Beyond Code: How mainframes fight shrinking specialization

It’s easily agreeable: From households across the globe, to enterprise organizations, saving money is top of mind. However, putting principles into practice to make this actionable can sometimes feel daunting. It doesn’t have to be. 

In the case of enterprises, corporate cost reduction is an appropriate and often popular way of eliminating wasted resources. Since a significant portion of IT is spent on human resources, CIOs naturally look to reduce staff or ask existing technicians to assume more responsibility. At surface level, more responsibility within a single role profile doesn’t sound inherently bad. More experience and more personal growth, right? Except, there is one glaringly negative aspect to adding additional responsibilities to IT staff: It leads to shrinking specialization within the individual’s area of expertise. 

For example, a database administrator who previously specialized in Db2 for z/OS might now be expected to manage several other databases. In other words, the business demands them to become “universal DBAs.” Consequently, the overall expertise of the IT staff decreases.

This erosion of expertise motivates the software industry to produce solutions that are easier to use and more automated. It’s difficult to talk about automation without machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). While AI will eventually assist humans in making the right decisions, it is unlikely that machine learning will fully remove the need for IT professionals, as recently reported by Forbes. 

While there is merit in pursuing IT cost reduction that translates into short-term savings, IT decision makers must prioritize the education of their staff for the long-term health of the business. This is why Broadcom is investing and educating clients with programs tailored specifically to their industry and use cases. Broadcom is going ‘Beyond Code’ when training talent to compete for tomorrow.

3 easy ways to boost expertise

In that spirit, Broadcom Mainframe Software has been hiring new mainframers for over a decade on behalf of our customers and our own growing business. What’s more, we sponsor several industry events and user groups and host highly sought after technical sessions to help the industry evolve. This “beyond code” mentality is a big part of Broadcom Mainframe Software and is available to our customers in three powerful categories: 

1. Building the next generation of mainframers. Many of our customers already appreciate how our Vitality Program attracts talent, improves skills, and inspires careers for future success. But in addition to that, Broadcom offers online Mainframe Education courses at no cost to our customers and Mainframe Insights that educate on topics such as maximizing ROI from the mainframe platform.
   
   “Before the Vitality Program, I had only known the mainframe as something in movies that got hacked all the time,” said one recent Vitality Resident. “Today, however, the Vitality Program opened up a whole new career path in mainframes for me.”
   
   
2. No-cost change planning to avoid 99% of problems. Broadcom helps mainframe organizations avoid 99% of problems at no extra cost with our proactive Expert Change Planning Program for any mainframe-related maintenance, upgrade, market, or change event. Additionally, Broadcom’s Design Thinking Workshops encourage customers to innovate with Broadcom's product capabilities and collaborate on future business challenges.
3. Modernizing the mainframe for tomorrow. In addition to investing in talent and superior support, Broadcom helps customers to optimize the mainframe platform. We reveal opportunities for reducing costs and optimizing resources with custom Mainframe Resource Intelligence assessments. We use no cost Win-No-Fee rationalization services to accelerate ROI from your mainframe investment. And with Broadcom’s Mainframe Consumption Licensing, our customers get a more digestible, pay-for-use pricing that improves clarity, predictability, and flexibility of z/OS software consumption. 

Investing in growth

Of course, maximizing profit and potential demands both savings and investment. It’s about thinking of the long-game; it’s about setting employees up for success by equipping them with the tools and education needed to make the most impact in their organizations. Simply adding more responsibilities to IT professionals’ plates for the sake of cost reduction could be the dangerous answer. Enabling role specialization is harmonious with great outcomes for organizations. 

When pursued with care, IT cost reduction is a commendable goal. But if the budget is cut too abruptly, or isn’t offset with similar investment, this results in a skill shortage that disrupts mainframe environments and profitability. 

Hence, education programs from Broadcom that go “beyond code” are an important aspect to consider when optimizing your mainframe business for the future. 

Broadcom is Invested in Your Success. If you would like more information on any of the “beyond code” programs, contact us via https://mainframe.broadcom.com/contact