Z DevOps Talks

In the penultimate episode of 2024, Suman Gopinath makes a return with our guest of honor, Theresa Ramsey, who is a principal designer for DevOps and AI at IBM. We define "design thinking", discuss the in's and out's of design, what goes in to designing things and more.

In this episode, we have David (our official unofficial guest host) and Danny on to talk about how things look when you're migrating from an older SCM (specifically, SCLM) to and newer one (Git, in this case). As this sort of migration is becoming more of the norm recently, it felt right to have these folks on. Danny has fantastic insight and tips on how he not only survived, but is thriving in the new Git environment that he helped bring in to existence for his team. Enjoy!

On this episode, David Rice from IBM's CIO office talks about how he wound up doing what he does. He took an interesting path to get to his station with IBM's CIO office, and gives us a little insight as to what it's like to be one of the driving forces in charge of CICD at one of IBM's biggest customers. Lisa Waugh guest stars on this one, had to bring her back in for a guest spot!

Suman is back again to discuss testing! This time, she has some information on Test Accelerator for z/OS, a new IBM offering, as well as thoughts on overall mainframe testing methods and practices. It's always a pleasure and a brilliant conversation with Suman, enjoy listening in on this one!

In this episode, Lisa Waugh and David Rice join to discuss their initiative and methodology behind their success at IBM's CIO office. This methodology, coined Learn. Do. Teach., is how they've gotten so many of their colleagues up and running on different aspects of software development modernization and it is 100% worth the investment. Listen in on the conversation to hear about Lisa and David's involvement and where it has lead.

In this episode, Mike Ramos and David Rice from IBM's own CIO organization (which is one of, if not the biggest IBM customer) talk about their DevOps and modernization journey. From the technical aspect of making the jump from CLI-based development to next-gen workbenches to the cultural changes that occur when making a big shift in development practices, this conversation sheds light in to how IBM is walking the walk.

In this episode, Lisa Waugh stops by to discuss her role at IBM, how she got to where she is, and the awesome Women In Technology conference! Lisa talks about what it was like for her coming up in IT and how she found her path to success, as well has her involvement in the conference.

On this episode of ZDevOps Talks, Shabbir Moledina (leader of the DevOps Acceleration Team @ IBM) discusses what its like to drive the team responsible for accelerating DevOps journeys for thousands of developers worldwide. A key focus area is Git migration, which to quote the infamous Mugatu from the movie Zoolander, is "so hot right now!" Listen in to get the perspective of a technical leader and get fired up!

At long last, Suman Gopinath has made a triumphant return! Since her last appearance on Z DevOs Talks, Suman is now an IBM Distinguished Engineer and has some brilliant insights in to skills, testing, and future paths to success with DevOps.

In this episode, Jennifer Velasquez and Kirk Chadrick return to discuss Git migration efforts as a mechanism to transform and modernize, getting you one step closer to embracing and fully implementing a cutting-edge, AI-ready pipeline.

In this episode, Nicolas Dangeville and Rich Larin are the guests of honor, leading a discussion about GenerativeAI and IBM's new watsonx Code Assistant. This episode was a blast, great conversation and really really interesting viewpoints shared. Learn more about IBM watsonx Code Assistant here, and make sure to like, subscribe, share, and reach out if you have any topics you want to hear about!

Suman Gopinath returns to discuss testing from just about every angle: unit testing, early integration testing, CI auto testing, and much more. As a returning guest, Suman has cemented her place as a true visionary and powerhouse in the DevOps space.

In the first episode of the new Today I Learned series, Shalini and  Chris bring their research on Shift-left testing to the table and  discuss what they've found.

In this episode, Gerald Mitchell talks about his patents, the products he manages, and the projects that he is passionate about.

In this episode, IBM’s Will Yates takes us along on a ride through the landscape of testing on z/OS and what the future looks like (pro tip: bring sunglasses, it’s bright). Will starts off by giving us a brief summary of what drew him to testing, the importance of testing early and how he uses his background and passions to push the envelope when developing cutting-edge tech to elevate testing efficacy, practices, ease-of-use, and accuracy. He even shares a short story about one of his favorite television shows growing up, and it’s pretty awesome! Topics: Will's education and opportunities to work as a student with IBM Will gives us a rundown of the work he and his team have done to impact new products and mechanisms to push DevOps practices forward Will discusses his role in Z VTP Galasa – what is it? How are Z VTP and Galasa related? How positive hiring practices and team dynamics around Neurodiversity have contributed to his team’s successes And be sure to check out past episodes of the Z DevOps Talks podcast. Links related to this episode: IBM Z Virtual Test Platform About Galasa and IBM Z Virtual Test Platform Galasa home page

In part two of the two-part series with Chris Trobridge, he picks up where he left off in part one, diving deeper into how HyperCube technology is accessed, used, and where it sits in the development pipleline. Chris explains how the shift in the developer base is bringing to light how important having modern analysis tools is, as well as the future of development of these tools at IBM. Listen through to get the inside scoop on how to stay ahead of the curve with HyperCube technology, Wazi Developer, and what the future looks like (spoiler alert: it’s looking pretty good!). Topics: Chris jumps in to a deep-dive discussion about how HyperCube technology is leveraged in Wazi Developer HyperCube’s place in the pipeline Static analysis: when, why, how, and who Extending HyperCube Eclipse plug-ins leveraging HyperCube And be sure to check out past episodes of the Z DevOps Talks podcast. Links related to this episode Wazi to accelerate hybrid cloud app development IBM Wazi Developer for Red Hat CodeReady Workspaces Introducing Wazi Developer for Red Hat CodeReady Workspaces video IBM Wazi Developer : Bring Your Own (BYO) IDE for Cloud Native Development Trial blog

In this episode, we get a chance to chat with IBM’s very own, Mark Indermaur.  Mark is a product manager for IBM Application Discovery and Delivery Intelligence (ADDI) and IBM Wazi Analyze. We discuss how and where Wazi Analyze and ADDI fit into our devops pipeline.  Mark also explains how Wazi Analyze is not just a subset of ADDI, but rather a solution that allows developers to use key features of ADDI in a containerized environment. Stick around to the end, because we also get a sneak peak for what's in store, and what is on the horizon for ADDI and Wazi Analyze. And of course, no conversation with Mark is complete without a little bit of chess talk! Topics: Mark talks about his upbringing, education and early chess experiences Mark’s role at IBM and Wazi Analyze What ADDI does Where do Wazi Analyze and ADDI fit in the pipeline Distinction between Wazi Analyze and ADDI Future Integrations: ZD&T, Wazi Sandbox Where to learn more Drive to Modernize What's on the Horizon If you want to learn more about ADDI and Wazi Analyze, be sure to check out these resources: Wazi to Accelerate hybrid-cloud app development  IBM ADDI Essentials Badge  Introducing Wazi Analyze video  Swedbank case study IBM Application Discovery and Delivery Intelligence for IBM Z 6.0 can help accelerate the application modernization process with rapid discovery and analysis solutions And be sure to check out our past episodes here.

In episode three of our second season we had the pleasure of talking with Darren Surch, COO - Americas of Interskill Learning.  Fun fact, Darren has been named an IBM Champion for yet another year!  Check out the link below to learn more about this program. Being the education evangelist that he is, Darren shared with us how he first got into mainframes, everything there is to know about badges, new developments at Interskill Learning, and the future of computer-based training. We also talk about Stacked Badges, the surge in interest of Interskill learning in the era of the pandemic, and how badges can help augment on-the-job training and formal mentorship programs. And if you want to learn more about the relationship between IBM Z and Interskill be sure to check them out today!  A complete list of IBM badges are available on Interskill. And learn more about the IBM Champions program here. 

In our latest episode, we were able to talk with one of our Toronto-based design managers Tala El Hallak.  Tala has been with IBM Z for four years, and her journey has been incredible. Tala began her tenure as a visual designer in our Toronto lab (back then the team was just two).  Fast forward to today and she has been fortunate to work on a multitude of design projects for IBM Z, she recently served as a design coach at our Patterns program, and she's grown into the role of design manager at that same lab she began her IBM career at! Episode four traverses many topics, including: Tala's journey to design Life before IBM (one of the firs to join team). Her prior roles and projects in IBM Z What it means to be a "people manager" at IBM Managing teams in the "virtual workspace" The design culture at IBM Z The Patterns program How an aspiring young designer might join her team We're glad you stopped by to have a listen.  If you haven't checked out our previous episodes, be sure to give them a listen today!

In our latest episode, we had the opportunity to sit down with Elliot Rushton and Rosalind Radcliffe.  Elliot is an Engineering Manager at GitLab, Inc.  Beginning in 2019-2020 IBM Z had and continues to embrace a holistic approach to application development and delivery. And part of this strategy sees IBM Z tightly, seamlessly integrating open-source solutions alongside our other IBM-branded offerings.  That's where GitLab, Inc. joins the party.  Elliot and Rosalind spend some time talking about GitLab, and it’s CI (Continuous Integration) Runner.  And because of the interest in use of GitLab for SCM (Source Code Management) and CI in a z/OS environment, we’re aggressively meeting this demand.  Sure, understanding how this CI fits into the z/OS ecosystem can be tough to wrap your head around.  But we’re in luck, because both Elliot and Rosalind do an excellent job of distilling it down, making it much easier to understand. And why stop there?  Elliot also discusses some of GitLab's plans on the horizon.  So, stick around to the end to learn more about this blossoming relationship between GitLab, Inc. and IBM Z. And just for fun, we’re including some important links so you can learn more about this partnership: IBM Z and GitLab Tutorial  White Paper: Setting up the CI Pipeline Agent on IBM Z White Paper: Integrating IBM Z in GitLab CI pipelines GitLab and IBM Z documentation