zNextGen is a new user-driven community aims to connect peers, facilitate shared experiences among emerging mainframe professionals.
NEW! Click here to read Kristine Neely, Justin Bastin, and Mike Todd's interview with COMPUTERWORLD - January 31, 2008
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.
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:
SHARE in San Jose
San Jose McEnery Convention Center
August 10 - 15, 2008
Click here for a SHARE in San Jose survival guide (local restaurants and attactions)
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 San Jose as they become available.
Follow the steps below to search the four zNextGen tracks.
- Visit the SHARE Conference Scheduler.
- 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
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 Neely, Justin Bastin, and Mike Todd found a career as a mainframer and the growth of zNextGen.
This article discusses how Kristine Neely, 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.