Progress can be informed by the lessons of the past, and New Year’s resolutions are one way to codify the changes we hope to make in the new year. Whether it is a promise to find greater balance between our work and personal lives or a decision to be more diligent in our communications with colleagues, family, and friends, these resolutions provide us with an improvement roadmap.

Members of the SHARE Board and SHARE’d Intelligence editorial committee have shared some of their New Year’s resolutions to help the mainframe community get into the spirit of 2025.

Educate to Innovate

• “Find another mainframer who has less experience or tenure and mentor them in your area of expertise or meet with team members to learn something new together and share what you’ve learned with other mainframers,” says Janet Sun, senior consultant at Sun Coast and SHARE’d Intelligence editorial committee member.

• “Use scripting languages like REXX or Python to streamline your work and boost productivity. Utilize the automation capabilities of the tools that your organization uses, such as establishing thresholds and alerts in your monitoring tools, scheduling repetitive activities, and orchestrating processes using DevOps workflows,” advises Craig Mullins, president of Mullins Consulting, Inc. and SHARE’d Intelligence editorial committee member.
• “Dedicate time each month to learn about emerging trends in mainframe technologies, like DevOps integration or modernization strategies, ensuring skills remain relevant in a rapidly changing technology landscape,” says Leanne Wilson, senior technical delivery manager at Vertali and SHARE’d Intelligence editorial committee member.
• “Conduct regular audits and penetration tests in your environments. Stay proactive in applying remediation to any vulnerabilities and exposures identified. Use risk-based models to produce security improvement plans, ensuring systems remain within security best practice and compliance,” Wilson adds.
• “As a mainframer, I resolve to learn more about artificial intelligence (AI), and how I can further exploit it on the mainframe. I also aim to investigate more on-host uses of data that will not require moving the valuable data off-host, and to seek out ways to modernize (in place) the applications that are running on the mainframe to further exploit the platform,” says Dusty Rivers, senior director for US zSystems at Mainline Information Systems and SHARE board member.

Anthony Anter shares his New Year's resolutions in a video message.

Network to Influence

• “As a mainframer, I resolve to get involved in user groups, SHARE, and TechXchange to level up skillsets for myself and others,” adds Rivers.
• “Welcome people into the IBM Z ecosystem through education and networking with community veterans, and evangelize for the best platform for enterprise data management, through both SHARE and the IBM Champions Program. I also will work with my Broadcom colleagues to make sure our customers realize the best value from our products,” said Ray Mullins, senior software engineer at Broadcom and SHARE’d Intelligence editorial committee member.
• “Share knowledge with junior technicians or trainees, helping bridge the skills gap and ensuring the long-term success of mainframe operations,” explains Wilson.
• “Growing the new to Z community, holistically and synergistically amongst our partners, influencers, IBM, SHARE, clients, academia, and beyond — to the benefit of us all — bringing in more talent, new voices, and experiences that will compel the mainframe into the next decade. So that ‘being a mainframer’ is a badge of honor for a broader set of up-and-coming techies,” says Laura DeAtkine, principal product manager for IBM Z and LinuxONE at IBM and SHARE’d Intelligence editorial committee member.

Reg Harbeck shares his New Year's resolutions in a video message.

Personal Growth

• “Work to manage and mitigate stress. Developing and supporting mainframe applications and systems can be a very stressful career, so mainframers should always be mindful of their stress levels and work to alleviate it. This can include prioritizing activities and working to that priority, establishing clear work/life boundaries, and relying on a network of colleagues, mentors, and friends to help with work issues and unwind outside of work,” advises Craig Mullins.
• “Stay up-to-date on technology trends by subscribing to and reading blogs (such as the SHARE’d Intelligence blog), buying and reading books on topics you wish to learn more about, and attending conferences and webinars to keep up with the evolving mainframe landscape,” Mullins adds.
• “Register for SHARE Washington, DC, if you haven’t already, because it will benefit your mainframe career from a technical and networking perspective,” advises Ros Schulman, mainframe architect at Hewlett Packard Enterprise and SHARE board member.
• “If you’re already registered and are not a volunteer, consider becoming a volunteer today. Volunteering offers great rewards, including meeting new people, learning different perspectives, and engaging with new-to-you mainframe topics,” she adds.

Looking over the accomplishments of 2024, mainframers have a lot to be thankful for as the platform remains secure and reliable. Moving into 2025, they have the skills and curiosity to support new applications and technologies, as well as upskill themselves and those around them. What are your goals for 2025?

Register today for SHARE Washington, DC, as one way to leverage your resolutions in 2025.

Serena Agusto-Cox has more than 20 years of editorial experience and six years of experience writing about mainframe and information technology. She interviews and crafts forward-looking and engaging technical updates related to the mainframe ecosystem, highlights the experiences of thought-leaders in the community, and shares important updates to technical education and training.