IBM Champion Cameron Seay, adjunct professor at East Carolina University, has taught at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) for a number of years. When he learned he'd become an IBM Champion, he was pleasantly surprised, stating, "I've been working with the Z platform for about 15 years." Seay adds that IBM Z has provided an edge for HBCUs and "a competitive edge for our students." He points out that "IBM Z provides that edge because so few schools teach the platform."
Increase Mainframe Visibility Inside and Outside of the Classroom
According to Seay, "This is something that is lost on most mainframers because they really don’t understand how invisible mainframe is to the college curriculum. Most students don’t know anything about mainframe or that it is even being used." By teaching the Z platform or about the mainframe, students become aware of opportunities and potential jobs that are otherwise hidden. "It’s rather straightforward, common sense if you will, that if as a student knows something that companies need and other students don’t that student has an advantage in the job market," he explains. "It’s not that complicated, actually. It’s just that mainframers know and love this technology and are not aware that most of IT pretty much ignores it."
By the same token, companies need certain skills but are unaware whether schools teach them, so they don’t even ask potential job candidates about those skills. For example, Seay worked with a young man from Northern Illinois University, which has one of the best mainframe programs in the world. "He had the total package: DB2, Assembler, COBOL, and Virtual Storage Access Method -- stuff nobody else knew. But companies were not asking for these skills because so few students had them," he recalls. "However, as we know, every bank, insurance company, large retailer, and government agency is desperate for these skills."
"When I taught him how to market to the right people, he had like four job offers immediately at good pay," Seay explains. Since 2006, Seay has advocated on behalf of IT students for an expansion of mainframe programs in universities, while also pushing students to market their mainframe skills to companies that may not have asked but have an unfulfilled need for those skills.
Most students have no idea that the global economy is entirely dependent on mainframe technology, like CICS, Seay states. "It’s almost like mainframe is a secret that the grownups have been hiding. It’s like that semester after semester," he remarks. The mainframe "just works: 24/7/365." Unless you're aware of the technology, Seay explains, you don't know what it can do. For example, the best hypervisor, by far, is on the mainframe — z/VM. "It can do things VMware can't dream of doing," he adds.
Mainframe Can Springboard a Student into the Future
Seay says the mainframe has probably changed the lives of a couple hundred students. "Let’s take a typical North Carolina Agricultural and Technical (A&T) State University student from rural, eastern North Carolina," he says. "The student is the first one in their family to attend college, and their folks are working class or lower." Seay explains that these students get into A&T's IT program, which includes the mainframe, and it is like a world has opened up to them. "I need to add the entire program was pretty good, but the mainframe was the differentiator," he says.
"Because we had such good representatives from IBM, Bank of America, and others, if students had a B average or better, they had a better chance at getting a choice internship." Seay explains, "If they go to the internship and perform, which almost all of them do, they are pretty much set for a career. This scenario has been repeated hundreds of times with most African American students." The industry myth that it takes divine intervention to prepare people for IT and mainframe jobs in particular, is just that, a myth, he adds.
Despite these challenges, Seay loves the mainframe community because it is constantly innovating and the technology itself is engaging. "The thing I like most is seeing how learning this platform can transform lives," he explains. "At this point I've witnessed this transformation hundreds of times over." He considers being an IBM Champion a culmination of his work to date, as well as another step in his journey. Seay advises those looking to become IBM Champions themselves to reach out to the Z community at large. "They are very accessible," he says. Other options include participating in Master the Mainframe, joining the Open Mainframe Project, or engaging with organizations like SHARE. Additionally, "if you're affiliated with a college, urge them to teach Z," he advises.