The Open Mainframe Summit, held on the 11th September, was an excellent showcase of the breadth and depth of the people, community, and technology that is key to the future of the Mainframe platform. The morning sessions included keynotes on topics such as mentorship, a welcoming note from John Mertic and Jason Gartner, Zowe, and the diverse community the Mainframe draws together. Plus, the excitement around announcing Galasa formally had started the day well – with a whole bunch of new stickers to hand out.
The particular highlight for me, was hosting the diversity panel alongside Donna Hudi, Len Santalucia, and Sudharsana Srinivasan. I started meeting with people from the Open Mainframe Project earlier in the year, and over the last 9 months, I’ve felt nothing but warmth, kindness, and a sense of common language between those that are part of the OMP community. Therefore, the panel was designed to bring out the highlights of working around the Mainframe, such as the ability to walk up to a stranger and discuss VSAM datasets, CICS or SMF transactions and the attitudes towards how enabling different thinkers gives the ability for innovation and alternative solutions. This was really highlighted by Sudharsana, when she spoke about her experience developing advocacy programs within Mainframe. On the other hand, Donna gave a great response to focus on the narratives we write when meeting someone or approaching a new situation. She explained that those narratives can immediately put barriers causing us to feel defensive and unsure when meeting new people. However, if we notice the stories being written then we’re able to give ourselves the chance to rewrite that and form a different opinion. This was highlighted with Len, when he spoke about people judging him for not acting in the same way as his peers. His family history meant he was an ally for women in the workplace when that wasn’t commonplace. Personally, the most significant thing is that I felt like the anxiety and worry I had around hosting a panel in front of strangers went away when I was able to speak about my first year in Mainframe. I had several people come up to me afterwards to show me their support and that the OMP was the kind of place that brought a whole range of people together that all just wanted to create great software.
As my first conference, the experience was overwhelming with all the people and excitement – with the afternoon packed full of 20-minute sessions covering all the OMP themes such as modernisation, development experience, automated testing, and education. I was surrounded by a mix of people, from customers, users, contributors, and business sponsors that wanted to learn more. From the two rooms, I learnt more about Zowe, and as Tim Willging walked through the lessons learnt from the past five years, and what’s next for the project. I absolutely loved speaking about Galasa, the new integrated automated test project within the OMP. The audience was small, but well formed, with questions and follow-on conversation which meant it was worth the effort. People floated throughout the two rooms and because the sessions were shorter, the ability to learn and absorb more was seen by everyone. Although afterwards, I did feel exhausted.
The Summit was a great experience to meet those I’d heard about online or met virtually. It felt like I’d been part of the community for years, people were so welcoming, and I really could walk up to them and talk about anything. I’m excited to be part of the OMP and continue to build the relationships with people that I’ve met and hope to continue to support those that feel like outsiders. We can all feel like we don’t fit in, but the community built already makes you feel like you’re immediately part of the club.
