Mainframe training makes a comeback

Srinivasa Rao Dasari / Hyderabad

The new buzzword in IT training comes from an unexpected source—mainframes. A resurgence in legacy hardware is attracting professionals who do not mind working on these platforms, motivated by the thought of a long-term career in this field. Coaching on mainframes has consequently become a good business proposition for many IT training institutes, particularly in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. For students, the job prospects are a major attraction. Many mainframe training institutes have mushroomed in Hyderabad. This, despite the fact that setting up a mainframe training centre has always been considered an expensive proposition, something that very few institutes could afford.

A long-term career

Mainframes have now incorporated new technologies and capabilities and also operate as Web-enabled servers. Companies want their mainframe applications to run at lower costs and are therefore outsourcing their services to India. The clincher is of course cost-control. The fact that organisations worldwide have started focusing on disaster recovery and planning, has added to the demand for these professionals. Large global companies are now looking at India for outsourcing, but people with the requisite skill sets are not easy to find. These skills are also not easy to learn. A candidate would take at least three months to even get a hang of the basics, and about two to three years for a professional to become comfortable. Consequently, it can only be an option for those seeking a long-term career in this field.

The following disciplines are in demand: CICS, DB2, System Software, Application Software, IMS, and Operating System Management.

More projects

More than 70 percent of large corporations in the US and the rest of the world use IBM mainframes to run their critical business applications. Most Fortune 500 companies have started outsourcing large projects on IBM mainframe platforms to India.

Forty organisations are reportedly executing mainframe -based projects in the country, and of these 14 are based out of Andhra Pradesh. These projects are mainly for maintenance and upgradation and re-quire professionals with multiple skills in different areas, incl-uding domain knowledge. IT majors like Satyam Computer Services have been getting many mainframe-based projects. The company has in fact deployed about 20 percent of its 2,000 new recruits on mainframe projects.

“We have got a sizable number of mainframe projects during the past three-four months. Since IBM code is available in the market, there is growth on the development front too. So far, Satyam has trained about 300-400 associates on mainframe projects. Mostly, we prefer experienced professionals for production support,” says Murty AS, director and senior vice-president (HR), Satyam Computer Services.

Maples ESM has recently set up its mainframe facility in Hyderabad to provide real-time experience to students, apart from doing a number of maintenance projects for its clients. N Ram Subramani, president and CEO, Maples ESM Technologies, who has more than 25 years of experience in the IBM mainframe environment, says: “About 92 percent of United States’s corporate data is on mainframes. US-based companies have decided to outsource mainframe maintenance work to India. In India, there are about 70 mainframes and ours is perhaps the first in AP. The reason for installing a mainframe facility in Hyderabad is to build confidence among our clients that we have created a client environment which is needed for system and integration testing.”

Maintenance projects

As a result of outsourcing, many companies in Hyderabad and elsewhere are getting more and more maintenance projects on mainframes. Shakti Sagar, managing director of ADP Limited, states, “We have just started taking up maintenance projects on mainframes and anticipate a good growth in this

segment. Though training costs are high, these projects would result in regular revenues and long-term contracts. Getting into mainframes is good, but people need to be very clear about their focus areas.”

The spokesperson for a leading Indian software company (which did not want to be named), adds: “Approximately 40 percent of our projects are for mainframe maintenance. The major advantage of mainframe projects is the long-term agreements and ultimately long-term career prospects for our employees. Mainframe professionals with multiple skill-sets in areas like project development, business re-engineering, and domain knowledge will be in great demand.”

Training boom

Enthused by the current boom in mainframes, many institutes are coming up in Hyderabad offering training and placement assistance. About 30-40 institutes are now offering training on mainframes in the city. Many Chennai-based institutes have also started operations in Hyderabad.

The Chennai-headquartered Lemuria Technologies Institute has branches in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Trivandrum. Most of these branches provide training on mainframe. The institute offers training on a real-time mainframes environment and has tied-up with a US-headquartered organisation for the same.

M N Sharavanan, manager of Lemuria Technologies informs: “We have been training students on mainframes from 1996. There is good potential in the corporate training segment. We give corporate training to clients like Satyam, Infosys, HCL, Accenture, Kanbay and Xansa. Without references, new students find it very difficult to get placements. To help our students find suitable jobs in the mainframe segment, we have set up a separate consultancy department.”

Signon Software started its mainframe training division in Hyderabad in 2003. Rama Krishna Bypina, the administrative manager of Signon Software says: “Encouraged by the potential in Hyderabad, we had started our branch here last year. So far, we have trained more than 250 students and 60 percent of them have got placements. Usually freshers are preferred in the mainframe segment and this specialisation offers them a long-term career option.”

Calix Info had recently setup two branches in the city, which have seen a good turnout of students. While currently the company does not promise any placement support, they forward resumes to various placement agencies, apart from taking orientation classes on real-time job environment.

Here to stay

Most industry pundits believe that this trend is here to stay for a longer period than in the Y2K era. According to a study done by the Meta Group, about 55 percent of IT workers with mainframe experience are over 50 years old. To replace the experienced and about to retire professionals, a large number of young professionals are needed.

There is no alternative to mainframes in the corporate world today. It is estimated that the top 20 Indian IT players need more than 10,000 mainframe professionals for Bangalore, Chennai, Hyd-erabad and Pune. It is also not just about freshers joining the industry, for those made wiser by the tumultuous effects of the IT recruitment market, a long-term sustainable career in mainframes may well be the cleverest career move.