Mainframe, MVS and zOS Discussion

Hi,

I'm a mainframe programmer and has worked as Application Architect at times but though never was given that designation. I had been searching all around that how can I become an Enterprise Architect given that I come from the back ground of core mainframe?

Can I ever thought to become a CTO also? Question is will a mainframe background be hindrance or advantage?

If this is an off topic please leave it open and don't lock the topic as I think some time someone will have some input.

I looked that this topic http://zmainframes.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=2549, it gives some information though some of your good experience might help.

how can I become an Enterprise Architect given that I come from the back ground of core mainframe?

From my answer you quoted:

Find a job advertisement for the job you want. Compare what the company is looking for to your skill set. Start filling in the gaps. As already pointed out, what you want to do is not a standard job title so be aware that the next job description you look at may have completely different requirements. But over time, as you fill in gaps, you should be able to move towards the job you want.

Architect jobs do NOT have any standard definition at this point (compared to, say programming jobs) -- so your guess is as good as mine for what is required to qualify for such a position. Looking at market job descriptions at least gives you an idea what companies are looking for.

will a mainframe background be hindrance or advantage?

If you want a CTO job at a company like Microsoft or Google where they don't use mainframes, then a mainframe background would be a hindrance. If you want a CTO job at a company using a mainframe heavily, then the mainframe background will be an advantage. But CTO jobs are usually filled by people with management experience where the background becomes less and less of a factor as they are promoted, so a mainframe background or not won't really factor much into the hiring decision.

Robert Sample wrote:

Find a job advertisement for the job you want. Compare what the company is looking for to your skill set. Start filling in the gaps. As already pointed out, what you want to do is not a standard job title so be aware that the next job description you look at may have completely different requirements. But over time, as you fill in gaps, you should be able to move towards the job you want.

Architect jobs do NOT have any standard definition at this point (compared to, say programming jobs) -- so your guess is as good as mine for what is required to qualify for such a position. Looking at market job descriptions at least gives you an idea what companies are looking for.

Even if there are no standard definition, there must be some qulification to call someone say, IBM Maifnrames Architect, IBM Maifnrames Application Architect, IBM Maifnrames Systems Architect AND JAVA Architect or open system architect? I mean if I am from mainframe background and i want to be an Architect in to JAVA and Middle Ware Technologies, even if I know the job description and know the gaps with out having a real hands on experience how would I fill in the gaps?

will a mainframe background be hindrance or advantage?

If you want a CTO job at a company like Microsoft or Google where they don't use mainframes, then a mainframe background would be a hindrance. If you want a CTO job at a company using a mainframe heavily, then the mainframe background will be an advantage. But CTO jobs are usually filled by people with management experience where the background becomes less and less of a factor as they are promoted, so a mainframe background or not won't really factor much into the hiring decision.

Thanks.

The only qualification is experience in that role. There is no peice of paper that says "XYZ is a Qualified Mainframe BLAH BLAH Architect" you get to call yourself that because that is your role and you have progressed there through the ranks picking up experience in related areas and management reckon thet you could make the transition.

Even if there are no standard definition, there must be some qulification to call someone say, IBM Maifnrames Architect, IBM Maifnrames Application Architect, IBM Maifnrames Systems Architect AND JAVA Architect or open system architect?

Actually, no there is not. Companies define job titles to mean what THEY want them to mean and there are no standards that I'm aware of for them. If a company decides to hire a mainframe application architect (for example), the company management will decide what requirements they have from someone in that role and from those requirements a job description is written. Then the company goes into the marketplace and attempts to hire their mainframe application architect. The company may find the job description is written so tightly that no one qualifies and they'll rewrite the job description; they may find the job description is overly broad so too many applications come in and again they'll rewrite the job description.

I am not aware of any standards organization determining what the various architect jobs need (should have) as requirements, so it LITERALLY is up to each company to determine what type of skill set they want in the position. The "architect" term implies a good number of years of experience (say 10 to 15) in increasingly complex technology, but that is NOT written in stone.

I know an Architect in my company who is Senior Technical Architect but he has not done special course to get there. Though he is not in to Programmer kind of work and perhaps he is not very good programmer too but knows a lot of technologies.