2021 at iTech-Ed Ltd

2021 seemed to be a year where we oscillated from lockdown to starting to go back to the office and go out socializing, and ended with concerns about a new Covid variant. Making future plans seemed to result in them needing to be changed at the last minute. However, the infrastructure that relies on mainframes continued to be important. So, as usual at this time of year, I thought I’d take a look at the previous year, with the spotlight on what happened at iTech-Ed Ltd.

The exciting news in January was that Trevor Eddolls, CEO at iTech-Ed Ltd, was recognized by IBM as a 2021 IBM Champion. IBM said: “On behalf of IBM, it is my great pleasure to recognize you as a returning IBM Champion in 2021. Congratulations! We would like to thank you for your continued leadership and contributions to the IBM technology community. This recognition is awarded based on your contributions for the 2020 calendar year.”

On 12 January, the Virtual CICS user group had an excellent presentation from Satish Tanna and Nina Mirski-Fitton, Offering Managers for CICS Tools, zSystems Software at IBM Systems Unit. They were discussing “Driving CICS Development, Operations and Management Success with CICS Tools”.

Also in January, Trevor’s blog, “Looking Back at 2020: Changes, Innovations and More”, was published on the new TechChannel website. And Trevor's articles “Rise of the Network Edge: New Approaches Needed To Secure the Edge” and “Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB):Top 8 Use Cases for Improving Data Security” were published on the Toolbox website.

As usual (since 2005), January saw the publication of the always popular Arcati Mainframe Yearbook 2021. You can download a copy here – it’s FREE. Last year’s edition was downloaded around 21,000 times during the course of the year, and Trevor is Editorial Director for this highly-respected annual source of mainframe information.

On 9 February, the Virtual IMS user group enjoyed another great presentation from Nick R Griffin, WorldWide IMS Specialist at BMC Software. His subject was “Reached the IMS Database 4/8gig line, Now What?”.

Also in February, Trevor’s article, “The 2021 Arcati Mainframe Yearbook Is Now Available”, was published on the TechChannel website. And Trevor's articles, “Rise of SASE Can Spell Doom for Legacy Network Security Technologies” and “Does Your Unstructured Data Spark Joy?”, were published on the Toolbox website.

The Virtual CICS user group had a fact-pact presentation from Eugene Hudders, President of C\TREK Corporation on 9 March. His presentation was entitled “CICS Health Check – What Does It Entail?”.

Also in March, Trevor’s articles, “Defend Your Mainframe Data From Internal Threats” and “Mainframes and Cloud Computing”, were published on the TechChannel website. And his articles, “Is It Time To Look Beyond Mainframes in the Hyperscale Era?” and “How To Build Data Pipelines for a Multi-Cloud Environment” were published on the Toolbox website. Lastly, his blog,“Cyber security and cyber resiliency for financial institutions (and everyone else)” was published on the Planet Mainframe website

On 13 April, the Virtual IMS user group looked at IMS utilities and IMS Tools in a presentation from Thomas Esser, zSolutions Architect, Director, IMS Solution Advisors at Rocket Software, entitled, “Saving CPU time with IMS database administration”.

Also in April, Trevor’s article, “Breaking Down Extended Detection and Response (XDR): Benefits, Hype, & Reality” was published on the Toolbox website, and his article, “How to Simplify the Lives of Non-Mainframe Trained IT Employees” was published on the TechChannel website.

The Virtual CICS user group witnessed great demonstration from James Alexander, Director of Technical Services for HostBridge Technology, on 11 May, showing how to build a CICS API from scratch.

Also in May, Trevor’s articles, “How To Build and Design Cloud-Native Software From Scratch” and “When Design Meets Performance: How to Ace User and IT Remote Work Productivity With Thin & Light Devices” were published on the Toolbox website, and his article, “How to Defend Your Mainframe From Various Hacking Techniques and Insider Threats” was published on the TechChannel website.

On 8 June, the Virtual IMS user group learned a lot about ransomware from a presentation by Al Saurette, VP Business Development, and Gary Euler, Consultant, at MainTegrity Inc, entitled, “Making IMS the most secure system on the planet”.

Also in June, Trevor’s article, “Is Application Performance Monitoring Key To Protecting Critical Infrastructure Against Cyberattacks?” was published on the Toolbox website, and his article, “Mainframe Connectivity: What’s Missing?” was published on the TechChannel website. Lastly, his blog,“Getting the most from mainframes and the cloud” was published on the Planet Mainframe website.

The Virtual CICS user group enjoyed an excellent presentation from Colin Penfold, Technical Leader for IBM CICS Transaction Server Security on 13 July. He was explaining “What's New in CICS Security”.

Also in July, Trevor’s articles, “Your VPN Infrastructure Might Not Be as Secure As You Think” and “Is Transparency a Missing Element in Industry Preparedness Against Cyberattacks?” were published on the Toolbox website, and his article, “The Pandemic and Modernizing Your Mainframe” was published on the TechChannel website.

On 10 August, the Virtual IMS user group enjoyed a really detailed presentation from Dougie Lawson entitled, “From IMS Legacy to Infinity & Beyond”.

Also in August, Trevor’s articles, “Windows 365: An Inside Peek Into Microsoft’s Next Big Push In Cloud Computing” and “Why Federated Learning Is Pivotal to Privacy-Preserving Machine Learning”were published on the Toolbox website, and his article, “CICS Security, TLS Enhancement, Updated CICS Documentation and More” was published on the TechChannel website.

The 14 September saw the Virtual CICS user group enjoy a brilliant presentation from Colin Pearce. He was demonstrating “Collecting and Analysing CICS Statistics”.

Also in September, Trevor’s articles, “Why the Future of Database Management Lies In Open Source” and “Top IT Tools and Best Practices to Mitigate Cloud Data Migration Risks” were published on the Toolbox for IT website. In addition, his article, “Are mainframers too negative?” was published on the Planet Mainframe website. And his article, “How Much Does a Data Breach Cost?” was published on the TechChannel website.

On 12 October, over 70 members of the Virtual IMS user group were very impressed by a presentation from Karen N Tischer, dba IMS Education & Consulting, Instructor/Consultant. She gave an “Overview of Fast Path DEDBs”.

Also in October, Trevor’s article, “Keeping it Nimble in Hybrid Era: Maximize Connectivity, Collaboration & Mobility With the Right PC Platform” was published on the Toolbox website. In addition, his article,“How to Become a Happier Mainframe Professional” was published on the TechChannel website.

On 11 November, Trevor gave a presentation at the Guide Share Europe UK Virtual Conference 2021. The presentation was entitled “Defending your mainframe against hackers, ransomware, and internal threats”. Comments afterwards included: “Well prepared and presented lecture”, “Very interesting”, “Some frightening stories... Thank you”, and “Very insightful and enlightening”.

There was another stunning presentation from Ezriel Gross, Principal Solutions Advisor for Rocket Software, to the Virtual CICS user group on 16 November. He was discussing “Debugging CICS Storage Violations using IPCS”.

Also in November, Trevor’s article, “‘Being in a Minority of One Did Not Make You Mad:’ The Only Mainframer in the Room” was published on the TechChannel website.

On 7 December, the Virtual IMS user group were spellbound by an interesting presentation from Haley Fung, IBM Product Manager for IMS and Ansible for Z. She was discussing “Ansible and IMS: Automate IMS with Red Hat Ansible Certified Content for IBM Z”.

Also in December, Trevor’s articles, “Optimizing ROI in the Hybrid Workplace: The One Factor That Impacts Mobility, Performance, and Security” was published on the Toolbox website, and his article, “Are Containers on Mainframes Safe?” was published on the TechChannel website.

Trevor continued to blog regularly and publish articles. And he continued to tweet at @t_eddolls, @virtualims, and @virtualcics. He’s on Instagram at @t_eddolls/. And on Facebook you can find him at fb.com/itech-ed, fb.com/VirtualIMS, and fb.com/VirtualCICS. And there are groups on LinkedIn for Virtual IMS (www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=379256) and Virtual CICS (www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=3847862).

Looking forward to 2022, the Arcati Mainframe Yearbook 2022 will be published in January. The Virtual IMS and Virtual CICS user groups will continue to meet on alternative months throughout the year. Trevor will continue blogging and writing articles.

Find out more about iTech-Ed here.