Every year, about this time, mainframe users are excited to get their hands on the latest edition of the Arcati Mainframe Yearbook. What makes the Yearbook stand out is that it’s an excellent reference work for all IBM mainframe professionals – no matter how many years of experience they have.
The Yearbook provides a one-stop shop for everything a mainframer needs to know. For example, the mainframe evolution section includes a hardware timeline, and a graphic illustrating mainframe operating system evolution.
In addition, there’s the glossary of terminology section explaining what all those acronyms stand for, in a way that means you can understand them. Amongst the terms we’ve added this year are: BaaS, DataOps, FHE, RPA, and ZTNA. That’s Blockchain as a Service, Fully Homomorphic Encryption, Robotic Process Automation, and Zero Trust Network Access.
One section provides a guide to sources of information for IBM mainframers. This includes information on newsletters, magazines, user groups, blogs, mainframe-related apps, and social networking information resources for the z/OS environment. Amongst the things it highlights are Enterprise Tech Journal, the new TechChannel website, IBM Listservs, SHARE’s Five Minute Briefing from Data Center, Facebook pages, and LinkedIn discussions; as well as user groups such as SHARE and IDUG. There’s also a short discussion about mainframe social media and where to find the latest CICS and IMS blogs and articles.
The vendor directory section contains an up-to-date list of vendors, consultants, and service providers working in the z/OS environment. There’s a summary of the products they supply and contact information. As usual, there are a number of new organizations in the list this year – indicating that this is still an exciting marketplace to be in.
The mainframe strategy section contains articles by industry gurus and vendors on topics such as:
- Test Automation: The Key to Increasing Velocity, Quality and Efficiency
- Relationship Advice For You and Your Mainframe
- Mainframe, Cloud, and the Post-Pandemic IT Landscape
For many people, the highlight each year is the mainframe user survey. This illustrates just what’s been happening at users’ sites. It’s a good way for mainframers to compare what they are planning to do with what other sites have done. I will be looking at some of the survey highlights in a future blog.
The other great thing about the Yearbook – as far as many of the 21,000 people who download it are concerned – is that it is completely FREE.
It can only be free because some
organizations have been prepared to sponsor it or advertise in it. This year’s
sponsor are: BMC Software, Broadcom, and Model 9. Our advertisers are: Action
Software International, DataKinetics, Direct Computer Resources, Inc, Enterprise Systems Associates, Inc (ESAi), Fischer International, Fujitsu, Key Resources Inc, Software AG, Software Diversified Services, Tone Software, and Zetaly.
To see this year’s Arcati Mainframe Yearbook, click here. If you don’t want to download everything at once,
again this year, each section is available as a print-quality PDF file.
You won’t want to miss out on this excellent publication.
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