SHARE has been a volunteer-based organization for many decades, but SHARE events, like the upcoming SHARE New Orleans, also demonstrate the importance of coming together in person to exchange knowledge with our partners, sponsors, and vendors. We reached out to our vendors to explore why they attend our events and what they value most from their experiences and partnership with SHARE.

Check out what Peter Enrico of Enterprise Performance Strategies, Inc., Jeff Cherrington of Rocket Software, Lisa Klemens of 21st Century Software (21CS), and Ros Schulman of Hitachi Vantara had to say about why their companies partnered with SHARE and what brings them to event after event, year after year.

How long has your organization partnered with SHARE?

Jeff Cherrington (JC): Rocket Software and our employees have been participating at SHARE since the company’s inception in 1990, sponsoring SHARE for most of that time, and we look forward to continuing our contributions to this community for years to come.

Ros Schulman (RS): Many, many, many years — not sure how many at this point!

Peter Enrico (PE): Enterprise Performance Strategies (EPS) started participating in the SHARE tradeshow sometime over the last 15 years, but our technical experts have been speaking at SHARE events since at least 1990.

Lisa Klemens (LK): 21CS has been an active SHARE partner for over 15 years. We are proud to be exhibitors and presenters, and several of our team members are long-time SHARE volunteers.

What are some reasons SHARE events are valuable to your staff and your company?

JC: SHARE provides Rocket Software with a unique opportunity to engage directly with the community for whom, in large part, we exist to serve: mainframers. From customers to partners and industry peers, we look forward to connecting with all who attend SHARE to gain and share knowledge of the mainframe, our various industries, and new and exciting changes to business and technology.

RS: Given that there are only three mainframe storage vendors, it’s a MUST to attend. We get to connect with customers, partners, and people we would like to be customers, so it’s a valuable use of our time. In addition, it’s a way for us to stay up to date on the mainframe industry.

PE: As sponsors, it’s the face-to-face meetings, networking, re-connecting with old friends and fellow mainframers, and spreading the word about our company. As speakers, to share our expertise.

LK: We value the opportunity to spend 'face-to-face' time with our customers and partners and make new connections. The ability to share the deep knowledge and expertise within our organization through the technical sessions that we present is especially gratifying. Knowing that we can help to perpetuate and grow the mainframe platform is particularly important to us. And finally, the wealth of educational material that's shared in sessions and through networking plays a big part in keeping our staff up to date on the latest technologies and innovations in the mainframe ecosystem. 

What is your favorite part of attending SHARE events? Do you have a standout memory from attending?

JC: The best part of SHARE is the opportunity to see and speak to my many friends in the mainframe community, even as we move from project-to-project and even company-to-company. While the content in the sessions during the day is extremely valuable, it is the conversations in the hallway between sessions, at meals, and at the end of the evening that are the most valuable. 

Having attended SHARE for so many years, it is difficult to pick out a single standout memory, while I do recall gathering with mainframers I knew and newly meeting others late in the evening outside the hotel on Wednesday night after dinner in Atlanta this year.

RS: My favorite is the meet ups; I have gotten to know a lot of people over the years, and I really look forward to seeing them and catching up. The mainframe industry is very small, so we are like a little clique.     

PE: Meeting mainframers, putting faces to names, and showcasing our company and its services

LK: My favorite part of SHARE is being able to meet the people that I've only talked to on the phone or exchanged emails with, in person. With so much of our lives spent sitting in front of our computers and 'virtually' interacting, there's nothing that compares with getting to meet and talk with someone in person — this is how real relationships form. I can't say I have one standout memory from a particular SHARE; they've all had their highlights. If I had to pick one, I would say having dinner with the crocodiles at the Ft. Worth Zoo at an event we hosted during SHARE Ft. Worth in 2020 was memorable.  

What are you most looking forward to this year?

JC: Outside the networking and renewing of my acquaintances, I genuinely look forward to the sessions that focus on the advances made for open-source software, including Zowe, on the mainframe, as well as checkpointing the current state-of-the-art for mainframe security, in terms of cryptography, penetration testing, and vulnerability management.

RS: The sessions — there looks to be some good ones — and having a lot of productive meetings. I love the storage management free-for-all, when customers talk to IBM and the storage vendors about issues and things they are looking for. I am also looking forward to all the cyber resiliency solution sessions, as I learn something new each time I attend one.

PE: The SHARE conference gives our company the opportunity to meet new mainframers, share our z/OS performance expertise, and allows us to showcase our performance workshops, our performance “War Rooms,” and Pivotor®, our z/OS performance reporting software services.

LK: I'm looking forward to catching up with old friends, making new ones, and learning new things.

SHARE New Orleans is coming up next week! Not registered for the in-person event? Virtual registration is still available.