Z DevOps Talks

Welcome back for another episode of Z DevOps Talks. We know things are a bit hectic now and most people are probably stuck indoors. So maybe take a listen to our latest episode to help break up the monotony! In our latest episode, we talk with Matt Cousens, a Developer Advocate for IBM Z and LinuxONE. Matt flew into the RTP campus for a (post-quarantine) Developer Advocate event. And while he was here, he carved some time out of his schedule to discuss the work he and other Developer Advocates are doing in IBM Z and LinuxONE. You’re probably wondering what a Developer Advocate does. Well we certainly discuss this during the episode, but to give you a bit of background on Developer Advocates; they are our globally federated IBM developers, the ones actively working with and alongside our clients. Our Developer Advocates are responsible for developing our Code Patterns, actively working on more than 100 open source projects, and a curating our library of knowledge resources. The Code Patterns deserve some special attention though. As a library of complete solutions to problems that developers face every day, these patterns leverage multiple technologies, products, or services to solve issues that our developer advocates have recognized as common use cases across multiple industries. You can check out our library here. Our Developer Advocates are collaborators too! Maybe you need to better understand where blockchain technology fits in your company’s transactions. Maybe you are moving towards an Omnichannel customer support structure and you want to build a chat bot to interact with your customers. Whatever it is, Developer Advocates exist to help clients understand and take advantage of cutting edge, open technologies and to accelerate that next great project. Matt gave us the greenlight. So, if you are internal to IBM and you want to learn more email him today! 

In our latest episode, we had the chance to sit down with one of our newer developers, Kaleb Porter. At only 23, Kaleb is making quite the name for himself. He is an avid open-source contributor and was once quoted saying, “Python is perfection.” Kaleb has only been with IBM for two years, but in that time, he’s poured his heart and soul into the Z mainframe. With one patent already under his belt, he’s only getting started. Kaleb sure does like to stay busy too; he’s an avid writer on Medium. There he writes about his time in Z, and some of the really amazing things you can do with the most recent offering he is working on: Z Open Automation Utilities. What is Z Open Automation Utilities (ZOA Utilities)? ZOA Utilities supports the execution of automation tasks on z/OS via Java, Python, and Shell commands. Previously, developers programming in their native tongue (Python or Java in this case) would in some cases have to enter the ISPF 3270 terminal, use Job Control Language (JCL) to submit a job, and then return to the work they were doing in their IDE or Shell. It can be very challenging to get work done if you don’t have somebody around who is knowledgeable in JCL. Now, in a matter of seconds newer Z developers can continue to deliver value to the enterprise at the speed of Z. So, that’s the (very abridged) background. Kaleb actually has a few pretty neat use cases that he’s documented; and they can be found on his Medium page. We were really fortunate to be able to sit down with Kaleb and learn what the world of Z is like through the eyes of a newer developer. And if you want to learn a little more about ZOA Utilities, we are providing a few links to peruse over morning coffee (or afternoon “Tea, Earl Grey, hot.”): Background, how it works, benefits IBM ZOA Utilities article by Mike Fulton, DE Part I IBM ZOA Utilities article by Mike Fulton, DE Part II

Welcome back folks. In our latest episode of Z DevOps Talks, we bring you yet another special episode from sunny California. This time we spend some time with IBM Silicon Valley Labs’ Gary Mazo. Gary took some time out of his busy schedule to teach us a thing or two about some of the great things coming out of SVL, namely ADDI or Application Discovery and Delivery Intelligence. Gary is a veteran IBM-er and ADDI team member. He is an international patent holder, and long-time software developer serving on many teams, including most recently with ADDI. In case you aren’t familiar, ADDI is an analytical platform used for modernizing enterprise applications (you check out this short video for more info). ADDI allows you to analyze enterprise applications and determine commonly used business terms and rules. You can analyze programs, conduct impact analyses, and even use it to better understand control & data flows. Gary says if it’s a data provider on Z, we can cross-correlate and provide end users with some really powerful reporting and documentation. Well, Gary says more than that, but you’ll have to listen to the rest of the episode! Fancy kicking the tires? Well great, you can find ADDI on our Z Trials Program too. Core scenarios include: Root-Cause Analysis, Business Rule Discovery, and Static Analysis too! A big thanks to Gary for coming to talk to us this episode. He’s a real passionate guy, and you can really hear that come through! A few more links for posterity: Z DevOps Talks Podcast Archives A previous podcast with Sherri Hanna and ADDI Architect Rami Katan

“La vache ! Ansible and z/OS? …Oui !” In this very special episode of Z DevOps Talks, 50% of the team was fortunate enough to spend some time, on location, at our Silicon Valley Lab with notre ami and Distinguished Engineer Kyle Charlet. Monseigneur Charlet has been furiously working on Ansible for use with z/OS. Frankly, we were surprised to able to spend even an hour with him, but we’re sure glad we got the chance! This is an extra special episode because our focus was 100% entirely on the work that is being done by the SVL team to support Ansible for z/OS. We hope you enjoy listening about the new developments coming from Kyle and his team. You’ll soon find out that they are just getting started. If you’d like to learn more, or join the community, check out the following: A very simple prototype for provisioning a new instance of IMS using Ansible Ansible z/OS Core Git Repo Ansible Galaxy IBM Statement of Direction for delivering Ansible Obligatory Reddit post And if you are interested in becoming a sponsor user, we’d love to hear from you. You can either reply directly to this post and we’ll contact you. Or Kyle say’s shoot him an email today. Enjoy the show, we’ll be speaking to you all again soon enough. Merci bien !

Hey, welcome back to the show, thanks for joining us! In Episode 5: The Mainframe Strikes Back, we tricked Bruce Armstrong into joining us for an episode. Bruce is an IBM veteran, Offering Manager, and serves on the leadership of the Open Mainframe Project’s Zowe™ Project. Bruce sure lived up to all the hype; he’s a wealth of knowledge when it comes to Zowe™, the mainframe in general, and the Open Mainframe Project. In our latest episode we covered so much ground that we had to split it into Parts I and II. Here are some of the topics we covered: Zowe™ – what is it and how it was framed The Open Mainframe Project Zowe™ as the infrastructure’s plumbing VS Code and Eclipse Ché making use of Zowe™ services Wrapping the Zowe™ framework in restful APIs and how that contributes to opening up the mainframe Use cases for Zowe™ The cultural shift in the mainframe community How old dogs can teach young pups new tricks Making the mainframe less remarkable Care to learn how you too can join the Zowe™ revolution? Bruce recommends the following resources: The Open Mainframe Project What is Zowe™? Git Hub Zowe™ zTrial Getting started with Zowe™ Tutorial Getting started with Zowe™ WebUi Zowe™ Badge Zowe™ on Slack