE
For over 50 years, SHARE has delivered to mainframe professionals best-in-class technical training, peer networking and opportunities to interact directly with IBM executives and developers. This tradition continues at SHARE’s next conference:
February 24-29, 2007
Disney's Coronado Springs Resort
Orlando, FL
SHARE in Orlando Website
At SHARE events, zNextGen members will benefit from several valuable, education networking and community-building functions. Watch this page for the latest details on the zNextGen agenda planned for SHARE in Orlando as they become available.
There are over 70 sessions within the zNextGen track scheduled for Orlando!
Click here to be taken to the SHARE in Orlando scheduling site.
Follow the steps below to search the four zNextGen tracks.
- Select Search Category - select Events by Track - Submit Query
- Select the four zNextGen categories
-zNextGen: DBA Training
-zNextGen: Storage Administrator Training
-zNextGen: z/OS Application Developer Training
-zNextGen: z/OS Systems Programmer Training
- Your search will yield 75 sessions.
Click here for a recap of SHARE in San Diego from Project Manager Kristine Harper
Click here to view some zNextGen session highlights from Orlando.
Resources Now Available Online
A recently created mainframe community weblog contains a section dedicated to zNextGen members who wish to share skills, work experiences and connect with their peers. Please visit: http://mainframe.typepad.com.
A second major initiative now underway is IBM’s Mainframe Charter and Community, which addresses a host of academic, training, technical and career development issues of interest to mainframe professionals. A key aspect of this initiative is the
IBM Academic Initiative Program for the Mainframe. This program provides students and professors at more than 150 international universities with hands-on access to the zSeries and System z9 mainframe, curriculum, industry experts, and training for students and faculty. Visit the Program Web page to learn more.
Press articles
This article discusses how zNextGen members Kristine Harper, Justin Bastin, and Mike Todd found a career as a mainframer and the growth of zNextGen.
This article discusses how Kristine Harper, SHARE and IBM are helping next-generation mainframe developers find success.
With the recent announcement by IBM that the mainframe has achieved three consecutive quarters of growth, this article discusses how SHARE and IBM partnered together to form zNextGen.
This article discusses how the offshoring of IT positions has not affected the IT industry as much as people believe. It also discusses how SHARE launched zNextGen as a response to the inevitable shortage of workers with specific knowledge of mainframe applications.
Join Now!
If you would like to become a member of zNextGen, please sign up today. There is no fee, no risk and your contact information will not be sold, traded or shared with outside parties in any manner. Simply send an e-mail to zNextGen@share.org including your name, organization, and e-mail address and you’ll be kept informed of all zNextGen happenings as they occur. We are also looking for volunteers to help chart the course of the zNextGen community; if you are interested in exploring volunteer opportunities, please indicate so in your e-mail.
Thank you for your interest in this exciting new community. Watch this page for news and information on new programs for zNextGen members.
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