System z

The IBM Academic Initiative System z program seeks to ensure that the next generation of mainframe experts will be available to help more companies and organizations leverage the superior security, availability, scalability, and efficiency of the mainframe. The demand for IT skills is growing, especially for students who have mainframe or enterprise computing skills.

Enterprise Computing: Why you should teach it and your students should learn about it

IBM continues to modernize and simplify the mainframe platform, while partnering with IBM customers, business partners and academia from around the world to build more of the skills that industry demands. There has never been a better time to teach your students about large systems.

• All of the top 25 world banks run their businesses on mainframes.
• 23 of the top 25 global retailers run their mission-critical applications on a mainframe and rely heavily on enterprise systems-skilled employees.
• 9 out of the top 10 global life/health insurance providers process their high-volume transactions on a mainframe.

• Check out these resources to learn more

  Teaching IBM Enterprise Systems to a New Generation (442KB) Reasons to Teach System z (28KB) Executives from major corporations talk about mainframe career opportunities Podcast: An interview with Paul Cronan and David Douglas, University of Arkansas IBM System z: Myth vs. Truth Student and teacher testimonials: System z Career Opportunities (15MB)

Program benefits

The System z program provides significant benefits to everyone who participates.

• Educators: can build relationships with industry, create enhanced employment opportunities for their students, and gain no-charge access to mainframe systems, courseware, and training.
• Students: can compete in contests, get scholarships and IBM professional certification, and advertise their talents in the IBM Student Opportunity System resume data base. Find out more.
• Customers: can establish relationships with schools worldwide that are teaching Enterprise Computing, and search the IBM Student Opportunity System resume database to locate qualified students for internships and jobs.

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System z content can easily be integrated into any curriculum at your school, for example: Computer Science, School of Business, or Information Systems programs. Students exposed to Enterprise Systems, and the value and role they play within the world's IT ecosystem, are in high demand by our customers.

System z textbooks

This series of textbooks was designed to introduce students to mainframes and help prepare them for a career in large systems computing. They can help you and your students with many fundamental concepts.

• Introduction to the New Mainframe: z/OS Basics
• Introduction to the New Mainframe: z/VM Basics
• Introduction to the New Mainframe: Networking
• Introduction to the Mainframe: Security

We have System Z course materials (slides, labs, quizzes) in the Courseware Repository that fully support and complement these textbooks.

Programming and application development on System z

Learn about Rational Developer for System z, a common workbench and an integrated set of tools that speeds the development of traditional mainframe, Web and composite applications.

• Rational Developer for System z

If you are teaching programming courses on System z, these resources can also help:

• Rational Unified Process for System z: Making Development on System z More Agile
• Using IBM Rational Team Concert for System z and the Jazz platform

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Take advantage of our no-charge or discounted training opportunities and prepare yourself for teaching about System z and enterprise computing topics.

Train online

• Live virtual classes (and playbacks): IBM offers live virtual classes (and playbacks) covering various z/VM, z/VSE, and Linux on System z topics. Each live virtual class lasts approximately one hour, including Q&A. View the schedule for upcoming live virtual classes and to listen to playbacks of the previous ones.
• Play in a System z sandbox: Explore the Enterprise Modernization Sandbox for System z, which lets you quickly experience and evaluate IBM's latest solutions for modernizing and deploying core System z applications in a "tinker, test, and try" environment.

Worldwide instructor-led training

The Academic Initiative System z team provides educator vouchers for active Academic Initiative members to take several worldwide instructor-led courses at no charge.

• Courses offered
  • Fundamental System Skills in z/OS (Course code ES10)
  • Integrating z/OS Security into the Enterprise (Course code ES66)
  • DB2 UDB for z/OS V8 Database Administration Workshop 1 (Course code CF831)
  • DB2 UDB for z/OS V8 Database Administration Workshop 2 (Course code CF841)

To request a voucher, complete the enrollment instructions. Note that each country will have a unique course code that begins with the 4 characters of the worldwide course code.

Voucher and enrollment instructions

Training at regional locations

• IBM Innovation Center in Dallas, Texas: Attend a 3.5 day Introduction to z/OS workshop with optional Linux on System z session. Review the class schedule and register by sending an email to ztech@us.ibm.com with your name, school, address, and phone number.
• Technical conferences: Many technical conferences offer educational sessions taught by IBM and leading industry professionals.
• 3-day CICS Integration Workshop: This free workshop uses a combination of lectures and labs to show the various CICS connectivity options and their technical implications relative to configuration, transactional nature, and security. Workshps are continually being added at various locations. If you have intermediate knowledge of CICS and Rational Developer for System z and are interested in this workshop, send an email to zskills@us.ibm.com with your name, title, school, and phone number.

Certification and mastery tests

• Academic Initiative training & certification discounts: Academic Initiative members can request a 50% discount for themselves and their students on some IBM Professional Certification tests at Thompson Prometric Centers. Both IBM Certified Database Administrator: DB2 Universal Database for z/OS (Test 702) and IBM Certified Database Administrator: DB2 9 for z/OS (Test 732) are recommended.
• Entry Level for z/OS System Programmer Mastery Test: Academic Initiative members and their students can also get a special reduced rate on this System z mastery test.
• Fee-based certification: Additional System z certification tests are available for a fee.

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