Announcing the new Mid-Atlantic Db2 for z/OS Users Group!

With COVID-19 forcing Regional Users Groups (RUGs) to transition from in-person to virtual meetings, and with the support of the International Db2 Users Group and hearing about their regional affiliates’ success with virtual meetings, Frank and I decided to give a new virtual group a try.  We look forward to supporting the Db2 community with technical content that enables our System Z colleagues to remain active and valued contributors to the use of technology within their organizations.

Please join us for our first meeting! Register here.

September 17, 2020, from 10:00am-2:00pm EDT, will be the first virtual meeting of the System Z-focused Mid-Atlantic Db2 Users Group. The new group hopes to bring interesting, educational, and current technical presenters and sessions to mainframe users located in the Mid-Atlantic region. With a virtual format the meeting location, venue, commute time and lunch selection challenges disappear, so everyone from everywhere is welcome!

For this first meeting we will have three technical presentations and one brief interactive, bring-your-own-ideas session. The three technical sessions all focus on IBM’s efforts to use tools and technologies to support mainframe modernization. No, this is not another session on a magic code converter; these are proven tools and technologies available today that speed deployments and leverage the mainframe’s powerful resources to drive better and faster data access and new application development.

Presentations will be delivered by IBM’s Elton de Souza, Clark Hale and Andrew Austin of Red Hat, and Frank Fillmore of The Fillmore Group. The agenda, abstracts and speaker bio’s are below.

Agenda: Thursday, September 17, 2020

10:00 – 10:10 Welcome and Introductions
10:10 – 11:15 Containers, Cloud Paks, OpenShift – What Mainframers Should Know
11:15 – 11:20 Break
11:20 – 11:35 The New Replication Monitoring Tool Interactive Session – BYOI (Bring Your Own Ideas)
11:35 – 12:40 Red Hat OpenShift on System Z
12:40 – 12:45 Break
12:45 – 01:50 Mainframe Modernization – Field Notes
01:50 – 02:00 Q&A and Wrap Up

Sessions
Containers, Cloud Paks, OpenShift – What Mainframers Should Know, Elton de Souza, IBM
In this presentation IBM Chief Architect and Wizard Elton de Souza will cover the value proposition of OpenShift on IBM Z from a technical and business standpoint. Elton will also cover integration points between OpenShift and zOS services and data sources.

Red Hat OpenShift, Clark Hale & Andrew Austin, Red Hat
Red Hat OpenShift is the industry’s most secure and comprehensive enterprise-grade container platform. This presentation will explain what OpenShift is, what value it can provide to your organization, and a brief demo of its operation. Special focus will be given to the System Z release of OpenShift.

Mainframe Modernization – Field Notes, Frank Fillmore, The Fillmore Group
Frank recently served as the System Z specialist for a mainframe modernization project led by a team from Red Hat. The goal was to develop a modernization template to be shared with other mainframe customers to accelerate the effort by incorporating the best tools and technologies available today. The customer struggles with a familiar list of challenges: legacy applications developed over decades, data in VSAM and Db2, and incomplete data, the result of a recent merger. Several approach and solution options were explored. Join Frank while he discusses how IBM’s acquisition of Red Hat is transforming how mainframe modernization is being approached – and realized.

Speaker Bio’s

Elton de Souza, IBM
Elton de Souza is the Chief Architect for Cloud Native Client Success focusing on IBM Z and LinuxONE. Since OpenShift GA’d on IBM Z in Feb 2020, Elton has helped several clients across various sectors and geographies implement RHOCP on IBM Z and LinuxONE. He’s spent almost his entire career on IBM Z starting from the Java compiler for Linux and zOS to working on Open Source Solutions (MongoDB, node.js, Spark, Docker, Kubernetes, etc.) to IBM Cloud Private and now Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Z.

Clark Hale, Red Hat
Clark Hale is a Senior Consulting Architect at Red Hat. With a focus on OpenShift and “cloud native” technologies, he specializes in assisting companies adopt modern technology and development practices. Before joining Red Hat, he was a multi-language developer (COBOL, C, Java) at Lowes Companies and an OpenSource Advocate at SUN Microsystems.

Andrew Austin, Red Hat
Andrew Austin is a Senior Architect with Red Hat Consulting’s Cloud Infrastructure Practice. His focus is on delivering solutions based on Red Hat OpenShift on the IBM Z platform as well as distributed systems.

Frank Fillmore, The Fillmore Group
Frank is founder and president of The Fillmore Group, an IBM Business Partner specializing in IBM database solution sales and services. Frank is an IBM System Z Gold Consultant and IBM Champion, as well as an IBM authorized instructor and frequent presenter at users group meetings and conferences. Frank leads a team of expert consultants delivering IBM solution implementation and enablement support services.