Putting Lipstick on a Dinosaur

Three years ago I was party to a series of blind focus groups trying to understand what corporations needed to meet the inevitable IT skills decline in mainframe computing.  We talked with IT executives from around the US. and presented a concept to initiate discussions.

An interesting item arose out of these focus groups which was more organizational in nature. It seemed that there was a planned merging of organizations to breakdown the old mainframe v. distributed cultures to more directly facilitate cross-training. This view was expressed by the majority of participants. Over the last few years we've seen this trend continue with Europe adopting quicker than in the States.

The concept we introduced was a graphical user interface to existing mainframe database tools to provide a more comfortable environment for distributed DBAs. The feedback was positive, so we developed the concept and have been delivering a set of DB2 and IMS products with GUIs. In essence we are putting lipstick on the mainframe to facilitate cross-training and operational efficiencies.

Last year I made a customer visit to a leading retailer in the U.S.. I met with their senior IMS and DB2 managers. When I asked them if they had seen SmartDBA (GUI interface for BMC mainframe products) they folded their arms (in a form of protest) and exclaimed that GUIs were not for their team, they were experienced Pros. They relaxed when I informed them it had been built for their successors, not for their existing DBAs. For you experienced mainframe DBAs don't dispare ... this interface is in addition to the ISPF interface ... and is meant more the new recruits who will be toiling away as you enter your retirement.

A side note: After meeting with the DBA managers, I met their Director who disclosed that after two years of proposing, the business was finally going to allow him to reorganize the DBAs and merge the Distributed and Mainframe departments into one organization. It's nice when plans come together.