April was a significant month for the mainframe, kicking off its 60th anniversary – a major milestone worth celebrating! Witnessing the sentiments from across the globe on social networking platforms reminds us that the mainframe is thriving as the backbone of today’s modern, secure business transactions. The Broadcom mainframe software division joined the celebration by hosting its annual 2024 European Mainframe Technical Exchange (MTE) in Prague, Czech Republic, from April 16 - 18.
In what felt like an exciting three-day party to honor the mainframe, the Broadcom mainframe team hosted hundreds of customers and colleagues worldwide to connect, network, and learn what’s new with Broadcom mainframe solutions and capabilities. The MTE is one of the most exciting events I’ve attended and helped plan. The energy becomes contagious as you see new ideas and approaches being shared. After all, sharing is what it’s all about: This no-cost educational conference, exclusively for Broadcom customers and partners, includes dozens of technical sessions and hands-on, interactive workshops led by our product and development teams and provides attendees with the opportunity to “exchange” ideas, solutions, and questions directly with our mainframe experts.
This year’s sessions covered hot topics, including resiliency and observability, modernization, and generative AI. Attendees were ready to discuss how AI is a profound change in our industry and how we can partner to investigate use cases for the mainframe. Being together with hundreds of peers eager to learn from one another and exchange ideas left me ready to return to work and implement all I learned from the week.
Angelika Heinrich, z/IRIS Product Manager for Broadcom, also left the conference with a sense of excitement for what’s to come, "There was an abundance of constructive and energetic discussion about advancements in observability, operations, AI, and much more at the Prague MTE,” she says. “I was excited to receive such positive feedback about our solutions, and I’m looking forward to building on the connections we made with our users."
We started the week with the conference’s opening keynote, “Marking Your Modernization Strategy,” led by Greg Lotko, SVP & GM of the Broadcom mainframe software division. Greg was accompanied by Vamsi Bhogireddy, senior operations architect from Legal and General, and Matt Hogstrom, Broadcom mainframe distinguished engineer, to discuss “risk-managed modernization.” This discussion highlighted our recent launch of the WatchTower Platform™ and how we’re helping customers make observability a foundational part of operations.
Attendees learned how we’re working together to break down silos and diagnose events right when they happen. The WatchTower Platform™ provides a comprehensive picture of mainframe health and what’s running in customers’ systems. This allows customers to shift from being reactive to proactive and fix events before they impact the business. Using Zowe API Mediation Layer (API ML), WatchTower is open and invites APIs from 1000+ vendors.
The keynote was followed by 95 educational sessions covering topics attendees wanted to learn about the most. MTE attendees left with knowledge they can use immediately. Examples that customers shared include adopting ZOWE, extending Ansible usage, preparing for DORA, and implementing VS Code Extension for OPS/REXX.
Our colleagues at Guide Share Europe (GSE) also joined us. Hannes Proyer (regional manager), Alexander Pawlik (technical coordinator), and Lea Hinzmann (social media manager) hosted an information table, and Hannes provided details about GSE and how to get involved during a shared session with Neal Cash, Broadcom Mainframe Vitality Program lead.
Overall, attendees had a fantastic experience. Attendee Conny Marutla, of Kyndryl, shares: “[I enjoyed the] great topics and excellent presentations in all security topics like implementing zero trust security, MFA, cybersecurity cleanup, DORA, and overlooked features in ACF2 and Top Secret. It was a well-spent three days learning more about mainframe and networking.”
But what’s a mainframe event without a little fun planned, too?” Given the milestone anniversary of the mainframe, cake was definitely on the menu!
Learn more about Broadcom Mainframe Technical Exchanges.