Mainframe programmers: Search for a rare breed

Sudipta Dev/ Mumbai

The constantly fluctuating needs of the IT recruitment market has been witnessing an unusual phenomenon of late—a sudden demand for professionals trained in mainframe programming. Only, programmers specialising in legacy applications happen to be a rare breed and consequently are not so easy to find. According to a recent survey conducted by research firm Meta Group, there is an obvious dearth of mainframe professionals worldwide, with more than half the programmers possessing experience in this field being over 50 years old.

Experts believe that the situation can lead to a serious crisis by the end of this decade with very few programmers available to write mainframe code. The reason? “Most young IT graduates would not consider mainframes as an exciting entry level to the IT world. Given a choice they are likely to seek a “sexier” career, using the latest technologies,” answers Giles Newson, commercial director, Interskill Interactive, UK. The company is the world’s leading provider of Web-based training for the mainframe and midrange markets. Acknowledging that more than half of the mainframe professionals in the world are nearing retirement, Newson cautions that companies need to start thinking about training new people and also cross-training existing staff, in order to address the business critical services that their mainframes support.

After the Y2K phenomenon there have been few professionals willing to specialise in this field with most mainframe programmers switching over to newer technologies in the last few years. “These professionals were in demand from 1995 to 2000, after that came the Internet bubble and people started looking at e-commerce and m-commerce. Following the dotcom debacle many of these professionals are back to mainframes, particularly in the US,” says VL Mehta, director-IT, Mukand Engineers (a division of Bajaj and Shah groups). Mukand Engineers is one of the few existing IBM training partners in the country.

Mainframes have now incorporated new technologies and capabilities and also operate as Web-enabled servers. Large global companies are now looking at India for outsourcing, but people with the requisite skill sets are not easy to find. The skills are also not easy to learn. “A candidate would take at least three months even to get a hang of basics and about two to three years for a professional to become comfortable,” informs Mehta. Consequently, it can only be an option for those seeking a long-term career in this field. Training provided by Mukand includes the following disciplines: CICS, DB2, Systems Software, Application Software, IMS, Operating System Management, etc. Mehta points out that it takes two to three years to specialise in each discipline.

The training scenario shows an interesting picture. Most training centres in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad closed down once the Y2K rush subsided and no major training house ventured into the area. Prohibitive infrastructure cost is the most probable reason. “It takes more than Rs 3 to Rs 4 crore to set up a mainframe training centre, which is a very inhibiting factor,” says Suresh Bharwani, chairman and managing director, Jetking, a leading hardware training provider. Simulated training, which was common during the Y2K boom, has also ceased to exist. Mehta explains why: “Hands-on training is essential in mainframes without which students cannot gain the benefit out of it. One cannot have fly-by-night operators. Excellent trainers and extensive course materials are essential prerequisites.” The target clients are corporates as well as individuals who had little knowledge at the time of Y2K and want to upgrade their skills. A typical 11 weeks course costs between

Rs 70,000 to Rs 120,000, with an additional Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 a day for need-based training.

Interskill Interactive’s mainframe training library consists of 150-plus courses and over 1,400 hours of instruction. The most popular courses are CICS, DB2, Cobol, along with MQ Series and Websphere. Newson believes that with few companies providing mainframe training, e-learning can effectively bridge the skills gap. “If people have training requirements they are generally looking for instant results, e-learning is the obvious answer. There is nothing more frustrating than to wait for two to three months to be on the rolls for the next instructor-led training course, only to know the day before that the course has been cancelled,” says Newson. Interskill’s Datatrain CBT software can be installed on a single workstation or a corporate Intranet.

The training needs are significantly project-based and software companies co-ordinate with the training provider to formulate the precise curriculum. The only hitch in this case is that it leads to “restricted training”, as they learn little outside the purview of the project they are engaged in. The fact that organisations worldwide have started focusing on disaster recovery and planning, has added to the demand for these professionals. Greater opportunities await them outside India. “Yet another option is the IBM AS400 (equivalent to small mainframes), which is very popular all over the world,” says Mehta. Mukand is in the process of starting an initiative in which students trained by them will be assured job post-training, as part of contracts signed with different companies.

Mastek has been recently hiring and also getting its staff trained on mainframes to meet the constant demands of its overseas clients. Lokesh Bhagwat, general manager, IBM business, Mastek, explains that as a result of the downturn, companies now want their mainframe applications to run at lower costs and are therefore outsourcing their services to India. The clincher is of course cost-control. “There has been a sudden increase in legacy work with not much new development taking place like two to three years back. Those professionals who do not mind working on legacy platforms are motivated by a long-term career in this field,” points out Bhagwat. The company has been getting its people trained on CICS, Cobol, DB2, IMS, etc. Mastek has also been subcontracting specific projects to meet the deadlines.

For those made wiser by the tumultuous effects of the IT recruitment market, it is probably a long-term sustainable career in mainframes, that can be their cleverest career move.