z/OS Management Facility (z/OSMF) has evolved since its initial release in 2010, providing a comprehensive set of REST APIs, a z/OS Desktop, and an expanding collection of plugins designed to simplify operations. A need for resources and education arose with each new z/OSMF plugin and advancement, which is why the z/OSMF Guild was established. It has become a key resource for users, offering education, discussions on new plugins, and guidance for implementation. Despite its success, a clear need emerged for additional structured hands-on learning to help early-tenure system programmers gain practical experience with z/OSMF.

Learning Challenges for the Early-Career Systems Programmer

While z/OSMF provides extensive capabilities for system automation and management, many early-career system programmers have faced specific challenges, such as:

• Adoption Issues: A lack of exposure to modernization tools like z/OSMF, Ansible Certified Content for IBM Z, and Zowe.
• Lack of Guidance: The absence of structured mentorship and support from experienced professionals.
• Unstructured Learning: Existing resources — documents, videos, and basic training — are insufficient for deep, technical understanding.
• No Recognition: There is no formal validation of skills acquired through self-study.
• Need for Sharing: New learners require opportunities to exchange knowledge and experiences with peers.

Addressing these challenges requires a more immersive and guided learning approach.

Build the Bridge

IBM and Ensono’s pilot program was designed to provide hands-on learning for early-career system programmers. The program was structured as follows:

• Participants: Six early-tenure system programmers from Ensono with 1-3 years of experience.
• Duration: Six months of structured learning experience.
• Curriculum: Self-paced z/OSMF hands-on labs, complemented by expert guidance from IBM.
• Engagement: Participants presented their experiences at SHARE Washington, D.C., in 2025 and within the z/OSMF Guild.

Following the joint presentation at SHARE, the audience expressed excitement at the opportunity to get access to the critical learning materials and saw the program as a great response to market needs. So often, new-to-Z students and professionals don’t have access to similar learning opportunities to develop their skills in a sand-box environment. 

Following the joint presentation at SHARE, the audience expressed excitement at the opportunity to get access to the critical learning materials and saw the program as a great response to market needs. So often, new-to-Z students and professionals don’t have access to similar learning opportunities to develop their skills in a sand-box environment. 

Key Outcomes

• “Teach the Teachers” Approach: Empowering early tenure system programmers to gain confidence in performing critical systems management tasks and become the thought-leaders in this new way of working, thus increasing the velocity of knowledge transfer across the team.
• Time Savings: Enabling faster execution of key system management tasks like software installation. The Ensono cohort reports that their software installations via z/OSMF are now at least 20% faster than the traditional method, and more accessible to an early-career system programmer in a way that empowers them to take on installs confidently. 
• Automation Proficiency: Enhancing the ability to automate tasks using z/OSMF and Ansible.

The success of this initiative laid the foundation for a broader learning program accessible to the entire z/OS community.

Ensono – Early Systems Programmer Experience

At Ensono, we’re constantly adapting modern ways of working on the mainframe, and z/OSMF is a cornerstone of that journey. One of our strategic investments is The Ensono Mainframe Academy, designed to address the talent gap and take early professionals from “square one” to “Mainframer.” When IBM offered us a chance to co-create this learning experience with them, we jumped at the opportunity to send some of our Mainframe Academy graduates for a next-level, deep dive on z/OSMF-specific functionality that could add value to the work they are doing today.

We assembled a cohort that spanned our operational network, and these folks brought back the knowledge and experience they’ve gained through these modules and became ambassadors to enable learning for z/OSMF. Luke Simpson, one of the participants in the Ensono cohort, said, “The program became an integral part of how [we] modernize their systems, as well as the people working on [our] system.”

According to the cohort, “As end-users of system management, it reduces the learning curve for some of the tasks we empower our early-tenure system programmers to perform, such as software lifecycle management, mainframe security, managing UNIX directories, and more.”

The Ensono cohort unanimously agreed that performing these tasks using z/OSMF was significantly more intuitive and generally more user-friendly than traditional system management processes. z/OSMF is also foundational in enabling the requests received from clients’ applications teams to enable Zowe and connect to other modern developer tools. Ensono says its teams are working better by lowering the learning curve and bringing modern talent to a system they feel comfortable on.

Ensono’s clients look to them as experts on the mainframe and having the depth of knowledge to meet clients where they are on the path to modernization makes us a formidable ally. According to Ensono, “Learning opportunities like this keep our team sharp and on top of the latest opportunities to bring the value of z/OSMF to work as a managed service provider.”

The learning cohort focused on gaining hands-on experience with z/OSMF through IBM-provided labs. These labs offered clear, step-by-step instructions on various topics related to working with z/OS. Gaurav P., another Ensono cohort participant, said, “Labs were fantastic. They were detailed with documentation, and each step was properly explained.”

For example, one lab, titled “Using the z/OS Installation Strategy to Install a Portable Software Instance (PSI),” guides participants through using the Software Management plug-in on z/OSMF to install a product. For Ensono, this opportunity to work with IBM has been beneficial, providing a structured learning program and the added advantage of receiving direct assistance from IBM experts, making the content more consumable, and delivering it in a familiar intuitive way.

Other Participants' Reactions:

• “Informative and well-planned session. Good lab exercises and documentation.” – Sivaranjani S. (Ensono cohort participant)
• “The documents [IBM] provided were very clear and supported the learning exercises well.” – Premkumar C. (Ensono cohort participant)
• IBM presentations were awesome—precise, full of information, and well-documented for future reference.” – Robert D. (Ensono cohort participant)

The consensus is that z/OSMF delivers a more streamlined experience, improves quality of life for system programmers, and significantly reduces the learning curve for newcomers to the platform.

Pilot Program to zXplore Learning

IBM’s zXplore learning program provides hands-on access to IBM Z learning materials, including actual mainframe environments. While zXplore has traditionally focused on students, its content is now proving valuable for early-career professionals.

Planned z/OSMF Learning Modules for zXplore:

• z/OSMF Desktop UI (Released Q4 2024)
• Workflows (Released 1Q 2025)
• Software Management (Released 1Q 2025)
• Software Update (Future)
• Security Configuration Assistant (Future)

Each module includes guided labs and learning badges to validate skills, helping system programmers build practical expertise in z/OSMF. By integrating the z/OSMF learning program with zXplore, IBM aims to provide a scalable and accessible pathway for new professionals to gain essential mainframe skills.

This collaborative learning initiative helps modernize mainframe education, shorten the learning curve, and empower early-career professionals. By combining structured content, hands-on labs, and real-time mentorship, IBM and Ensono are setting the foundation for a new era of confident, capable z/OSMF practitioners — ready to meet the future of enterprise systems management.

Additional Resources:

1. IBM z/OSMF Guild (Community & Sessions)
2. IBM Z Xplore (Learning Platform)
3. Ensono Academies