IBM Information

IBM eServer zSeries University Program

zSeries@Universities
Universities educate mainframe students
April, 2005 - IBM is committed to the mainframe – maybe like never ever before after more than 40 years of mainframe history. To ensure that our clients today and in the future can make use of zSeries’ features like Virtualization, Integration, and Reliability, IBM teamed up with Universities across EMEA to educate students on the  mainframe. Our series on Universities working with IBM to build mainframe expertise among students starts in Norway, where the Oslo University College (OUC) together with IBM set up a class called "Supercomputers and virtual operating systems". As mainframes continue to grow, there is a need for new experts to manage the platform in the future. Oslo University College and IBM have found a solution for the challenges faced by tomorrow’s IT professionals, the business community and the IT industry.

zSeries continues to grow – and experts are needed
According to IDC's full year figures for 2004, zSeries grew 4.7% (YTY) - Gartner even says we grew 6.1% worldwide. The demand for zSeries is continuing to grow. "We educate professionals that the business world can use and, not least, needs. We see a great demand for expertise in mainframes. Our students will receive an education that will enhance their market value, and that is both good for them and good for us as a place of learning", says Per Øystein Staff, Head of the Faculty of Engineering at the OUC. From January 2004 to May 2004 the OUC and IBM ran the first class on mainframe architecture and operating systems under the umbrella of the Network and Systems Administration Masters program. Three IBM employees - Per Fremstad, Claes-Göran Cedströmer, and Malcolm Beattie - were teaching the course for the Faculty of Engineering. "We do this in order to support and fulfil the Mainframe Charter for zSeries announced by IBM in 2003 and 2004. Per and Claes-Göran are strong advocates for the platform and in the not too distant future they will not be actively working anymore! The mainframe is likely to be around for another 40 years and we need to educate young people to support the mainframe in the future", says Anders Nohre, Nordic Marketing Manager zSeries.

Going further
With the great success in spring 2004, IBM and OUC have continued the set up. For 2005 there is an additional class. IBM and OUC have included a mandatory class in the University’s masters program - dealing with Linux and z/VM - called Network and System Administration 2. In addition three students from the first class have already signed up to deal with zSeries in their final Master Project Work. The topics of their work include a comparison of clustering of mainframe (Parallel Sysplex), UNIX, or Intel/Windows servers. Actually, IBM has expanded this set-up to other countries in the Nordic region in 2005. This is just one of many great stories around zSeries@Universities, to learn more about the program, visit the zSeries Homepage: http://www.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/ The zSeries University Program, by Andreas Hermelink EMEA zSeries Technical Support Manager.